Day 30, July 11

After our R&R break in Zeballos we headed to Tahsis; rumoured to have
better food shopping than Zebbalos and we are out of fresh food and
bread; ice is getting low. The day was a continuation of yesterday,
weather-wise: low clouds, rain/mist/showers all the way to Tahsis. The
topography is spectacular; very much fijord country. However, with the
low clouds we could not see much of the surrounding mountains.

Tahsis once had a large sawmill which has been removed. The
one-industry town is struggling to survive. Parts of it reminded me of
Mica Creek after the project was completed; facilities and apartment
blocks no longer needed and in disrepair,etc. The Westview marina
however is a gem. Well run, neat and very friendly staff. They cater to
the sports fishing crowd and seem to be very busy. They have a courtesy
van they lend to boaters to make the drive "downtown" to the store. We
hooked up with Jorge and Meka from "Luna Eclipse", one of the boats we
have been seeing along the way to share the van and go shopping. The
store was pretty bad; especially for us since we needed fresh stuff and
they didn't have any; no bread either. The shops listed in the guide
book don't exist and even the updated Waggoneer was in error; obviously
businesses come and go very quickly in this neck of the woods.

The marina also has internet access, but it wasn't working for us, so
that is why there has been a delay in updates.

We walked later from the marina after our Mexican lunch ( very good!)
towards the "mall" and the post office. There was rumour of a deli that
may have bread. We found the mall which is strip shops connected to
hotel/pub complex. The shops reminded me of Moscow where seemingly
abandoned buildings would house some form of kiosks selling CD's,
vodka,etc. I found it a bit depressing, i'm sure the weather didn't help
either. The "pub " was different also; no chairs but low slung soft
padded couches; looked like a hangover from some place trying to be an
lounge but not quite making it!! The bartender had to keep yelling "shut
up" to two women who were arguing; apologizing to us that they don't
listen to her!!

If I had to make a choice between Zebbalos or Tahsis on a return trip,
it would definitely be Zebbalos. It at least had a feeling of community
and was obviously making an effort to remain a viable town.
We were all jealous of the fishermen coming in with large quantities of
salmon, halibut and rock fish...... i think we have given up on fishing
or so it seems.

In the inside waters, you can tell where there are no wave action by the
appearance of the shore line. The trees/vegetation comes right to high
water; it looks as though they were cut precisely with a weed wacker.
Then there is the bathtub ring of black on the rocks, then a lighter
ring followed by the ring with sea growth on it.

There have been some comments that the blog's are not detailed enough.
So for those of you who want some details here is an example of what the
simple task of anchoring can mean. The holding ground we had in Dixie
Cove was described as mud. This is good because it allows a good anchor
set. In a secluded, well protected anchorage, such as Dixie Cove, "mud"
actually means a substance we have nicknamed "LOON SHIT'. This is
because of the lack of wave action,etc, the bottom becomes a thick ooze
similar in texture and odour to what would be found at the bottom of any
good swamp. When the chain is raised, the bottom mud clings to it, like
LOON SHIT. As the chain comes aboard, the stuff accumulates on the bow
in a wet viscous pile, like bovine diarrhea. It also smells and stains
like LOON SHIT. It takes a good 15 minutes of sluicing with buckets of
sea water to wash the stuff off the decks. Meanwhile of course the
anchor locker is one holy mess. If you then anchor at the end of the
same day, when the wet, muddy anchor chain comes running out of the bow
it sprays mud all over the bow again and onto the "winch master". That
is , when you can get it to run out; with a thick coating of mud and
gunk it can be difficult to get the chain to slip out and you need to
coax it by hand..creating another mess. It is almost enough of a bother
to intice me to commision the salt water wash system that was installed
on Tatoosh by the previous owner, but which I haven't put back in
service yet.

The delays on these updates is two fold: firstly it is difficult to get
a solid sat phone connection. Next time you see a movie with some guy
making a cell phone or sat phone call from a parking garage don't
believe it!!!! We have trouble out in the open water for god's sake;
inside within hailing distance of trees, it is almost impossible. Second
problem is that now that we are down to one inverter, it is
temperamental as well and only charges one computer at a time and only
if the motor is running. Thirdly my laptop has taken to suddenly turning
itself off with no warning when it is running on battery even if there
is supposedly lots of battery charge left. I've had this puppy for 6
years which is longer than most laptops last so maybe it is trying tell
me something.