Downwind Express

We spent a nice day in False Bay, visiting the public dock, having a sandwich and coffee at the cafe, and going for a walk down the quiet roads.  The sun did not make an appearance until about noon, but then it came out with a vengeance, making for a hot afternoon.

After a restful night at anchor, we left around 8:30 AM for the final journey to Nanaimo.
The best sailing we have had for the entire 2 months we have been away.  Launched the genoa as soon as we exited False Bay, and did not take it down until we were in Departure Bay in Nanaimo.  Consistent following wind, and a bit of current.  Covered the 25-mile distance by 2:30 in the afternoon - quite a feat for our slow boat.  And lots of blue sky and sunshine.  Downright hot when we got to Nanaimo.

The excitement did not really start until we were pulling into our mooring at Stone's Marina.  While we were away, they started working on replacing the docks and had stored a small, low-lying, barge with some lumber in our slip.  We could not see it until I had the bow started into the slip.  It would not have been so bad except that we still had some wind behind us as we came in and that usually means we only have one chance to get in, before the boat gets blown onto the main dock.  To make a long story short, I was able to get the boat into reverse in a hurry and backed, mostly in a straight line, up wind between the boats, while the workman got the barge out of the way.  Only two tries later, we were moored successfully.  No harm done.

After getting everything squared away and relaxing for a while, we hit the pub for some fish and chips and a couple of brews.

Life is good again.