Winter had been rather mild. Only a few days of frost and snow when at “Commodore’s Boats” shipyard, on the Fraser river. Hopefully Bo, the manager, only works on wooden boats and we were not in lack of wood for the stove ! Just the time to replace some planking, to make a new paint, and some and many other works…. and we are back to our tramping life, from anchorage to anchorage. We go back to the indian culture in Vancouver museums, meet again our friend Ronan who settle himself on Protection Island, just two paddle strokes from Nanaimo by kayak, chat with Tim the street poet and his dog Doggy, and, gently, spring come back : the birds bustle about , the flowers reappear on Newcastle island and at Silva Bay, on Gabriola, fishermen, Steller lions and eagles stuff themselves with herring. It’s also on Gabriola that we discover the petroplyphs, testimony of a civilisation who, 150 years ago, was florishing.
Meanwhile the world is collapsing : killings, beheadings, murders, kidnappings, bombings, enslavings…always for a good reason, as if we had learned nothing from the past. It’s difficult to look for future with optimism….
In a few days we will sail again, Alaska is waiting for us, we need the purity of elements and nature.
