Sincerely, Denise

 Tuesday July 1, 2025

It’s Canada Day today which is Canadian Independence Day. There was a concert last night we could hear from the boat, a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band! It’s another beautiful day here in Campbell River, warm with a light breeze. We spent the morning doing various chores, including the grocery run as we are leaving the dock today. Got a couple of nice walks in while doing our errands, which was much needed after averaging 2000 steps a day over the weekend! The downside of boating is that it is a pretty sedentary adventure which will sneak up on you in the way of 10 extra pounds by the end of summer if you’re not careful. There’s a guy on the dock that is wearing the most offensive shorts that say “Stop Looking at My D**k” – really? What adult would wear something so crude. This was the guy whose wife was on the stern when they were docking, she had no handrails or staples to keep her safe, nor a lifejacket, and he’s gunning the boat into gear and reverse, while I held my breath hoping for her safety. Seems he may have impaired judgment on several fronts. They landed safely, thankfully. Anyway, there are a lot of seals in this harbour and they hover around the fish cleaning station like stray dogs waiting for scraps. BUT, they are picky, they don’t want the guts or the heads, they want meaty body parts. So as people toss the scraps in the water, they dart after it only to reject unless it’s something they deem worthy. They are pretty darn cute though.

 

We cast off around 10:45AM and headed to the fuel dock to feed Esperança, as she was quite parched. Took on about 2100 liters of diesel which should last us for a few weeks, depending on how far north we go. After a leisure cruise (so I could process 4 loads of laundry enroute) over to Gorge Harbour, we anchored out in the middle of the bay for the evening. Gorge had live music onshore, a blues band, and other parties were also underway around the bay. Another breezy day with some big gusts made for an interesting afternoon. Winds finally died down in the evening and we had a lovely dinner of rib steaks, grilled asparagus, and green salad – something we didn’t get at the fishing lodge so we were craving greens!

Campbell River (Vancouver Island) is where we left from, and Gorge Harbour is where we are now. Someone made a comment to a previous post that it would be helpful for me to include maps with my narrative so folks can better understand our location