On arrival at the Bellingham marina, i went to the Visitor Check-in Station, which is like a self-register campground thing, you fill out a form, put $$ in an envelope. However it said that during biz hours i could pay by credit card at the harbor office. This i preferred. Odd it didnt say where the office is. So i asked around, no one i encountered had a clear idea, with various suggestions that didnt pan out. But before too long i came to the truly luxurious offices of the Port of Bellingham. This must be it. But no, the corporate receptionist said i was looking for the Harbor Master. She gave me a number to call. The man who answered was nice, but i got the impression he'd never done this before. He even had to "change computers". But we went thru all the CC-pay details (you know the drill) for the $31.50 bill for 2 nites. I asked for lock-gate-key-code ("o yes", he said, "you'll need that"). Set.

To the showers!

I entered the code. Door still locked, and i thot i heard a man's voice inside. OK, i'll wait. 10 minutes, try again, this time a dog barks inside. Odd. Repeat per 10minutes. I think i'm pretty patient. After full 40minutes, this time i apply insistent pounding, and the young male occupant finally exits, fully clothed and organized, with dog, says he's sorry took so long, but doesnt seem to mean it.

The oddest thing about this is there actually multiple showers in there. Maybe he and the dog were using them all?

But i wasnt there yet. Finally inside, it turns out they arent free. I need quarters, 4 at a time. And it doesnt say what that gets you.

I have no quarters.

Reluctantly, i abandon the room, fearful some other guy (or even with dog) might occupy, lock the door. I know there's a change machine nearby.

But as change machines go, this 1 behaves very oddly, and rejects all my $1s.

So, reluctantly, dressed in working rags, carrying my towel and change of clothes, i enter the adjacent very fancy marina restaurant to beg for change.

The receptionist is very good to me. She takes my $5. "How many do you need?" I don't know, so i ask for all quarters.

She heads toward the bar. I stand with my towel and clothes as the Sophisticated pass. She returns with a handful of quarters and a single $1 bill.

"He didnt have enough," she reports, "Wait, i'll try another place."

"No", I say gratefully, "maybe this'll be enuf. If i come back soon naked, you'll know it was not."

I did return soon, but fully fresh-clothed for dinner, with wonderful friends Mitch/Anita.

Quiet uneventful nite on the boat.

Today up early, walk into nearby town, thru the homeless encampment at the Rescue Mission, to coffee place, very sophisticated, $3 for 16oz and they give it to you in the brew carafe that you pour yourself into the small cup. I researched canadian charts online. Not drinking fast enuf i guess, now the carafe is cold, i ask the nice lady if she can heat it up? Well, no, they have no way to do that. Sorry. As i was the only customer at times and i'd left big tip, i dont think it was just that she wanted me out. No matter, coffee cold is good too.

Mitch came by, picked me up, we go to West Marine (the REI of the boating world) to pick up my order (a 2nd anchor and rode [rope and chain connecting anchor to boat], fancy offshore PFD, strobe, manual bail pump) and have a hot dog. (They're celebrating something.)

Problem: they have no Canadian charts. Which i sorta knew, from online, but paper charts are required in Canada (unlike US, where electronic charts are downloadable for free), and i'd put off getting them. Because i put off everything. But now here it is i need them, and according to online, the only 2 places that sell them in Bellingham are closed weekends.

It's the weekend.

But Mitch checks on his phone, as i check again on mine, and we get different results, his phone says 1 place is open. We go there, and it is indeed. And they have canada charts.

This is a store packed floor to ceiling with marine recreation stuff, with much staff and many customers. We are directed to a counter in back, to ancient 70-something man whose charge, by all appearances, is fishing licenses and charts.

He's handling another customer, but he tells me look over the chart-catalog map, compare it to a handwritten list of howmany they have in stock, and report back. "If it says '0', that's how many we have."

So i examine the map that shows the boundaries of charts. The print is very small and with my vision i needed to get right up close. Realize that the map on the right is for small-scale charts that cover same area as the large-scale charts on the left, and that both are but a small part of the total waters thru which i'll pass. So i was intently involved as he handled the fishing license applicant, tho i was vaguely aware that that was taking forever. But it was all very folksy, as fishing licenses should be.

I decided on my list for the 1st part of Canada (maybe i won't get beyond that, whadya think?), but he still wasnt done, so i just continued on up the coast, nothing else to do.

Finally he was done, and i handed in my list, assuring him that these were all non-0, per his instructions.

He was a really nice old character.

He turned to a metal grid rack of rolled charts, searched, took 1 roll down. Each roll was secured each end by a triple-looped rubber band, and a handwritten paper scrap inserted under 1 band with the chart#, and an another #, which i realized must be the number of copies of that chart# which were within this roll.

He searched thru the rack and took down the rolls associated with each of the 10 chart#s i'd specified.

Then he commenced to process each individual chart#...

• Remove the 2 rubber bands.
• Unroll, separating 1 copy.
• Roll the separated copy, set it aside.
• Re-band the source roll, replace it to the rack.
• White out the chart's quantity on summary sheet, write in a new number.

It was taking forever.

i really appreciated Mitch's patience. "What are you doing the rest of the afternoon?" i asked.

"Maybe," he answered, "THIS."

There were now 2 other folks waiting. "Where are you going?" one inquired.

I told him i was afraid to say.

Obviously this good clerk had his system, which i resisted interfering, but finally after half the stack i volunteered that maybe we could help?

To his credit he permitted us the tasks to unroll the rolls and separate the 1 chart each.

It about tripled the output.

In this past life stupid inefficiency drove me absolutely insane, but lately: it's just pleasant to experience, and recall.

 

Glancing at the calendar, surprise, i left only YESTERDAY. Here it is only Day 2, but i feel like it's a very long, good, time.