August 15 to 18 Tourists in Campbell River

We have been in Campbell River from August 15 to 18th because of the, "Gale force wind warning," along Johnstone Strait. There has been a developing "low system" bringing high winds. We hoped to leave Campbell River on an ebb tide heading north. We need to go through Seymour Narrows when the tide is going the same way as us as the current can be as fast as 9 knots. (Our boat does 6 knots under full power.) When we went through the narrows heading south, we traveled with the current to Campbell River at 14 knots, (the fastest our boat has ever gone.)

Our time in Campbell River has been fantastic. We have had a lot of great highlights.

1) We met up with Naomi Tabata who had just returned from their southern seas travels on their beautiful sailboat, Renova. We spent some time at her place and met her friends Brandi and Ron. We had a great time looking at her pictures and hearing about her and John's adventures. Marty picked her brains with a lot of the preparations of their trip and things they learned along the way.

2) We explored Campbell River's Maritime Heritage Museum. A fabulous place! The tour guide was a very knowledgeable man who knew all the history of the boats, machinery and tools used in times past. This museum is packed with so much history that we could have spent the whole day there. The cost was only $5. They rented out office space and the hall for special functions to help finance the upkeep.

3) We explored their local museum. Wow! Mae got a photo taken of the next big fish she is going to catch. The scary part is that we think the fish will be the one who will get her instead. Campbell River's museum is definitely a place to go again.

4) We met up with some former Rupert folks: Vanessa Bramhill-Woods and Peter Woods. They brought their daughter, Ginger - still a baby when we last saw her. We also met up with Chris O'Brien.

5) A Prince Rupert friend surprised us on August 16th. Wendy from Dodge Cove, came down on the ferry the night before. That morning, she figured that we were getting close to Campbell River based on our SPOT checks. So she took a stab in the dark and picked a marina and found us. Now she can find a needle in a hay stack with no problems.

Best of all, on August 18th, Marty and Mae celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. We had a fantastic day of visiting the museum, meeting up with Naomi for coffee, meeting up with friends such as Vanessa, Peter and Ginger and Chris O'Brien.

The day ended with a fantastic dinner cooked by Marty. Mmmmm.....Grilled t-bone steaks, baked potatoes and mixed vegetables. We ended the evening with drinks and dessert at Moxie's Grill.