"Random Thoughts"
Aboard S/V Pacific Voyager
From Barry & Pat Bolln

Hello All,
We are in British Columbia again living on our sailboat and exploring new coves in search of beauty and adventure. Will warn you that we give lots of mundane details, but many of you have asked what do you do and how do you live on a boat. Here is what we do.

April 4, 2005 -Hilo---- reaching exhaustion from all the work and stress of the last 6 months, we set our alarm to get 3 hours sleep, then try to finish packing and get the house ready for spring and summer visitors. At the expected departure time, we were not nearly ready and had no choice but to keep going at the house. We later jumped out of the car at the airport and with 30 seconds at the final door to decide if I would go and leave Barry behind, or wait for the next flight, I, of course, chose to wait. He was held up 2 minutes extra while security checked the computers. Our first missed flight! Wow! That put us on standby for a flight to Honolulu 2 � hours later. We made it and walked as fast as we could pulling our carry-on bags over � mile to the last gate #34 and boarded the flight to Seattle a few minutes later. I watched the not-so-good movie just to pass the time as the tail wind shoved us 2760 miles in only 4 hours 45 minutes. After a very smooth flight and finding our luggage had truly accompanied us on the flight, we thanked the hotel manager for showing us to our room in Seattle. After a couple of short flights on 2 different airlines the next day, we landed in winds of 30-35 mph in Campbell River, British Columbia. It made for a very bumpy trip. Winds in the morning had gusted to 70mph, so we were glad for our later arrival. We slept well at the hotel and walked to the boat the next day in the continuing high winds.

In the last few months an infestation of rats had hit the marina, and our boat was not spared. We have spent the last 10 days vacuuming up and throwing away their mess. There is hardly a surface on the boat that was unspoiled. The smell was horrendous. We are hoping that the nasty critters have not chewed through wiring or other important stuff like they did the forward bunk and lots of paper and styrefoam. Ugh. Hope this part ends soon. The bleach smell is now taking over the other, and most all is disinfected and deodorized.

The blossoms are popping out on the trees and the tulips and other bulb plants are beautiful. The snow on the distant mountains is so beautiful also. The temperature two mornings was 32 degrees and slowly climbed into the 40's or 50's each day, but the high winds make it feel much colder. We are wearing lots of layers all the time. We have ridden many miles on our bicycles now from the hotel to the boat and back every day. I look so cute with my 10 layers on and a knit cap under my bicycle helmet. We have already seen eagles, gulls, seals, cormorants, and merganser ducks.