April 25 - May 1 2016 ~ repo mission ~

~ April 26 - I'm aboard, in the forward cabin. There's five snoring seamen snoozin about the Girl, so many stories to share. We caught the wind across the Strait of Georgia and sailed the entire width - West to East, Island Girl totally sideways in the squalls all afternoon. I had a brutal hangover and attempted to sleep it off. But now, snuggled in a heap next to the mainland - Horseshoe Bay - lies us, here on Bowen Island in Snug Cove. I know why it donned such a name - all around mountains tower. The Sea to Sky sits stoic ahead, the twinkling lights of Cypress Mountain. I live here, this is where I am from, where I was raised, what I am made of. I love British Columbia and the West Coast of Canada, but I need the heat. I gotta hit a beach. I'm hoping that maybe what I learned about snowboarding in Whistler could act as prep work for surfing down South... but today, yesterday, all the days spent traipsing around the Gulf Islands are magical, of course. I love where I'm from, where my feet become rooted, where I can dig in my heels. ~

April 27 - hello Gibsons are you ready for us . . . . . . . . . . . ~ April 28 - seems I wasn't ready for Gibsons ... yesterday was a sensational day. Clear skies and as we left Snug Cove the sun came beaming down. Instead of our planned short sail we reached farther North around the islands to double our ocean time. The dashes of dust added sparkle to the landscapes, and as the boys sipped beers on the forward deck I steered our Girl past pulp mills and the tree-lined mountains that funnelled us along. At Gibsons I hit the ground and after scooping some canned caesars I paused along the main dock to listen to a busker with a dobro guitar. Additional vodka was splashed into a peppered cup and as the sunshine sunk East we bbq'd incredible ribs and upped the music. Then night time fell and the moon rose. Attached to the marina on the North Western shore of Shoal Channel our boat bobbed and bumped Led Zeppelin along the boardwalk. There's very smooth tequila aboard. We never even plugged into shore-power. This morning the inverter was on and our battery totally drained, red wine poured over the port side, shattered chips scattered the floor. The stereo fuze blown and dysfunctional. I had woken up with my shoes on, the skylight screen half busted in. Now we sit in Secret Cove on the Sechelt Peninsula, with the clouds. Damn these guys are funny. Tomorrow we go to Hospital Bay in Pender Harbour. ~ April 30 - Malaspina Strait... creepin' past Lang Bay where a water tower sits like an idle rocket, a white stroke against the rolling and reaching hills of the mainland. Snow-dusted points peak above the tree-lined mountains with clear-cut patches like shaved spots on a dog's back. Texada stretches on our port side as we motor towards Lund. ~ May 1 - Strait of Georgia... the final leg of the "What Could Possibly Go Wrong" Repo Cruise 2016... winter is officially behind us ~ hooray, hooray for the month of May! In front of me the Comox glacier spreads hats of white atop the blue mountains, beneath the blue sky wisped with white clouds, and above the blue ocean, churning a white froth around our boat. This trip arrived at the perfect time. After the grind of school/ winter/ and personal work that the last 8 months have been, I now feel re-charged. Re-fuelled. My soul has been fed. ~