It has begun… a partial unraveling if you will. It will not be acknowledged as a particular time in the ships log, or a specific latitude or longitude. But soon we will discover that we were in contact… with friends, colleagues, acquaintances, news outlets, whatever that is worth, meaningful local weather forecasts that accurately predict future weather events, and more… Most of the things that are usually at our fingertips. Push a few buttons on the device in your hand. Talk into it. Voila!
The next places we travel to, we will be out of range. Out of contact from people, reliable, accurate, and local weather forecasts, marine technicians, fuel, water… and food. Of course, wine is always available… even at the smallest whistle-stop marina / general store… but some of the essentials we’ve grown fond of having at our fingertips… won’t be. Been there?
Two days ago we were in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Not one of my favorite places, but a great place to reconnoiter, re-stock, and rest for a day or two. Nanaimo reminds me of downtown Tacoma, 30 or more years ago. A city struggling for an identity. Heavy industry on the wane. Tepid tourism. Indifferent social investment. Rising unemployment. Drugs. Benign upheaval… a predicament that many stateside towns and cities find themselves in today… Tacoma has done well. The city planners have embraced a sensible vision. Nanaimo should look at their story and see if any of it might apply to their circumstances. If not… there will be more citizens howling into the cold wind…
Today we are in Pender Harbor. We arrived yesterday, just after noon, after a morning depart from Nanaimo, a transit through a US / Canada navy torpedo testing zone known under a barrage of names, but simply noted on the charts as WG (Whisky, Golf), a military test zone. Don’t go there if the zone is active. They shoot torpedoes at things. 30 thousand+ in the past few years. And… finding out if the zone was “active” was a challenging undertaking. On-line queries, as we still had access to the internets of all things… gave us 3 phone numbers to call to find out. All had been inactivated. A small note on one of the internet sites said to call VHF channel 10 and query: “Winchelsea Control”. And as a moderately educated mariner… I did so. After a few minutes a voice responded on my radio. I asked if the range was active. He stated no. We were good to transit the zone safely. After we successfully motored through the “zone” we continued for several more hours across the Strait of Georgia and then the Malaspina Strait, not forgiving bodies of water, and entered a sheltered series of bays called Pender Harbor. Mischief managed.
On the chart:
It appears that there are a plethora of marinas (the purple sailboat graphics), anchorages, stores, etc. giving the impression that Pender is a virtual megalopolis. Well… It is… and it isn’t. There are multiple marinas. They range from the quite nice, to… rather decrepit. Nothing wrong with that at all, we love both types, and have visited or stayed at most types. Simply put… a delightfully diverse community. We enjoyed our stay there…
Salish Sea Cruising With Blair, Les, Leo, and Bliss 