Following Breadcrumbs

Kristi and I are back in Friday Harbor for the winter.  A bit unusual in that we are in port a few weeks sooner than we normally would, driven primarily by me being lazy.  The exhaust on our generator developed a small crack and needs to be repaired.  A simple one day job (meaning it will take two), using readily available parts (meaning there will be only 3 trips to the hardware store).   As we were close to ‘coming in for the winter’ I was waffling between going to Ganges and Ace Hardware with a couple of days to get-er-done while at anchor, or just head into port for the winter…   Every time it rained I was heading South, and when it stopped . . . .   Oh Well, Port won out, we are here and already reconnecting with people we know as well as meeting new ones (Wow, there are 5 live aboard boats on the breakwater this year already to winter over!   Only room for one more. . . .    Maybe it’s a good thing we came in early).

And through all of this I noticed an interesting pattern developed.   After we left Vancouver, the 1st priority was to find a well protected anchorage.  Which we did – Arrrggg.   It was the subsequent Ports of Call that took on the interesting pattern.    See, we have LOTS of choices, and here is the list we ended up choosing:

• Clam Bay
• Wallace Island
• Lyall Harbor
• And we talked about Roche Harbor

OK Class, see the pattern?  Even see what all these anchorages have in common?  Hint – look at the title of this Blog entery!

Here are some more hints:

BUZZZ

Alright, here is the answer:

• Clam Bay       = Pizza at Cedar Beach Ocean Lodge (www.cedar-beach.com/) 
• Wallace island   = Oysters!  (Tide was not low enough to get many clams) www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/wallace/
• Lyall Harbor   = The Bus!  Wild Thyme: wildthymecoffeehouse.com/
• Roche Harbor = Would have had DOUGHNUTS!   (But perhaps we will wait until we can get access to  a car and drive out there.)

And there you have it.  Going Home while following the Breadcrumbs.  Even had a few Oysters left over!

And now I have my list of To-Dos for the winter.  Both the Generator and Main engine are due for their off-year maintenance.  Doing things like Valve adjustments, flushing cooling systems, etc. beyond the normal oil changes.  THAT will take a while.  And I want to flush, clean, and then need to pickle the watermaker. Oh, and that exhaust. Plus there is soo much coffee to be drank, those coffee shops are not going to do it all by themselves.