Who's got the marshmallows?

For the curious out there, here is what a fire will do to a boat.

Note: These are the ones that did not sink!

Unpredictable Nanaimo

One day it is pouring rain, looks to be settled in for the long haul. A few hours later, the sun breaks out and it looks like spring - then back to winter again just a quickly. We are just not used to the way the weather can change so quickly here yet.

Saturday was one of the good days making you wonder why anyone would want to live anywhere else.

We took our usual walk down to the harbour, watching the dragon boat races on the way.

Then a stop for coffee in the incredibly busy downtown hustle and bustle. Yes, this is Nanaimo at it frenetic best.

Definitely fall now. Trees are now fully into their autumn colours but the flowers are still in bloom everywhere. Very pretty along the seaside.

Of course, Sunday is back to depressing overcast and cold rain, making you wonder why anyone would want to live here. We haven't quite made up our minds yet.

We are thinking of going south somewhere but now don't want to leave until we have our flu vaccinations, just in case there really is something to all the hype.

Blast Rocks Nanaimo Marina!

OK, it has been pretty laid back and mellow here the last month or so. But is that any reason to go to this extreme?

Lucky for us, this was not at our marina but rather at the newly refurbished, pricey Palms Marina just down the channel from us - at least 1/2 a kilometer away.

I of course was just sitting on our boat, completely unaware than anything was happening (as usual), until Sue came back from some shopping and mentioned the roads were blocked off due to all of the fire engines on Stewart avenue. We did get to witness the smoldering hulks of two boats that had been towed out into the channel to get them away from the marina boathouses.

The fire really started with a bang - one of the boats in the last two boathouses actually blew up, starting the whole fiasco. Almost certainly propane was involved in some way. In the end, it appears that at least 5 boathouses and 6 boats were totalled, with some damage to others I am sure.

All in all this is not very encouraging when you are living on a boat in a marina. The most common cause of boat lose is not from sinking but rather from fire. Kind of makes you think.

Meanwhile, there is little else to report. The weather is still holding up pretty well, some sun, some rain and generally cool, but NOT cold.

We are still entertained by the building of the new small marina next door. Now they are putting some sort of building out on the floats. We like to speculate as to what it is for, rather than simply asking anyone - it is much more fun that way.

As for our plans, we still don't have any. I got this picture of our boat from one of our neighbors, showing a scene from last winter - possibly what we have to look forward if we stick around here too long?

Actually I am assured that it rarely snows here. I'll believe it when I don't see it.

Summer is over!

This week we noticed that in spite of the great weather, fall is coming to Nanaimo. Some (not all) of the trees are starting to change colour.

Nothing as spectacular as it can be back in Edmonton, but at least there is no sign of snow.

Still living the good life, long walks (running in the case of Susanne) in between sporadic boat projects. On that subject, I have managed to complete my charger/inverter installation along with it's unexpected rewiring requirements. Also have unplumbed and removed the old, scary Paloma hot water heater, created a cool new mounting place for our laser printer (under the table), and other numerous small improvements to the boat too numerous to mention.

We have also been keeping track of the new, quite small, marina that is approaching completion right next to us. Nice cement docks but I don't think they could handle a boat of any size - not really an option for us even if we did want to move.

No definite plans for the winter as yet. As long as the weather keeps being so nice, it is hard to think about leaving any time soon. Some of our best friends here have been returning this week from their summer jobs on the fire towers in Alberta, so we have been catching up with everyone elses plans.