Quite a lovely little town

I (Mandy) love Campbell River. I didn't think I was missing civilization, but I do feel better here than I have since we returned to BC last weekend (and it took the whole weekend of: Bus to ferry, ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, the Graebels coming and picking us up and taking us to Port Hadlock, then them kindly taking us the next day to Port Hardy via another ferry ride between Port Townsend and Victoria, BC, and a long drive, then we hitched an overnight ferry ride to Shearwater, arriving already tired, but wanting to get underway immediately).

Anyway, here, in this sizable town, I can buy things like face wash and q-tips and other normalities that were lost to saltwater filling the head. And here, for the first time since last time we were here about a month ago, we can fill up on potable water that is both potable (none of that in Shearwater) and clear, like water should be. So, for once, I'm using up extra water to get the tanks emptied so I can refill with this non-scary stuff.

So, today I first begged Scott for a stop at Starbucks this morning (a sure sign of a civilized town, I think), then I went to the store and stocked up on lots of goodies. I hope Scott will now stop eating cookies for breakfast, since breakfast bars are just as convenient. Then I went to the boat store and talked to someone knowledgeable about the damage done to the boat from the Coast Guard's pumps beating the crap out of our cockpit while they kept us afloat. (I do prefer the boat get beat up than us sinking.) The nice fella sold me something called "Interlux Heavy Duty Stain Remover" to get out the rust stains. I don't know what caused the stains, but they weren't there before the pumps were on board. I'd been scrubbing them with everything we had on board before, and nothing would help. I applied this stuff and watched pure magic happen. I felt like I was in a TV infomercial. I put it on and watched the stains just disappear, mo rubbing, no scrubbing, nothing. Wow. I was having fun! I went around the boat and tried it on other areas that had been vexing me over the years. Pure magic at every turn. As far as fiberglass stains are concerned, the boat now looks better than ever.

The nice fella also sold me some gelcoat and hardener for the gouges also left from the pumps bouncing themselves from Boat Inlet to Shearwater. I dug out some sandpaper from a locker and prepped the gouges for repair, but unfortunately gave up fighting the wind before trying my first repair. This isn't really the weather for that sort of thing. Happy to sell me something else, the fella also sold me some boat cleaner and wax, (he said my now-clean fiberglass wouldn't stay clean long without waxing it) and I'm excited to get it applied as soon as possible. Seeing the poor shape of the boat had been part of what was been keeping my spirits low. Seeing it nice and clean cheers me right up.

I also finally found a birthday present for Mom. I'd been waiting to get something, hoping to find something cool in Alaska, but the last 3 weeks of June were taken up by the unforeseen, and now I'm a bit late. Then I got to explore even more of Campbell River looking for the Thrifty Foods to ship it from, which I did eventually find. Then I had another stop at the liqueur store to replenish my Irish Creme (SO yummy in hot chocolate) and a bottle of wine for our rendezvous with the neighbor tonight.

While I've been out running around town and futzing with the boat, Scott has been forcibly resting. We've been going, going, going non-stop since leaving Shearwater, and yesterday he was stuck navigating through lots of rapids while dodging logs down Johnstone Straight while I tended to the bilge, diligently emptying it with a syringe at regular intervals to measure how much water was coming in at different conditions, and to be certain it was coming generally from where we thought it was. Anyway, the boy was visibly exhausted. I'm really glad we decided to stay an extra day here. Of course, now that he is rested, he wishes we were out sailing in this stuff. I don't agree. I'm quite glad to be tied to the dock, getting things done, and just generally feeling caught up on stuff and unrushed.

As far as I'm concerned, it is looking up, mysterious leaks or not. Tomorrow we should have favorable northwest winds to push is right to the next stop.