By ten we had motored on into Sidney Harbor Marina. It’s a man made harbor with a break water. We had reserved a slip (a boat parking spot) the day before and radioed in to make sure the space was empty at 11:00.
Getting into that slip wasn’t too stressful because no one was “parked” next to us. Someone came to help us tie up. I was determined to tie up “with dignity and intelligence”. This was not to be, alas, I grabbed the stern line and looped it over the cleat on the dock. Mike said, “ pull in the slack”, I pulled and before I knew it the other end of the line plopped into the water! That end had not been attached to the deck as it should have been. Oh well, so it goes when one is learning, mistakes are inevitable.So many ropes to keep track of. In the beginning it’s overwhelming. No harm done except for my ego, I felt like a total idiot even though I was laughing at the same time.
The night before coming into Sidney we called Mary, our friend in Pagosa. We had talked to her before about meeting up with my cousin’s son from Germany, he would be on vacation in Canada and later Alaska. Mary was our go-between because my cousin’s son had spent a year abroad in high school with Mary and her family. So Mary filled us in on Benjamin Raab and promised to e-mail him our whereabouts and have him e-mail us while we were in Sidney so we could work out a time and some meeting point.
First things first, upon arriving in Sidney, we drained the oil out of the engine and then rode our bikes over to the place that services engines for sailing boats. Mike had a dozen questions for the guy about diesel engines that burn too much oil and we had to buy more oil. It was a very good session with several of the mechanics. Mike gleaned lots of solid information from the mechanics and he explained to one of them, (after Mike mentioned that he was a pilot and the guy voiced his curiosity and lack of understanding of radial engines on the old aircraft) how they work. It was a good exchange. We bought the oil and went back to the boat to put in a new oil filter and oil with good information on getting that engine to run at it’s best. Then I checked our e-mail and found several from Ben. He had just arrived in Vancouver a few days before. Two of his friends from Germany would be traveling with him, and “ Would it be all right if they came along on the boat as well? We will only bring small back packs.” Mike and I thought, well why not, we’ll just take them out for a day and a night. If we all get along they could come longer. So we e-mailed back with a time and place to meet and awaited Ben’s reply. Back to town to get groceries. Then back to the marina for a shower and a beer at a local pub. By the time we got back there was a reply from Ben, “Many thanks for inviting them, they would be on the 8:00 a.m. ferry, arriving in Sidney around 11:00. They would find a way to Sidney and the marina.” On Satureday morning we had our Bavarian flag waving from the mast to help them find us. Around noon they showed up. They had brought some “really bad beer” but it was all they could find. So we had a beer and some peanuts before going back to town to do more errands. They insisted on buying some more food for the trip. Keke, it turned out had worked on a 150 foot sailboat! All three of them are used to working together with young people in the outdoors. Needless to say here we are on Wednesday, counting today, it is four days later of sailing with them. They have been wonderful to have along. Helpful in every way and lots of fun to have around. It turns out Ben and Keke both know quite a bit about sailing and have been keen to learn all about how to sail this boat as well as share what they know about sailing. Anna too has been an avid student of KeKe’s as he teaches her navigation and sailing skills.
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