One bloody manifold (I can legally call it “bloody” because
it’s English and all) and ten boat bucks later and the engine is finally
functioning again. Editor’s Note: In
reference to the last post, Canadians STILL do not do weekends no matter how
pathetic you are. As a result, we had to wait till Monday for our exhaust elbow
to be modified and installed. But to diesel mechanic 3’s credit, the job was
completed on Monday. We opted to stay in CRBC on Tuesday to make sure all other
systems were functioning, giving diesel mechanic 3 the opportunity to
personally witness the look of horror on our faces upon seeing the bill—a look
that I’m sure those in the trade refer to as “gravy”.
So finally, on Wednesday—32 days after we first arrived—we
dusted off the cobwebs, pulled away from the dock, motored over to the fuel
dock, plunked down five dinghy dollars to top off the tanks, high-tailed it out
of the harbor, and officially put CRBC in our rearview mirror. It was an
awesome feeling—made all the more awesomer by knowing that we will never set
foot there again. Ever. And we’re fairly certain that not even the passage of
time will soften our feelings towards the place. But if there’s one concession,
it’s that we did our part to keep CRBC “green”. Thanks to our patronage, the
liquor store saw a 20% increase in sales; the tobacco stores had to pool their
inventory to keep up with the Captain’s cigar consumption; the marine supply
store added a new wing; and the marina named us “tenant of the month”. To say
nothing of the various tradespeople that have paraded in and out of our boat (and
our wallets) this past month. I must admit that I do feel a little sorry for
CRBC. Now that we’re gone, their economy’s going to collapse.
Opposites do attract.
With the plan now to beat a hasty retreat back to Everett to
prepare Raven for the voyage to San Diego in September, we’re choosing our
stops strategically—namely any place in a southerly direction that’s not at all
reminiscent of CRBC. Campbell River (and we speak from experience now) is a
strip mall with a marina. There’s a reason it’s a provisioning port—one maybe
two days max to load up on bacon and booze before heading north. Those that
choose it as a destination are either a) holing up in one of the area’s luxury sport
fishing resorts and never actually setting foot in town; b) confusing it with
some other place; or c) both.
After studying the charts,
we opted to head to Pender Harbor. It would be a long jaunt—fully 61 nautical
miles or roughly seven hours at sea—but we had a new manifold and a rebuilt
engine to break in and the further we got from CRBC, the more likely we would get
towed into another/better harbor if something went wrong. But nothing did, and
I guess we have diesel mechanic 3 to thank for it (and I hope he enjoys his new
Ferrari.) As this was our first day on the new and improved engine, we knew we
wanted to spend the night at dock…just in case…and despite this being the high
season when many marinas are full, we found a spot (six actually) at the
Garden Bay Hotel Marina & Pub. Sounds swanky, huh? Not so much. The hotel
went out of business long ago, the marina consisted of two rickety old docks
that could hold maybe a dozen boats, and the pub is one of those locals-only
joints that smells like stale beer and looks like a waffle house. In short…it
was perfect. The owner himself came down to help us tie off, then we followed
him up to the pub where we had cold beer and seafood fettuccini out on the
patio overlooking the harbor. It was absolutely wonderful and exactly what we
needed to shake the CRBC blues.
From Pender Harbor we had
two options: southeast to Nanaimo or south toward Vancouver. We’d been to
Nanaimo—it’s okay, but we didn’t want to risk getting caught up in another “ruckus”
(see day 20) —so we set our sights on Bowen Island and a little harbor called
Snug Cove and were particularly intrigued with a small marina with the
delightful name of Union Steamship Company Marina. And I’m happy to report that
it’s not only big on beautiful (a safe harbor surrounded on three sides by tall
mountains) and long on quaint (turn-of-the-century architecture and landscaping),
but extremely serene and a great place to hole up for two days. In other words,
it completely lives up to the hype of its back cover ad on the Waggoner’s
Cruising Guide (money well spent, USSC Marina.)
And so Canada has come
through twice in two days—almost as if it were trying to apologize for the
blahness that was CRBC. But it’ll have to try a little harder. We’re still a
little miffed about the eggs.
Pictured: Also not CRBC (Union Steamship Marina/Snug Cove)
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