There's an old saying...something about making your bed and laying in it... Well who knew Maddie would be the first dog in either of our lifetimes who would be at least as, and often more, comfortable when we're underway... hanging out below in a bed of her own making, on the couch? It's taken us a while to figure that out as, while she's very vocal and loudly so, she only has a one word vocabulary - BARK! This word can mean "pick me up!", "I want my water!", "I want down, or over there, or over here!", "pat me!"....etc. Lucky she's cute and our fellow cruisers don't mind she's still learning :-)
"Yes, we're on the boat", and "Yes, we're having a good time". Maddie continues to impress us with 'most' of her activities...including sleeping through the night, not barking her face off when we've left her alone in the boat cabin (her cabin is now the aft cabin... which she shares with a multitude of bins and boating equipment... lucky girl), using the puppy 'mat' when necessary, and being as cute and mischievous as ever. I guess the main thing I wish she hadn't noticed was how chewable the lines are. All those 'ropes' running hither and yon look just like a perfect theme park for her personal enjoyment and persistent taste testing. Oh well... she's here to stay... and has only one baby tooth (aka flesh piercing fish hook tooth) left... yay!
On the nautical front... we did get to anchor behind Bute Island off Ladysmith for two nights and then moved in to the Ladysmith Community Marina. Yesterday (Sunday) Kathy returned from her event earlier than expected and so we cast off and headed for Pirates Cove. While we were under way we realized the tide would be too low the next morning for us to get out of PCove in time to get through Gabriola Pass at 0700 so we checked the Pass to see what it's slack times were for the early evening. Voila! We were able to get through Gabe Pass and head to Page's Marina in Silva Bay. We did all this because we knew a North Wester was predicted to come in on Tuesday and so Monday was the day to cross. Well, the Norther arrived last night and was blowing 19 knots with 3 second seas by 0600. After much consternation at the fickleness of Mother Nature (at times) we made the difficult decision to abort the mission to Vancouver and tuck in at Page's until the wind blows itself out. We expect to be here - possibly until Thursday.
Destinations after that? Unknown. We'll wait until the direction to go seems obvious.
For now, we are safe, cozy (a little cool without the heater 😏), and enjoying the beauty of Gabriola Island. We'll visit with a few friends while we are here, generally kick back, relax, and do some reading.... take a page from Maddie's book as it were....
Hope all is well with each of you...and your hatches are battened down for the next couple days. If your anchor's down, best ease out a few more yards of chain ⚓️
Bye for now, CJ, K and M
