Around Vancouver Island 2013

Day 29 – August 2, 2103 Friday

Having cell reception and internet in Tofino, we took advantage of the opportunity to catch up with family and friends at home. Moe called Jon, who we have sailed with many times, and they discussed Jon and Kate, Jon’s girlfriend, coming on board for a sail with us. They would be delighted to sail with us from Tofino to Ucluelet; it was just a matter of the logistics of them getting to Tofino and having their car in Ucluelet when we all arrived there on Reborn. We also connected with Ken, another friend, to see if he would be available to sail with us from Ucluelet to Sooke. It’s a long haul and we really wanted to have extra crew on board. He was going to check out his travel options and get back to us.

One of my tasks was updating the blog with our adventures and photos. I had attempted to do so last night, but was unable to connect to the internet. I need to interject here with a brief explanation of our navigational program, Navigatrix. It is actually an operating system which we have on a USB drive. I have programed my computer to boot from a USB device first if it detects one. If there is no USB device plugged it, the computer boots Windows first. It works like a charm! I also have another USB drive that I use to store all my pictures on. When I take pictures I move them from my camera to the USB drive. Back to the story. When I had been unable to connect to the internet, I turned the computer off and went to bed. In the morning, without thinking first, I turned on the computer in hope of being able to connect. The photo USB was in the port and my computer tried to do what it was told, it tried to boot from the USB. Well now, didn`t that just cause me some grief. The result of not taking the photo USB out from the computer was the loss of all my photos. Sad day!!

After this disaster and after breakfast, we went up to the marina to pay for another day at the dock and then walked into town together where we parted company. Moe was on a mission to find the best way to get Jon and Kate here and I was off to do some shopping. We agreed to meet at the grocery store at 2:00. I would likely need an extra pair of hands bringing groceries back to the boat.

Tofino is a bustling little community at this time of year with many tourists walking around, checking out the shops and restaurants. Most of the people that I passed on the sidewalks were speaking a language other than English. I enjoyed going into all the small shops to see what was there and was happy to find a few treasures to bring home. I also found a wonderful bakery and picked up a fresh sourdough loaf and a loaf of peasant bread. My browsing and shopping didn’t take as long as I anticipated so I ended up at the grocery store with time to get our groceries before Moe arrived. With impeccable timing, he arrived just as I was at the checkout. We packed up our heavy load and made our way back to Reborn.

On return, I set about putting things away and completing my laundry tasks. Moe cozied up in the wheelhouse with his book, “Fall of Giants”. He had been successful in making travel arrangements with Jon and Kate. They would drive to Ucluelet, leaving their car there, and take a cab back to Tofino. Problem solved! With all our tasks done, sleepiness overcame both of us and we succumbed to an afternoon nap.

My napping done, it was time to get dinner on. Moe got up soon after and we ate dinner, after which I made another foray into town to restock our liquor cabinet. I had a very nice leisurely stroll through Tofino. Unfortunately, I didn`t take my camera with me, so I have no Tofino photos. All in all, a bad day for photos!

When I returned, we plotted our course for the next day. We planned to go either to Ucluelet right away or to the Broken Group. Jon and Kate would be arriving quite late so I got their bed ready and then headed to bed myself. It was my intention to get up when they arrived but I was absolutely sound asleep and could not be roused. Greetings would have to wait til the morning.