The Last Few Projects

It seems there's always "just one more thing", some essential machine part or unfinished project that adjusts our departure schedule. This year outfitting and provisioning was nearly stress-free. An unexpected generator issue caused some concern when a replacement part was hard to source in town. Then Altech Diesel came to the rescue - not only did they have the essential part in stock, the only one on Vancouver Island it seems, but Parts Manager Ken jumped in his truck and delivered it within minutes. Wow, that's great service! Thank you Ken and Altech.

One important non-mechanical tradition has been to plant a container of herbs, a smallish pot sufficient to last through our many months afloat. Lately the cheerful staff at Campbell River Garden Center has done the planting honors. 

Photo: Pat (l) and Barb (r) with the 2015 herb pot

This year Barb planted three pots and Pat helped with the selection of basil, chives, rosemary, mint, oregano, sage, Italian parsley, and one lone heliotrope. Why the purple flowering heliotrope? for the hummingbirds, of course. The biggest fully-packed herb planter is positioned on Rhapsody's upper deck, and two smaller pots of tender basil and aggressive spearmint now rest on a galley countertop. These little gardens will definitely keep this cook happy.  

Our dockside neighborhood is changing daily as the annual migration of vessels picks up speed. Several boats that moored here during the winter months have moved on and scattered up and down the coast. Their slips don't stay empty for long. 

Photo: M/V Scorpius departs for Alaska

Scores of small boats, big boats, working boats, charter boats, fishing boats and the occasional mega yacht arrive to fill up the docks. Some vessels stop briefly for overnight moorage, others stay longer for repairs, for major provisioning, or to pick up guests or crew. Then they too depart, most heading north. We'll join this waterborne flock very soon, after one more project... or maybe two.

The arrival of a barge and crane with vibratory pile driver meant the neighborhood really is changing. I've suffered before through the annoying repetitive din of pile drivers pounding away for hours while installing dock pilings, but this week my noise concerns disappeared as soon as work began. Vibratory drivers are nearly silent compared with those older impact drivers. Hooray! Discovery Harbor is extending F Dock, adding additional 45-foot slips along the north side and providing more room for side-ties on the south. 

And now it's time to head north. Tomorrow's 5:50 a.m. scheduled departure is set by a desire for slack-current passages in several spots along the 78 nm (nautical mile) route. Why do we care about slack currents? Here's one example: tomorrow the current at Seymour Narrows ranges from near zero to 10.4 knots, all within 3 1/2 hours. We travel at 9 knots, so for safety and stress-free cruising, careful planning matters. Next post from Ketchikan following 7 to 10 days of cruising beautiful northern British Columbia. 
    

Fishing Action at the Dock

The fish cleaning station on neighboring F-dock has hosted occasional activity during the past week. While not as busy as it will be during the peak salmon run season, we have seen some nice sized fish arrive, one or two per day. Seals and sea gulls instantly appear at the same time, ready to snap up the discarded bits. Do they have scouts that keep watch and sound an alarm?!

Unexpectedly a large loon showed off his fishing skills as he cruised along our fairway, disappearing for long minutes before surfacing with a big-for-him little fish. Loons typically keep their distance from the boat, almost as if they know the reach of my camera lens. This bird was all about fishing, disregarding proximity to people and vessels alike. He dove and surfaced repeatedly, following wherever the small fish traveled, occasionally popping into camera range just long enough for me to grab a shot.  

This afternoon a local boat returned with seven fishermen, an empty case or two of beer and two very heavy fish coolers. How heavy? it took two men to carry each one. The biggest cooler was lifted into a dock cart and rolled ashore. I wonder what it held. The second cooler, carted over to the cleaning station, produced 13 large Dungeness crab. It took mere minutes after the first crab was cleaned for a seal and a swirl of seagulls to arrive. Who set off the first alert? 

  

Early Morning Wake Up Call

Was it a bird... a drone... a floatplane... an early-morning crew boat? Nothing was visible through the hatch overhead, but something close by was sending noisy vibrations through the air. What did cause the noise that sent us racing up to the pilothouse early this morning? Oh! My! Goodness! It was a small helicopter, landing on the large boat across the dock. Now that was a sight worthy of leaping out of bed just after dawn.

The tide was up, the sun was up (barely) and the wind was down; a perfect time to land I suppose, if there ever is a good time to land on such a small platform! M/V Scorpius is a large vessel, but she carries a tall tower, a crane and tons of antennae on her upper deck. That leaves just enough room for an experienced pilot to keep the rotors away from all of those obstacles when setting down. Larry is a good pilot; he's landed on Scorpius hundreds of times before, but I'm still wide-eyed at this feat. Now just imagine doing this in unsettled weather.

This morning's event reminded me of the small copter we had seen in 2013, perched atop a rock along the channel at the upper end of Smith Inlet. I still wonder "Why?"  

I wonder what new surprises tomorrow will bring.