A Date with a Friend

    I woke at sunrise. 

It’s 15 nautical miles to Lund. So at 5 knots it should only take me about three hours. The problem is that I would rather sail for 8 hours than motor for 3. I set sail at 8am in light wind. I will give it until noon before I fire up the engine. I am supposed to meet Chris in Lund today. Neither of us have ever been there and not knowing what to expect, I don’t want to be there hours late. He is supposed to be leaving Seattle at 9am and with the ferry rides, and windy roads, we figured on meeting between 3 and 6pm. There are no waves and the wind is coming across my stern. At 10am, I sailed past Rebecca Rock still at only 2 knots. By 11am I made it Northeast of Hartwood Island. At 11:30, I dropped the sails and began motoring at 5 knots.

I arrived at 1pm in Lund. I tied up at the fuel dock and filled with diesel. I moved to the closest available dock and tied up. There was no protection from the swells off the Strait of Georgia. 

I walked to shore and looked for Chris. The town of Lund consists of a hotel and a marina. I don’t think we will have a hard time finding each other. I went back to the boat and prepared it for Chris and Betty. I managed to stow all of the things I don’t need immediate access to in the cockpit locker, leaving the cabin with lots of space. I know Chris travels light, and I know Betty doesn’t really enjoy sailing and so I thought I would give her a lot of space to sit down below. There is a great bakery in Lund, I bought a loaf of bread and had a delicious piece of pizza. By 3pm I began to wonder if Chris was okay. By 6pm I realized that he has been on the road all day and we should probably spend the night here. I returned to my boat and there was a guy from Vancouver there asking me if I could switch places with him. He had a 37-foot sailboat whose engine blew in the middle of his three-week trip. The local mechanic’s shop was at the head of the dock I was on, so he needed to leave it there. I went to the government dock office and asked if I could move there, they rafted me up to two broken down motoryachts. I realized that this was the closest place to go from Desolation Sound when you run into mechanical trouble. I also realized just how lucky I was to have not had any problems before I found out where I would need to be towed. I was sitting on a bench under a magnolia tree when I saw Chris’ white Subaru roll down the hill and into the parking lot. It was strange and wonderful to see a familiar face this far away from home. 

We unpacked, stowed the car in the free parking area (about a ¼ mile up the road) and went out to dinner. I told him of my trip and he shared the details of his life. We haven’t been as close recently as we have been in the past. I look forward to catching up with him on this trip. He took the news of my new engagement with a bit of shock. Several minutes later he said, "Wow man, your getting married." I realize that just about all of my old friends that are still in my life are divorced and younger than me. Three of them are joining me at some point on this trip. It makes for very sobering conversation about the intensity of the situation. I am learning important lessons at an important time in my life.

Frank

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