A CATCH-UP-ON-CHORES DAY: Saturday, August 6 (Walt’s brother’s birthday!)

Joy didn’t sleep much at all on Friday night for some reason, and neither did I—I found myself a little cold and with some leg cramps, and with a run-away mind that kept stumbling upon and tripping over boat-related information that I thought I needed to know and didn’t, and upon possible reasons for my (self-perceived) failures during the trip. Before I could devise plans for rectifying my situation, however, I fell asleep.
We spent most of Saturday in a generally cloudy, quiet Garden Bay, watching the boats arrive and depart (some were GIGANTIC!); reading, responding to, and deleting the large bags of e-mail that had accumulated while we were without connectivity on our way to, in, and on our way back from Princess Louisa Inlet (only four days!); and riding in the dinghy (once the motor had agreed to start) to Madeira Park to shop. Walt bought some new polypropylene rope to serve as the dinghy’s “painter” (its old bow line was heavy and worn and didn’t float), and also found a new cap to replace the gasoline container’s cracked one. He was given a five-gallon black plastic pail that he hoped he could sit on to make it possible to row the dinghy once more, and the rocking “bucket seat” actually worked, albeit rather less than perfectly. Joy and I enjoyed strolling around the flower-lined streets of Madeira Park and buying more Nanaimo bars (one of our favorite treats!); I took a nap later on in the cockpit in the afternoon sunshine; Walt made some small repairs inside the boat; the depth sounder continued to produce believable readings; and we finished the day with a delicious dinner of fish, fresh broccoli, and Yukon gold potatoes followed by an entertaining game of “Hearts” (accompanied by tea and the Nanaimo bars!) that I lost to Joy and Walt by a huge margin!