Monday-Tuesday, September 7-8
On a mostly-grayish day, Walt and I worked on various projects around the boat, and in the early afternoon we decided to see if we could get a place on the Nanaimo Yacht Club’s guest dock to make Tuesday’s planned activities easier. Walt called the dock-master, and he said there would be enough room, so we raised our anchor and motored the short distance to the “reciprocal” dock (where boat owners, who are members of certain “sister” yacht clubs, can tie up their vessels for a day without charge). We had some difficulty mooring because a current kept pushing Braesail away, but, fortunately, two people on the dock helped to catch our lines and pull us in so that we could secure her. We thanked them heartily and walked up to the registration office, signed in, paid our fee for two nights (the first one free), found the laundry facilities and washrooms, and returned to the boat to finish some of our earlier tasks.
Since Braesail was tied up on the outside of the dock, wavelets generated by passing boats and departing and arriving seaplanes slapped against the stern, producing a fascinating, and rather noisy, “composition” for water-percussion. By the time we were ready to head for bed, however, activities on the water were ending and our night was pleasantly still!
Tuesday was an active day that began with Walt’s walking up to the road above the Yacht Club office to meet a taxi that would take him to a car rental agency. He drove around Nanaimo and bought some bits and bobs for the boat and then came back to the marina entrance to collect me so that we could spend the day exploring the areas around Nanaimo, Qualicum Beach, and Port Alberni (on the west coast of Vancouver Island at the end of a long fjord). We first drove to the head of a trail to a well-known waterfall, but after reading the posted information about the length and nature of the hike to the falls, we decided to make the hour-long drive over the mountains, through a grove of breathtakingly tall fir and hemlock trees, and down to city of Port Aberni on the shore of the fjord. It was a beautiful drive, and at the entrance to the town we stopped at the handsome Visitors’ Information Centre to get a map and some suggestions as to what it was most important to see during a one-day wander.
Our next stop was the McLean Mill National Historic Site, a rare, surviving example of an early-to-mid-20th-century logging and lumber operation in British Columbia. Here, we strolled around the remains of a steam-powered sawmill that had been in operation from about 1925 until the 1960s, and that retained much of the machinery and many of the buildings. Since Walt’s grandfather Knowles had worked as a saw-sharpener in southwestern Washington, Walt was able to tell me a good bit about mill operations. The site was officially closed for the season, but it was an intriguing complex to wander around and explore. If only, I thought, such “industries” could be run for the good of the employees, customers, environment, and local communities instead of solely for the maximum profits of the owners, how much better the world would be!
After visiting the very attractive and active waterfront and finding no place to park, we drove a good part of the way toward the remote little ocean-shore village of Bamfield through gorgeous, mountainous countryside that now and then afforded splendid views over the fjord. We’d been told that, when the public road gave way to rougher, narrow roads, we should probably turn back so that our rented car wouldn’t suffer any damage, so once we’d reached a “View Point” from which we could see the water FAR below, I took this photo and we returned to Port Alberni, again enjoying the wonderful scenery very much!
This time, we were able to park and walk to the Turtle Island Fish & Chips eatery (excellent food!), and then to The Donut Shop, where we purchased one donut frosted with maple icing and tiny bacon bits, and another topped with chocolate frosting, chocolate chips, and crushed peanuts (both somewhat unusual AND very delicious!). We drove around Port Alberni for a while longer before making the return trip through Qualicum Beach (where we did a little grocery-shopping and bought a few more odds and ends for the boat), stopping at a bakery before returning to the Yacht Club marina. Once our purchases were stowed aboard Braesail and I’d disposed of trash in the marina’s dumpster, we drove to a small Thai restaurant where the food was very tasty and Walt had an interesting and helpful conversation with the young man who waited on us (the son of the chef, from whom our server was learning to cook and to speak Thai).
Our meal ended, we returned the rental car and walked (mostly downhill) to the marina on a pleasantly warm evening, stopping for an enjoyable conversation with the couple whose sailboat was moored just ahead of Braesail and who’d been eating at one of the picnic tables on the dock. It wasn’t long before all of the day’s purchases were stored away, and we were snuggling into bed and anticipating a four-hour journey from Nanaimo to secluded Deep Bay on delightful Jedediah Island, the whole of which is a marine park that we’ve enjoyed exploring on previous trips.
Braesail - A grand yacht in the Salish Sea 