Nick is, or at least was for large portion of his life, a never nude. “I wore shorts in the shower mate” he was quoted as saying. He reported slept in track pants and a hoodie until shortly after his 29th birthday. ‘Never nude’ is a psychiatric condition best described in the television program Arrested Development. I managed to contact a fake shrink who was quoted as saying “wow man, I love that show.” Apparently never nude is a real condition, who would have thought?
The hot springs were fabulous, and I don’t often use the word fabulous. We’re all a lot cleaner and possibly a little hung over this morning. One of the perks to being at the hot springs late and into the wee hours of the morning is that the tourists leave articles of high priced fashionable outdoor wear behind. Nick scored big with this high performance German fleece. Iusi got a great pair of jeans, a hoodie and a lovely necklace and I got a couple pairs of awesome board shorts. Kirstyn didn’t see anything she liked. At first Nick was disappointed by the lack of pockets in his German fleece, but he soon realized that the sleek design allows him to run very fast through the forest.
August 25
We’ve finally gotten our crew on board and departed Denny Island. We made it as far as a little place called sea otter cove or sea otter creak on Hunter Island after an afternoon of motoring. Our ‘plan’ for what it’s worth, is to head to Hakai and wait for the predicted northwesterlies to take us south on Sunday or Monday. The weather man has done a fair job over the past week, so I’m optimistic. Our crew now consists of myself, Kirstyn, T, Nick the Aussie and Ucie the Spaniard/Italian. Kirstyn and I are now the old veterans on this coast. I slept better last night than I have in weeks. Perhaps it’s the peace and tranquility of the vast untamed wilderness around us or simply that our journey has begun and there’s no more fretting over preparations until we arrive in Tofino. I’m trying to enforce water conservation measures so I can accurately gauge our consumption before we head out on the longer legs of the trip south. Kirstyn is not thrilled with the new restrictions.
August 26
We made it to Hakai yesterday after encountering a large group of very cheerful dolphins. They seemed to be in a hurry to get to their destination, but a few of them took the time to swim in our bow wave and do some fancy jumps near us. After dropping anchor in Pruth Bay, we dinghied to the Hakai institute for a wonderful beach day. The Hakai institute, whoa, what a strange place. Flower gardens and grass, friendly yet aloof scientists, it felt as if we’d stumbled onto some sort of utopian society that was hiding some sinister secret. Like perhaps they’re all cannibals or they have unsuspecting fishermen locked in tiny cages for their bizarre experiments. Scary stuff. We may do further investigating.
August 29
Sunday morning, bright and early, we departed Hakai. We motored most of the day through fog banks in calm conditions until we caught the northwesterly breeze around 8 pm near the Scott Islands. The wind picked up to a gale in the early morning hours and we ran downwind till early afternoon Monday. We motored into Hot Springs Cove around midnight under a bright starry sky. I’m really pleased with how it went, it was a quick uneventful passage, the boat performed well and so did our crew. Running downwind in a gale can be a lot of fun, but it’s difficult to get much sleep and disorienting in the fog. Sea sickness was a minor issue and gravol did the trick. Our route south kept us 15 to 20 nautical miles offshore for most of the trip and we didn’t have the issues with chop and currents to nearly the same degree around Cape Scott and Cape Cook that we had last year in shallower water. I think the plan is to spend the night at hot springs tonight and head to Tofino tomorrow around the inside of Flores Island.
I’m gonna miss this place. Not the weather. Not the relentless attempts by shearwater to suck every last nickel out of anyone that sets foot on their property, but the people. At times I felt insane being on this island, knowing way too much about the people I see everyday. Looking back a year or two from now, I’m sure the friends that Kirstyn and I made and the time spent sipping drinks on our dock will be what stands out. The people of Denny Island are what makes this place. You gotta be a little crazy and tough as nails to last here. I’m in awe of those of you that live here year after year. Goodbye friends and neighbors, till the next time we get the crazy idea to go to the central coast.
There’s been a lot of talk about feet lately, so today I’m doing the Denny Island ‘hot or not’ of feet.
Please cast your vote in the comments.
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Hello gossip lovers! Many of you know Rusty, Shearwater’s high vis safety officer. Rusty and Fee are moving into their new recreational vehicle over near the hydro bulkhead, congrats to them. Apparently after having hydro unlock the gate so Rusty and Travis would be able to maneuver the RV to its new home, the gate mysteriously sustained damage. Rusty claims the gate was in pristine condition the last time he saw it, the guy from hydro didn’t seem too concerned about it, but of course Rusty offered to fix the gate(will Rusty really fix the gate or will Travis do it at his behest?). So who broke the gate? Did Rusty and Travis do the deed then deny it? Did drunken hooligans hit it in the night? Who knows, but one source that shall remain anonymous put forward the theory that a certain well known hydro contractor damaged the gate himself in order to blame shearwater. Sound far fetched? Could emery’s dislike of shearwater overcome his common sense to the point that he’d sabotage his own gate? You’ll need to decide for yourself.
Rumour has it, the Shearwater grill and Casino has a new drink on the menu. The ‘Bobby on the Rocks.’ Sources tell me its a double gin with Lots of rocks and no water.
Living on a sparsely populated island can be difficult at times. When the forecast calls for ten days of rain, it could really get some people down. We could have spent our Sunday night at the pub eating raw pizza dough or we could have hung out in the mouldy trailer designated ‘the clubhouse.’ I suppose what I’m trying to say, is catching fish while drinking makes us fishermen rather than drunks. To all the Grady White douche bags, I salute you 🍻
Yesterday after work, Willow came running down our dock “Jerin, we’re going for a helicopter ride!” Kirstyn went in a helicopter a few months ago, so I felt no guilt in going without her. Fabian, the resident helicopter pilot had offered to take some of us to a lake on King Island for a swim and there was no way I was missing this one. The last time I was offered a helicopter ride was the morning after Danny O’s solstice party and I showed up two minutes late with a deadly hangover and the remnants of an acid trip.
Thanks so much Fabian, Ed and John from Hunter Helicopters. You guys are awesome.
Adventures of Sunshine Three 