Archive for the ‘Boating’ Category

… against having too much fun!

Our niece Lee-Ann and her husband Sean were with us (Kent and I, and Rick and Paulette) for the past 4 nights and 5 days and we enjoyed every single waking moment. We traveled, we drank, we ate, we set prawn traps, we drank, we ate, we bonfired on the beach, we drank, we ate, we had tea and Velvet Lush at 4 pm, we drank more, we ate dinner at 10:30, we drank, we slept briefly, we ate, we drank, we made margaritas, we ate…. hah - I guess you get the picture huh?

We just dropped them off at Port McNeill, restocked and are heading back to the Broughton’s to meet up again with Rick and Paulette. Friday, Rick and Paulette’s friends arrive and we’ll be starting the party all over!

I’m going to need a serious holiday once this summer is over…

My health is none of your business, right? Really, I hate talking about my little problems but I know when my body doesn’t feel right and I need a medical opinion. That was my situation last night. After a full day of extreme discomfort, I made the decision to ask Kent to take me to the hospital.

Normally, that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but we are living aboard the boat, traveling the Broughton Islands and spending time with friends Rick & Paulette. The nearest hospital was a couple of hours away, in good weather and it was 6:30 pm. Kent was not a happy camper when I asked how long it would take for him to get me there. “NOW?????? Why not two hours ago when we had plenty of daylight left? The wind is blowing 40 knots out in the Sound”, he said, extremely annoyed. ‘Yes, I need to get there tonight if at all possible”, I said.

Off we raced, at 20 knots across Queen Charlotte Sound. Luckily the wind was only blowing about 20, but the swells were broadside to us, so it was an uncomfortable ride. I stayed in the stateroom, with Hugo, as it would have been dangerous and uncomfortable to try to get up the stairs to the pilot house, so we couldn’t communicate and Kent didn’t know my situation. But, I’ve never asked to go the hospital before so he knew I needed help.

Kent talked to Comox Coast Guard while we were enroute and they had an auxilliary boat come out of Telegraph Cove to meet us and the paramedics were on the fuel dock at Port McNeill waiting for us.

When the engines slowed and I heard Kent putting out the fenders and preparing the lines, I dragged myself up the stairs, got my coat on and went out to help tie up. I actually went on to the swimgrid, feeling slightly lightheaded, and handed the stern line to the waiting Coast Guard, saying to them all I wasn’t dying. The paramedic ordered me back in the salon and came in to talk to me. They took me to the Port Hardy Hospital where I was treated - and all was well within 2 hours. Unfortunately, for me, the doctor made me promise to have a Colonoscopy when I got home. Heh, heh - I won’t be home until September, but yeah, yeah, I will get it done, just not next week, or next month.

I still don’t like talking about my health, but now realize boaters need to be educated and well equipped with medical supplies, especially when they are boating in remote areas. Sometimes a simple medical kit with bandages is not enough if a hospital or doctor is not readily available. Before heading north to Alaska, you may be sure I’ll be asking a professional exactly what supplies to have onboard.

Thank goodness I can count on Kent to get the job done when there is an emergency!

We spent around 20 minutes in the lagoon, wanting to get out again before the current was too strong running in. You’d never know this was the same body of water!

I had the shore fire burning to perfection on the tiny rocky island when Kent made the decision to ‘get outta Dodge’. We’d anchored in a lovely area behind two islands close to the Broughton Lagoon for the afternoon and it was never the intention to stay the night, but Paulette and I really wanted to go ashore, sit in the sun for the afternoon and build a fire where we could cook the steaks for dinner. It was all good until the Northwest wind started to blow and our stern line was doing ALL the work, holding our two boats. Our anchor line wasn’t taking any load and Kent and Rick felt we were not secure for the night.

I quickly put out the fire, loaded our chairs, coolers, fire grate and Hugo into the dinghy while Rick removed one shore line. Kent and Rick fired up the engines, untied and we pulled anchor. I simplified that whole event as there was much discussion, direction, rushing and anxiety as the wind and current came into play. Kent had to go back to the bay in the dinghy to remove the remaining shore line and we waited out in the middle of the channel for him. Now we’re off to find a safe anchorage for the night, sans steak dinner - and I’m getting hungry! I guess we’ll barbecue in the dark… on deck. We just heard it’s blowing 40 out on the west coast, so I’m glad we’re on inside calm waters.

We had an absolute fantastic day - the best so far. Well, they’ve all been good, but today we took the dinghy’s through the rapids into the Broughton Lagoon. I took tons of video and hope to upload it soon. We had to wait for nearly slack tide to navigate the rapids, so we took a picnic lunch and ate it in the dinghy’s while we were tied together and tied to a nasty, mussel laden log. The water was disgusting with a dirty foamy substance all around, but the sea anenomes, urchins, starfish, shiners and other sealife didn’t seem to mind at all. We enjoyed a royal feast of ceasar salad with chicken and prawns and hot foccacia bread together with beer and wine. It was a quite a meal to eat in the dinghy’s! The sun was shining and all was good. Watch the video as Kent tries to navigate us through the strong current into the lagoon.

We decided to eat lunch while waiting for low slack and Kent found a little bay full of kelp, starfish, anemones, barnacles and mussels. I tied the dinghy to a mussel covered log and handed out plates and chicken/prawn salad and foccacia bread. It tasted delicious even though our surroundings were a bit gross with brown foam on the water and the smell of decaying mussels and barnacles in the air.

Once the current slacked up, Kent went through the rapids while Hugo and I waited on an island. He made it with no problem and came back out, so Rick and Paulette went through.Kent went through once more just for the fun of it, then Rick came back for me. We toured around the huge lagoon for 20 minutes then headed back out at slack. There was a huge difference from the raging river rapids to the absolute stillness of slack water. It’s deceiving and we were careful. This is a place I’d come back to again and again. It’s more beautiful than Squirrel Cove, with a longer channel to the lagoon, but the water temperature is a lot colder too. The water was 54 degrees and Squirrel cove gets into the 70’s, but this is definitely a delight for body surfers, kayakers and day trips with the dinghy. It’s best to go through at high slack, but we made it easily in the dinghy’s just before low slack. Rick’s sounder showed 10 feet of water. If you get caught unprepared in the lagoon, it will be a long 7 hours waiting for the next slack! Take water, warm clothes food and any other safety equipment you may require - oh, and wear your life jacket in case you get dumped in the cold water and are washed back out into the ocean by the strong current.