Tiger, tiger

Sunday, June 16, 2024

A combination of orange and black-licorice ice creams makes “Tiger, tiger” an unusual and delicious treat, and Walt, Martin, and I enjoyed some on a splendidly sunny Sunday afternoon at a wonderful little store called Copper & Kelp not far from Port Hardy. Martin had arrived in his rental car around 9 pm on Saturday evening as planned, but, as he and our friend Hans were driving north from Nanaimo, Hans received word that he was needed immediately to make navigation system repairs on a ship near Victoria. He left Martin in the town of Comox on Vancouver Island, rented a car of his own, and drove to Victoria to spend Saturday might and “see the patient” on Sunday morning.

We helped Martin load a large quantity of food and his personal and camera gear onto Braesail, and after he’d made himself a salad as a late supper, we all made our way to bed. After a waffle brunch, Martin worked on the drain in the sink in the forward head, and got it to run much more freely, and Walt discovered that the gaskets under the sinks in the galley had deteriorated and were leaking (I’d reported dampness on the top shelf in the under-sink cabinet), and so we drove off in Martin’s rental car to buy even MORE food and to see if Walt could purchase the appropriate gaskets. He did NOT find said gaskets, but DID find helpful folks at Stryker’s Electronics who not only provided him with the thin sheets of cork that he needed but allowed him to make them on the store’s workbench!

After leaving our purchases on the boat, we had a fine time joy-riding around the Port Hardy area. We first visited Coal Harbour, a village on the west coast of Vancouver Island across from Port Hardy, that had been a mining town, a whaling station, and a base during World War II for the Royal Canadian Air Force. It’s now a base for fishing boats and has a few services for cruisers. We walked through a surprisingly large and unusual museum, the project of a private individual, that contains whaling gear and a gigantic whale jawbone, air force paraphernalia, a huge collection of chain saws and another of old telephones, books, photographs, and miscellaneous object collected throughout the village’s history. One room of the museum contained the cars shown in the photo and an old fire wagon!

We next drove around the village of Fort Rupert, where the Hudson’s Bay Co. had a fort and which now has a population of about 5,000, including those living on a First Nations reserve. Not far away was the Copper & Kelp store, whose merchandise includes gifts and souvenirs, deli sandwiches and pastries, ice cream (I had “Tiger Tiger” and raspberry cheesecake on a waffle cone–yummm!), snacks, basic grocery items, books, etc., all arranged beautifully in a “high-end” boutique fashion! A delightful establishment!

Martin drove us in his rental car back to Port Hardy to fill its tank at the Co-Op, and we then drove to the Port Hardy Airport to return and car and call a taxi to take us back to Fisherman’s Wharf Marina. A very bright and blustery afternoon and evening were spent replacing the galley sinks’ gaskets, reading, napping, working on our computers, doing a French lesson or two, and waiting for Hans, who arrived at about 10:30 pm after being on the road for eight hours. After about five hours of work on the ship’s computers, he’d been able to solve the navigation system’s problems so that the ship can leave for Hawaii on Monday. We’re VERY glad to have him aboard, and we plan to leave for Bull Harbour on Hope Island before noon tomorrow on a day free of rain!