Happy Birthday Ge'Mara

This past weekend marked exactly one year since we sailed Ge'Mara home to Vancouver from Nanaimo.  It seemed fitting that we take her for a run.

After a 3-month respite from sailing David and I were ready for some time back on the boat. Our day trip to Snug Cove a few weeks back didn't really cut it so we used Ge'Mara's "birthday" as an excuse to head out a little further and drop the anchor for a night.  Even though we still weren't going very far I was interested to see how comfortable it would be in the near-freezing temperatures of mid-January.  We reflected that it was March last year before we spent the night at anchor so this seemed like a little bit of an adventure in the middle of an otherwise dull winter month.  Normally we rely on the electric heater at the dock in the dead of winter but for this trip we'd be limited to Ge'Mara's on-board diesel heater.

As usual Saturday morning we met at the local Safeway to provision.  We were determined to reign ourselves in this time and not go crazy on the food.  For the most part we succeeded...  But no matter what, you can't scrimp on the meat so we had the butcher cut us a couple of massive rib steaks for our main course.  We then considered breakfast for the next morning and briefly thought about skipping the bacon, given the size of the dinner we had planned.  We quickly dismissed that thought and picked up a pack of the extra thick, smokey kind.

After a brief delay caused by me forgetting my sleeping bag at home we left the marina.   Unfortunately once again there was no wind to speak of so we settled in for a long motor and talked.    Just like last time when we turned the corner around Pt. Atkinson we were met by the Howe Sound outflow and we raised the sails.  We had about half an hour of very pleasant sailing but once we turned out of the Sound towards Long Bay and Gambir Island, the wind died.

David at the helm on the way out

A while later we were comfortably anchored in Long Bay.  We surveyed the area and took note of the two other boats who were anchored nearby.  We stared at the long evening shadows forming over the water and the beauty of our surroundings, shivered and retreated to the warmth of the cabin.  It was 4:30pm.  Safely ensconced below, we poured ourselves a drink and chatted for a bit. At 5pm David asked if he should start the barbecue.  I gave him a pained look.  I could see the whole thing taking shape in his mind...  David has the ability to go to bed at an incredibly early hour and leave me sitting with a full glass of whisky and nobody to talk to.  Now he was trying to get dinner started early and I'm sure he was thinking if all went well he could crawl into his bunk at 7pm.  I was having none of it and suggested he crack another beer and relax.  We could start cooking at 6pm.  I put out the cheese and chorizo I bought for the occasion (we're not barbarians after all) and we snacked and drank for another hour.

Happy Hour - Beers and a Dark n' Stormy

We had decided to let the cabin heater run non-stop since before we left the dock and it was really quite comfortable down below.  Before long we had our sweaters off and were happy just in t-shirts.  I put on a sweater and went up on into the cockpit just long enough to grill the two slabs of meat and then we settled down to a huge dinner of steak, potatoes and onions, and salad.  It was a delicious meal but way, way too much food.  David wisely left half his steak to wrap up.  I demolished mine.

Beef.  It's what's for dinner

I looked at my watch after we'd enjoyed a scotch and somehow we'd made it to 8pm.  With the cabin positively toasty David collapsed contentedly into his v-berth for the night.  I was ready for this and had downloaded a movie onto my MacBook to occupy me for the rest of the evening.  It was Hunter S. Thompson's "The Rum Diary" and I crawled into my own cabin, with a tot of rum for good measure, and settled in to watch my movie.  I was asleep by 8:20pm.

As I crawled out of my little cabin the next morning, turned on the heat and put the coffee on I resolved once again to exercise a little restraint on these boat trips.  I'm the smartest guy in the world at 7am.  With the previous nights' sins still weighing on my mind (and stomach) we decided to skip the bacon at breakfast.  However I did cut up David's steak and fried it up with the leftover potatoes and 6 scrambled eggs.

Morning

I wish I had some fun sailing to report on the way home but it was not to be.  We got the sails up for about half an hour and other than that it was motoring all the way home.  I wanted to be back to watch the Seahawks game at 3:30 and we made it in plenty of time.  We agreed that Ge'Mara's heater was more than up to the task of keeping us warm in the dead of a Vancouver winter, so long as she had a bit of a head start.  This gives rise to all sorts of new winter sailing opportunities.  Can't wait.