Sailing the Karina C

I am on the ferry to Vancouver this morning. I am taking the day off boat chores to take Mom to the doctor. I am sooo frustrated with the slow pace of getting the Pactor and its related software things going. We spent yesterday morning and early afternoon at the boat getting things squared away and ready for living aboard. After the mechanic comes by next Monday morning we will be ready to sail away. Tuesday we will take the 0700 slack at Dodd Narrows and ride the ebb to Victoria. Hopefully, we will be able to scoop a ride with somebody to the BCA meeting. We will anchor in Tod Inlet.
It must be creepy, but the centres on the two strips of wood on the coachroof are exactly 22" apart. The centres on the frame for the emergency liferaft are 22" apart too. One break in a painfully slow process. Last night I went down to the boat and tried to tune a weatherfax from Hawaii. No luck. The reception in marinas is notoriously poor, so I guess I won't get anything until I get off the dock. I spoke to Scott last night. He is the weather guru for the BCA fleet. Unfortunately, we can't get to the meetings. He is also a Pactor wiz. So he has consented to guide me through the setup of my Winlink system while we are at the Rendezvous.
Karina now looks ready for habitation. She has a gleaming cockpit as Anita spent part of the day yesterday getting things cleaned on the boat. She claims to be of little help but, with all the frustrating aspects of electronic navigation systems that don't quite work, I am happy that something is happening. She is truly a blessing to this cruise. She delivers me from the small jobs so I can concentrate on the complicated and often frustrating jobs of getting Winlink and Weatherfax systems going. The inventory is drawing to a close and I can confidently claim that I have enough vacuum cleaner bags to go around the world at least two times. We can make a new spinnaker purely out of sailtape that I have bought and lost in various lockers.
Things around home are progressing slowly. Jim has yet to find a summer job. I sense his frustration. He will connect sooner or later. It is just difficult as the days slip by and no money coming in September comes around and the fear of having to take a student loan looms. I suggested he take some time off the search and spend some time in the garden. At least something positive happens there with his efforts.
I am now on my way back to Nanaimo. I stopped at SH (popular yacht chandlery) where I had phoned an order for a set of dinghy wheels ten days ago. They didn't know anything about my order. So, I bought another set and phoned the company and cancelled my order. They reversed my VISA later this morning. This company is in considerable trouble when they hire people at low wages. The Vancouver store is still in considerable disarray. All the staff are new to me. I am surprised they are even open when things are like this (they recently moved the store). I asked about some bits for my mainsheet traveller. He pointed vaguely towards a locked display and indicated the guy who handles the stuff isn't in the store today. I got fed up and walked out. Too bad. This was a great store. I don't think I will be back for a long time. I may go to their Richmond store. At least the folks there seem to know their stuff.
I called a friend who lives in Vancouver. He is a few years older than me. They have cruised the South Seas some years ago. She now has breast cancer. No matter what happens from here, she is never going to be too far from her oncologist. So the kind of cruising we are contemplating is off the list for them. It reaffirms our decision to do this cruise before inevitable illness takes distance cruising away from us. I am so lucky I had a job that I could retire in my 50s from. The indexed pension and the group dental and extended plans make life for us easier from here on. I know at least two other couples in fleet who are trying to extricate themselves from businesses and/or property so they can go away. Cruising for them might well pass them by as they wait for opportune moments to get rid of those things.
These "ifida" (if I'd have) moments are way too easy to say as we get older. We age every time we say or think them. So far I have no regrets. I think that, even if we buy it off the Columbia Bar, you would have to say the same for our lives. As far as I am concerned, I am deeply in love with the blonde beauty I wake up next to each morning. We have two great kids. We are about to embark on a voyage I have dreamed about for most of my life.We have never known need in our lives. Yeah, I have been very fortunate for these past 60 years.
When I was a little gaffer, my Dad made me a work desk (my grades sucked). Eventually I had to repeat a grade of school. Repeating a grade woke me up to the fact that I just blew off a year of my life. A mistake made at the tender age of 13 left a huge impression on me. I made honour role at school after that. The desk still resides in my bedroom. On the top of the workdesk is a map of the world. The map still has all the Commonwealth countries in pink. There is an East and West Germany. Often I would dream about all the neat places to visit as I gazed at the map trying to find diversion from my homework. O how our parents sow seeds.