Close along the shore in the narrow channels, i admired the bands of rock & tidal life. There were 3 bald eagles on a branch, a seal, a dolphin. The sky was dramatic, grey, but with openings in the gloom to white cumulus above, and godlight. A perfect day for the return to Reid Passage.
The place had scared me before. The narrow passage comes out onto a brief border to real ocean, then wiggles thru confused array of wave-breaking rocks before ducking back inland. Tho it had been a sunny day, the wind was blowing, big ocean rollers (well...) rolled in, waves were broke on rocks and otherwise, and i had no certain idea of where the heck to go, no aids to navigation, chart in one hand, glasses down on nose to discern fine print, back up to view the scary world.
Today was much better, there was no wind, but still there were those 4' rollers, me traversing laterally, yes the good boat handled it all fine, better than me i guess. Here the opposite direction comes a 40' sailboat, bouncing in the waves, each of us i think making things easier for the other, as we could see where the other came from, hence the general direction to go.
[Clarification: a 4' wave is not big. It just feels that way.]
Wiggled thru the rocks and i was back in-land. Relief.
Here comes a rowboat. Poor bastards, how will they manage what i'd just been thru?
How to navigate facing backwards? But i'll bet they're fine. Some people, amazing.
Unlike the trip north, there were cruiser boats everywhere, N/B. Arrived Shearwater, for gas, beer, etc. Clumsily hit the dock a little hard. "Sorry," i said to the attendant. "No problem," he answered, "that's what the tires are for."
Filled (only 1/2 tank but 342$C, 1.85$C/liter, lets see that's OMG 5.25$US/gallon. (Check my math.) Luckily, for purposes of this long adventure, i'd pre-chosen to ignore all costs.
I complimented that the resort looked really nice. "It's a bit pricey," he replied.
And the place was nice. I had a fancy breakfast in the almost empty restaurant (by this time, 10am, everyone else no doubt out fishing or on eco-tours). The unique server (bright fake-red hair, bright red makeup, both purposely overdone) was comicly dramatic, called everyone "my darling" like she meant it, she redirected me to a table where i could plug in my laptop and invited me to stay til 11 (pm that is). She brought the plate of food. "I'll just have to eat this," i said (because i'm kinda character too), her comeback: "If you did anything else with it i'd be worried"
Checking the weather for Cape Caution, it looked bad thru ~friday, 4 days away. What to do til then? There seemed furious positive activity everywhere, especially construction. Walking back to the boat, i encountered 3 guys together who from earlier contacts i already knew were associated with the resort, likely in ~management positions, and ~volunteered for work. They politely declined. O too bad, that would've been kinda cool.
...unless they'd put me to cleaning barbecues, which is what i then encountered further out on the dock. Next to a nice Coast Guard ship (Coast Guard, US and Canadian, have the coolest!), a young man scrubbed a grill. [Surely it had come from the Coast Guard vessel. Another young civilian man was ~cleaning on the CG boat. Apparently Canada Coast Guardsmen dont clean? seems odd, but whatever.] I complimented his hard (ugly) work. Referring to my also-adjacent Washington-registered boat, he asked if i'd come all the way from Washington?
Yes, but i'd gone to Skagway, now i was headed back.
"Where's Skagway?"
Alaska.
"Good on ya," he said.
He had a small boat too and he'd been all around here, but thot of heading farther out, had i seen others my size?
Just the day-fishermen, not cruisers.
Did it handle the seas?
Yes. But sometimes it was scary.
Beyond years wise, he said "To the sea, the biggest ship is small."
As i un-docked, pulled away, i saw he watched me go. And not even cuz i was doing anything stupid.
1 comment:
Hummm, i am a watcher...boats, planes, RVs, and people. I hope they don’t think I’m watching with a critical eye. It's usually a wish-ful thinking sort of watch...wondering where they’re going, how they learned to back up without hitting a fence post, if it’s paid off, stuff like that.
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