Volume I: Nanaimo to French Creek
Alone again on Rikki-tikki-tavi, we found enough to keep us busy for three more days! Cruisers spend a lot of time looking for ways to get supplies like water, fuel, propane, food, etc. This can be quite challenging and sometimes arduous, but it can be a fun way to explore a new spot. Some boaters make stops at marinas regularly for laundromats and showers. We shower aboard and don't make a lot of laundry, so mostly we just have to find food and fuel, plus we prefer to anchor rather than pay moorage fees.
Nanaimo is a very well-developed city and it has a concentrated marina area with restaurants, a nice chandlery, a grocery and mall nearby. This view is of the downtown municipal marina and high-speed ferry landing, with the Newcastle Island/Protection Island anchorage out in the distance. Rikki-tikki is among the crowd of boats to the left of the group way out there (can you see him?). We motored Darzee across the harbor any time we wanted to come ashore, parking him behind a little floating restaurant called "Penny's Palapa".
A small but interesting street fair offers fresh farmer's produce, specialty foods and crafts. With our new friends from the anchorage, Rod and Barb, we enjoyed a sunny morning at the market- I bought some lovely handmade feather and leather earrings from a First Nation woman. A troupe of preschoolers enchanted the crowd as they filed through the fair, each hatted and wearing an oversize green T-shirt emblazoned with the name of their school.
A costumed bag-piper played while we did the obligatory tourist pose behind painted plywood figures representing early settlers of Nanaimo at The Bastion. I'm wearing my new feather earrings.
We discovered there was a Costco along one of the Nanaimo city bus routes, so an entire day was devoted to getting there, stocking up on protein sources, and getting back! It was a very long day which cost us eight dollars in bus fare. Not inexpensive, but we found a couple of nice waterproof down vests for our winter on Galiano Island. Our little freezer full again, we pointed Rikki-tikki's bow toward the less-supplied islands of Desolation Sound.
With the promise getting together with Captain Stan from Noyo, of dinner and laundry, French Creek was our destination. We were told it was very small. There was even some speculation that there would be no room for our trimaran, but Stan said he would come down and help us tie up when we called on VHF. With confidence, we motored Rikki-tikki-tavi out of Nanaimo's north entrance, carefully avoiding the infamous rocks that inhabit her harbor channel– rocks that damage and sink many vessels each year.
As we approached French Creek, our VHF hails to the Captain went unanswered. He must've been called away! There would be no help on the dock, but we went in anyway, there being no other harbor or anchorage nearby. And was it tiny! Smaller than small, with every space stacked two and three deep with boats; mostly commercial fishing vessels, but quite a few sailboats, even a couple of trimarans. We inched in, stopped and backed, slowly turning around. Finally choosing a spot aside a small sailboat, we nudged ourselves in, using the boathook to position Rikki-tikki snugly with lots of fenders between us. The photo shows the spot we're headed for... behind the silver crabber, see that little sailboat? Rikki's port ama is pointing straight at it. We are thankful there was absolutely no wind!
Despite missing our dinner with the Captain, by a happy chance, we enjoyed visiting with his two crewmembers, Emile and André! Emile and his wife, who dock their boat just two boats away from where we parked Rikki-tikki, drove us to the local market where we bought a few more essentials, like coffee and eggs. Thank you so much! It was wonderful seeing you again.
A strong southeasterly wind howled the next day, and whitehorses pranced outside in the Strait of Georgia. We would've made a very fast passage to Rebecca Spit if we hadn't wanted to wait another day, hoping to give Stan time to return. We spent a second night, with its rather pricey dock fee, tied to that little sailboat. We are sorry we missed you, Captain Stan!
The gale winds faded with the sunset. Fair weather was in the forecast for our long run to Quadra Island, where we hoped to spring a surprise arrival on our cruising friends on Juniata and Valhalla. Little did we know of what was in store for us...
A small but interesting street fair offers fresh farmer's produce, specialty foods and crafts. With our new friends from the anchorage, Rod and Barb, we enjoyed a sunny morning at the market- I bought some lovely handmade feather and leather earrings from a First Nation woman. A troupe of preschoolers enchanted the crowd as they filed through the fair, each hatted and wearing an oversize green T-shirt emblazoned with the name of their school.
A costumed bag-piper played while we did the obligatory tourist pose behind painted plywood figures representing early settlers of Nanaimo at The Bastion. I'm wearing my new feather earrings.
We discovered there was a Costco along one of the Nanaimo city bus routes, so an entire day was devoted to getting there, stocking up on protein sources, and getting back! It was a very long day which cost us eight dollars in bus fare. Not inexpensive, but we found a couple of nice waterproof down vests for our winter on Galiano Island. Our little freezer full again, we pointed Rikki-tikki's bow toward the less-supplied islands of Desolation Sound.
With the promise getting together with Captain Stan from Noyo, of dinner and laundry, French Creek was our destination. We were told it was very small. There was even some speculation that there would be no room for our trimaran, but Stan said he would come down and help us tie up when we called on VHF. With confidence, we motored Rikki-tikki-tavi out of Nanaimo's north entrance, carefully avoiding the infamous rocks that inhabit her harbor channel– rocks that damage and sink many vessels each year.
As we approached French Creek, our VHF hails to the Captain went unanswered. He must've been called away! There would be no help on the dock, but we went in anyway, there being no other harbor or anchorage nearby. And was it tiny! Smaller than small, with every space stacked two and three deep with boats; mostly commercial fishing vessels, but quite a few sailboats, even a couple of trimarans. We inched in, stopped and backed, slowly turning around. Finally choosing a spot aside a small sailboat, we nudged ourselves in, using the boathook to position Rikki-tikki snugly with lots of fenders between us. The photo shows the spot we're headed for... behind the silver crabber, see that little sailboat? Rikki's port ama is pointing straight at it. We are thankful there was absolutely no wind!
Despite missing our dinner with the Captain, by a happy chance, we enjoyed visiting with his two crewmembers, Emile and André! Emile and his wife, who dock their boat just two boats away from where we parked Rikki-tikki, drove us to the local market where we bought a few more essentials, like coffee and eggs. Thank you so much! It was wonderful seeing you again.
A strong southeasterly wind howled the next day, and whitehorses pranced outside in the Strait of Georgia. We would've made a very fast passage to Rebecca Spit if we hadn't wanted to wait another day, hoping to give Stan time to return. We spent a second night, with its rather pricey dock fee, tied to that little sailboat. We are sorry we missed you, Captain Stan!
The gale winds faded with the sunset. Fair weather was in the forecast for our long run to Quadra Island, where we hoped to spring a surprise arrival on our cruising friends on Juniata and Valhalla. Little did we know of what was in store for us...
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