Dave got up at 6am because the wind picked up and we were at anchor. Apparently his hearing is geared for a couple of ripples on the side of the boat when at anchor and he is up top to make sure we don’t break loose. He had to wait some time before Melissa came round. J
After sleeping like the dead all night, Melissa got up had breakfast followed by a nap on the way to Poets Cove on Pender Island Bedwell Harbor. I discovered a few muscles I had forgotten about and apparently hadn’t used enough as they were sore from the pack horse routine the day before. Clearly I need some more exercise.
At Bedwell Harbor we cleared customs. Most boats get cleared without inspection. But it must have been our lucky day because a customs inspector came down and went through the boat with a fine tooth comb. Asked us how much liquor we had aboard. Well, a case of beer, 2 cases of wine, and some hard liquor we replied. Duh…. It’s a declaration issue. We were supposed to pay duties on it. But the Canadian customs guy basically said don’t do that next time and wandered off. Duties all everything would have equaled its original cost -~$500. Ouch. Bet that never happens on the US side.
Poets Cove is a beautiful resort. Having realized that I would be a basket case for the first couple of days, Dave had booked me some days earlier for a hot rock massage. Heavenly. So afterward I got back to the boat and slept. Then I got up and made dinner. Grilled shrimp with avocado salad. Mmmmm.
Dave got curious why the boat seemed not to want to turn to starboard since we left. The boat prop walks to starboard, but the effect just shouldn’t have been as much as it was. Quick inspection under the master suite bed of the steering unearthed the culprit. An item stored underneath the bed had become wedged in the steering mechanism – so the boat tiller would only move 20 degrees to starboard instead of the proper 40 degrees. Sigh.