Day 5 | A Massive 4 Miles – the reverse curve of time

~ From All 3 ~

We woke to a blazing sun with only our homemade canvas awnings to spare us from the morning heat of the finally-arrived summer. Coop rowed over to the Cove Dock where he saw Lisa. She had his hat, forgotten last night after a few rum sarsaparillas with dinner from a fire on the beach; we cooked hand cut steaks and garlic scapes from the garden with Lisa. Lisa said she wanted to have breakfast with us but that it would be too hard to say goodbye. We would have loved the time, but agree saying goodbye would have been hard. We left last year resolved to come back to see Lisa. Now that we have, we resolve to come back sooner, and more often.

Coffee in hand, we prepared ourselves to be presentable and legal ahead of our planned side-step across the border to Canada. Then we all hopped in Grasshopper and went through John’s Pass and by Satellite Island to the County Pier in Prevost Harbor, the closest point of access for the “Honesty Box.” This pirate chest at the main crossroads is filled with Stuart Island T-Shirts and artwork, each individually bagged with an info card, tax-included price breakdown, and return payment envelope. For over 30 years, Coop and Nate have been getting T-shirts from this treasure chest whenever they can and mailing money in the provided envelopes to the sweet family who provides this wonderful trusting service. They have Venmo these days, but the shirts and cards are still unparalleled and a cherished memento; we figure the longer we keep patronizing it, the longer it will exist.

Customs was as easy and friendly as the glassy Boundary Pass crossing, and we immediately felt welcome to a new country barely 4 miles from Lisa’s house. Nate had all the entry apps and papers in order for all of us and our flotilla of boats, and after a direct-but-nice call with the CBSA officer we heard “alright, you’re all set.” Phew! I (Nate) have crossed the border a LOT in the last 3 years, having lived in BC for a spell, but it’s still gets the baseline heart rate up – much like docking a 10+ ton cedar-and-fir basket with a catamaran and dinghy in tow. Today we got all of the above but with ease sun; what a welcome relief to say “We’re in Canada!”

We again aimed north to the top of Bedwell Harbor, not even far enough to drop Grasshopper and Sweetpea from their slow-maneuvering-spot on the Crow’s starboard stern quarter. After assessing the prospect of motoring further to Gulf Island gems like Wallace Island, we opted to be as close as possible to Golf Island Disc Park, a 27-hole gem of a disc golf course. Coop and Nate rowed Sweetpea to the beach and walked up the hill. In 85 degree heat (whatever that is in Celsius!), they loved seeing the “CAR STOPS” along the road – instead of bus stops – where people wait for cars to come and give them a free ride in the right direction. See the photo for the most Canadian of rules signs. The boys reported not getting a ride, but also not trying very hard.

The course was 27 holes of rocky, hilly, creative disc golf first built in 1980. Again, see the pictures. It felt much like the hike up Tip Top, the 400ft-tall peak of Stuart Island, the archetypal San Juan geology – massive chunks of rock speckled with amazing trees and patchy grass. Short holes are still immensely challenging when there are massive elevation drops and omnipresent old growth. The first nine holes are “tonals,” with tall metal cylinder to make a clonging noise rather than the standard chain-and-basket arrangement ubiquitous in the US and present on the holes 10-27 here. For variety, uniqueness, and scenery, it has to get 10/10 frisbees, the highest possible ranking.

They didn’t get a ride on the way back either, which they are taking as a compliment of being really sailor-like. Is smell visible? Normally we’d think BC islanders wouldn’t care, but it sounds like covid introduced more stranger danger here. The walk was easy and beautiful anyway. After a stop for ice, Lucky Lagers, and juice for happy hour, they wandered back down to Medicine Beach Sanctuary to find Sweetpea, the Minto rowboat, waiting patiently. They encountered two young bicyclists from Utah and shared a couple Lucky Lagers with them. They exchanged enthusiasms and the boys cheered them on as they finished a couple of sewing projects on the beach.

While Coop and Nate were on the island Julia was hanging on Crow. She had a sun shower and rinsed out a few pieces of clothing. Then she began a wool sweater for a friend. While sitting up top on Crow, a man came by in his inflatable on his way to his sailboat. They talked for quite awhile about sailing along the Canadian Coast and the many special places. He mentioned that Desolation Sound is beautiful but can be pretty crowded sometimes. He loves going to the Broughtons and we also hope to go there. Once he was up there and didn’t recall the name but said there is a First Nations Museum there. When he was last there he was invited to a Potlatch. He asked a man working at the dock and he encouraged him to go. He did and said it was inspiring. There were gift of many coveted treasures. He was given a bottle of valuable fish oil. He encouraged us to go to a Potlatch if we were invited. He is leaving tomorrow but we may catch him before he leaves. Since we are going in the same direction we may meet up again… that is always a possibility.

Dinner was chicken, cheese and black bean soft tacos with cabbage and cilantro topped with red salsa. Again, we aspired to end the night with a game of Yahtzee, and again, projects and recounting/reviewing the day took precedence and the dice will have to wait again. They’ll be there when we’re ready.

Tomorrow will be a restish day. With strong afternoon rain in the forecast, the boys are hopping to another island to try out its very well-regarded disc golf course. We also aspire to naps and reading, and the rain might just be the right catalyst. If only the interesting people, beautiful scenery, and fun times would abate and we could finally get some rest!

Blog notes:

⁃ I upload the days picture Photo Dump page, but they’re not well organized or captioned. It’s just a dump.
⁃ There’s a Video Dump page, but that might be severely limited if my wifi continues to do nothing.
⁃ I made a Fleet & Friends page so that someday – one of those days when we finally get bored? – there’s good info on our fleet as well as those of the friends we see/meet along the way.