June 12

We had a great night at Henry Bay; very peaceful. We weighed anchor at 0600 and made our way for the Comox Bar. No, silly, it is not a pub. It is a bar of sand that is marked by three red buoys so that boats can cross the bar without running aground.

The day was gloriously sunny. Being Saturday morning, a few boaters were out and about. We had a long straight run (no wind) to Campbell River. Upon our approach, at the south end of Quadra Island, there must have been about one hundred sport fishing boats. We soon learned that many fishers were catching their limit in no time. Poor salmon... somebody's dinner.

Did I tell you that we forgot our oars for the dinghy. They were left on the dock at Westbay. Yesireeeee, yep, yep, we sure did. Thanks to good neighbour Dave at Westbay. He (after a few reminders) taped and labeled the oars then shipped by bus to Campbell River. Dave tried to tell us it cost $692.00 to ship them. We might have beleived him but he noted the cost of shipping was the same price as new saddlebags for his Harley. Nice try, David! Oars arrived safe and sound on Sunday. I would rather row Winston to shore than use the motor.

No sooner did we arrive in Campbell River and we were greeted and boarded by a family of useless guests: UG ( useless guest Leanne), BUG (Gracie, baby of useless guest) and HUG (Bill, husband of useless guest). OK just kidding! We were boarded by our great friends and honoured with a visit by Momma Dougan and Bud. We had a boat full and had a great time. Dinner consisted of homemade lox - I think it is Bud's secret Norwegian recipe, fresh Salt Spring Island prawns trapped by Mom and Bud, and home grown Cowichan beef. The lox was the best I had ever eaten, the prawns were eaten within minutes (and there were a lot of them) and the beef melted in my mouth. Yes we did have our vegetables in the form of a green salad. The food, beverages and laughs were non-stop! Leanne and Momma, thank you for the very thoughtful gifts.

The Momma and Bud drove off before sunset in their camper van to stay the night somewhere and the UG family hunkered down with us aboard Ta Daa. It should be noted here that we play some sort of rummy game (if you googled the name you would never find it) invented by Bill's family. I was the ultimate winner on Saturday night - ta daa!