the reverse curve of time

~ From Nate ~

We’re passing Entrance Island outside of Nanaimo. BC Ferries are in full effect. Delicious smells are wafting from the galley via pilothouse thanks to Osh. Mom is knitting at the starboard shrouds. Coop just woke up from a nap and Tim is still telling stories. I’m in the helm hammock with the autopilot on and music playing.

It’s been a gorgeous day. Leaving Blubber Bay was a bleary-eyed backtrack to R2AK 2016, where it was our fourth anchorage. The sunrise came over Jervis Inlet and going down the east side of Texada was a beautiful new stretch of water for all of us. We’ve motored all day, chugging along at 1400rpm. I took a great nap from 10:30-1:30, much needed.

It feels like we’re traveling through a gelatinous membrane back to the Matrix. Deliberate and slow, we swim through it from the dreamworld back to the ones and zeroes.

We continued down the Strait with a little wind on the nose, taking time to soak in the mountains and big water. As we headed south, Tim checked in with our friends on Gabriola. Quill, Erin, and Finn hopped in their new wild ocean-racing sailboat Dolly and made the short jaunt from Silva Bay to Saturnina Island. After a quick tour of Silva Bay, we slipped out one of the many entrances and turned over toward Saturnina. As we neared, we saw Dolly at anchor and Erin and Finn running around on the beach… and then we saw it. The dock on the adjacent shore of Bath Island.

We hadn’t registered it on the chart during our approach, but the rickety dock on the south side of Bath Island is where we spent our second night of R2AK, sharing dock space and laughs with Team Vantucky in their Windrider trimaran (designed by Russell Brown’s dad, Jim!).

Coop and I were both a bit verklempt at this revelation. We anchored by Dolly and chatted with Quill over the water until Erin and Finn rowed back out in their Tad Roberts-designed Pogi dinghy (named after the Canadian unemployment insurance system). I think I need to build one – lots of volume for people and stuff but a skinny water line for rowing plus a nice shape for sailing… perfect! Because I need more projects.

We got a tour of the shockingly well-designed Dolly, a crazy 30’ custom ocean racer/cruiser Quill got for a song. He doesn’t know much about it yet, but one look at the wild spreaders sticking out 4’ past the gunwale says this boat is special. Down below is spartan but full of space and comfort – including a king-size bed! Whoa. We must sail it with Quill some day.

After appreciating all things Dolly, we Pogi’d back to the Crow for soup and laughs. Osh, Julia, and Finn played Catan down below while we middleagers hung out on deck musing about boats, sharing stories, and taking care of important business like measuring mast heights (contrary to some optimistic estimations from the other crew, Dolly came in at 38’ off the deck and the Crow flexed its double-spreader fir stick at 49’ off the cabin top (roughly the same height as Dolly’s deck).

The moon gave another beautiful rise through the clouds, the stars twinkled and shot, and the bioluminescence dazzled.

With an early morning ahead for another push south, we called off the jams at midnight. This will mark the end of Tim’s time aboard for this trip. It has been a true joy to have this man’s mountainous heart, humor, and head with us. Always there to share a laugh, tear, or doobie, and to jump at any task needed on the boat. Time with Tim has always left us in awe of his warmth, and this last week has only deepened and expanded the love we share.

Seeing Quill, Erin, and Fin at an important R2AK spot was extremely special as well. We usually only get to see them at the Raid, which is fun but always in large groups. They are each magical people in their own way, and the close time was much appreciated. Finn even gave Osh and Julia a run for their money in Catan, and a thorough lecture on the wide world of Godzilla.

It’s hard to believe we will be in the USA tomorrow. We’ve blushed when friends have called us the most Canadian Americans they’ve met but gladly accept the compliment. We are grateful for how much has happened on this trip, noteworthy or not, for it has given us all a sense of completion and satisfaction.

We’re not sad it’s nearly over, because it’s not. This is just a chapter.