Well here it is Saturday, April-30-11, at about 8:30 PM and it has been a beautiful day. I arrived at Newcastle Island yesterday about 6:00 PM from French Creek where I sat at the dock for 8 days. Oh well, I got to watch the Canucks win the first round of the playoffs!!!! GO CANUCKS GO!!!!!!!

Anyway, like I just mentioned, I am on the hook at Newcastle Island Marine Park at Nanaimo. Today has been a busy day. Not for me…I just sat on deck suckin back some sun and some toddies all day. But the rest of the harbour was hectic to say the least. At least 30 boats came in today, on top of the bunch that were all ready here, and docked, anchored, tied up to the park buoys, or came in saw how busy it was and left.

Two great big American yachits (yea-chits) came in this evening, probably worth about 3 million between the 2 of them, as well as lots of really nice sailboats. A few people waved but more then a few had sullen, grumpy looking faces and just ignored me. After looking around at all of the boats I realized that our boat was the smallest and least expensive in the harbour…tho ours is probably used and enjoyed more then all the others combined!

Still I was starting to feel a tad out of place….You know like going to a Halloween party dressed as a bum and realizing too late that it was a formal black tie thing and before you could get away someone recognizes you and drags you inside where 500 people stop dead in their tracks and stare and you could hear a pin drop 100 yards away.

That is until I saw this old fellow in a canoe slowly paddling out from the park. He was a big man with a snow white bushy beard that hung to his navel. His hair was uncombed and longer then any woman’s that I have seen. He wore an old bleached out floater jacket that had been patched numerous places. He was humming a catchy little tune as he paddled by our boat. So I smiled at him and said, “Howdy”.

He looked directly at me and said, “Me, ya talken to me?” ,in a somewhat surprised tone.

I nodded wondering what I had got myself into as the gent back paddled furiously and came up along side. He covered his toothless mouth with one hand as he searched around in his coat pocket with the other looking for his “store boughts” retrieving them and inserting them in his mouth.
“ Don’t usually use these unless I am eating or talking to someone and I don’t get to talk very often.” He said clicking his teeth as he reached a surprisingly clean hand out to grab the side of the boat. And talk we did…..for hours!

I explained to him how I was feeling about all the rich boats and all and he laughed loudly saying, “Hell boy look at me and what I have. Those (not very complimentary adjectives) Americans may snub their snooty noses at you but they run and lock up their boats, chain up their dinghies and hide inside when I go by!!”

I offered him a toddy and a hot cross bun but he refused saying that he just finished cooking up a steak and eggs and unless I had good bottle of scotch on board I was not to take offence if he had a nip or two from his own supply.

When I told him I only drank rum he shuddered and, reaching under the tarp that covered the rest of the canoe, he produced a glass decanter and a shot glass. He explained that good scotch should never be left in a bottle once opened but should be poured into a crystal decanter immediately before it goes bad….besides which he had picked up the decanter and shot glass set dirt cheap at a garage sale in Prince Rupert.

It turns out the guy has paddled all the way from Prince Rupert camping along the way and stopping at marine parks and government docks to shower and do his laundry. The gent was obviously well educated, well spoken, and very knowledgeable on world affairs. I asked him what he did for a living and he said he took early retirement 12 years ago when his wife got sick, got bored once his beloved had passed, bought this old canoe and the rest is history. Previously he had owned a wholesale electrical supply business on the mainland

He quite proudly claimed that he had not shaved or cut his hair since he retired…I certainly believed him. He spoke of beautiful places to visit and drop an anchor when Wanda and I make our way up the coast.

Unfortunately I have already forgotten most of them……Damned MS

We talked politics, global warming, American involvement in the Middle East, Tsunamis, tornados, inflation, and a multitude of other things. As we ran out of topics and the silences between short bursts of conversation got longer and longer he put his decanter away and with a “Nice talken to ya” he let go of the side of the boat and paddled off humming that same catchy tune.

I watched him till he was out of sight..and realised that, with the exception of a rugged looking old guy in a beat up canoe who hummed a catchy tune, put teeth in his face to talk to people, and drank scotch from a crystal decanter, I was probably happier then all of the people here today in their big fancy yachits that the banks probably owned anyhow. So I started my genset ( more to piss people off with the noise then to charge my batteries ) and whistling a familiar catchy tune I went below to write in my blog.

Keep comin back now ya hear!!!!!