buoyohbuoy
Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2014
- Messages
- 23
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-26
- Hull Identification Number
- FMLR2517L314
- Vessel Name
- Daria
This is a fairly long post but I thought the story was worth telling. I'm sure others have similar stories to share.
One of the challenges of extended cruising on a smaller boat (we have an R25SC) is finding suitable shower facilities. I know what you’re thinking: doesn’t the R25SC have a shower? Technically, yes. And I have to tip my hat to Ranger Tug for giving it the old college try for incorporating a combination head/shower in a 25-foot boat. But we find that using the boat’s shower is not feasible for two reasons. First, showering on the R25SC is akin to showering in a very, very small phone booth while Superman is still in there changing. I like lots of elbow room which the R25SC does not have. Second, more water seems to end up on curtains, windows, walls and cabinets than on the bather and there is a considerable mess to clean up when the washing is done. So instead we avail ourselves of shower facilities at the various marinas we visit while cruising. That strategy has worked well for us the past few seasons here on the inside waters of the BC coast.
However, things get a little complicated when cruising in more remote areas as we discovered on our circumnavigation of Vancouver Island this summer. Many of the marinas – and I’m referring particularly to those on the west side of the Island - have no shower facilities and those that do have facilities that can only be described as “rustic” at best. “Rustic” runs the gamut from primitive but clean to downright scary. So showering every day is not a realistic expectation.
The first week of our trip was spent meandering our way northward from our home port of Deep Bay (south of Comox) up the Strait of Georgia to Campbell River, through Seymour Narrows and on up Johnstone Strait to Telegraph Cove (my wife’s favourite spot on Vancouver Island) and then up to Port Hardy, the last community of any size before Tofino on the west side of the Island.
After leaving Port Hardy and civilization behind the first week in June, we made our way to Bull Harbour on Hope Island. Bull Harbour serves as a staging area for boaters waiting for slack on Nahwitti Bar and a suitable weather window to get around the infamous Cape Scott on the northwest corner of Vancouver Island. Once past Cape Scott we cruised down to Quatsino Sound and into Winter Harbour, the first place where fuel is available. The marina there has no power on the docks and the bathrooms, shower and laundry facilities that the Waggoner Cruising Guide said were available were not to our liking. To be fair, we arrived there in early June well before the marina’s usual season begins so I’m certain the facilities would have been spruced up for later visitors. We also understand that the marina does not cater to transient boaters like us looking for amenities but to sport fishermen who trailer their boats in and stay in their campers and RVs or at the local fishing lodge. Some even have their own cabins along the community’s boardwalk. Short story long, we opted to pass on Winter Harbour’s facilities and wait to shower in Port Alice, our next day’s destination, which was located a further 25 to 30 nautical miles inside Quatsino Sound.
Rumble Beach Marina in Port Alice is a municipal marina. It has nice new docks with water but no power or other services. Waggoner’s noted that laundry and shower facilities were available at the campground about half a kilometre from the marina.
Early the next morning, a Saturday, we assembled our laundry and shower gear and trundled down to the campground. Everything was open but not a soul was around. The facilities to our relief were spotlessly clean and we were looking forward to our first hot showers in a week! While my wife got the laundry started, I went into the men’s shower room and pumped a couple of loonies into the timer box. I turned on the faucets only to discover there was no water. I checked the shut-off valves on the sinks and everything was working there. Just no water to the shower stall. We tried the women’s shower and it was the same story there. Frustrated, we called the phone number posted on the office door. The campground owner answered but could not understand why the water was not working. She explained that she and her husband were both elderly and had mobility issues (they both ride electric scooters to get around) but they would be down to the campground around 11:30 to see if they could solve the problem. That was a couple of hours away. I decided to walk up town while my wife waited on the laundry. There was a community centre. Surely there would be showers available there. When I arrived, I discovered that the community centre was closed on weekends. Go figure. It was beginning to look like we were not destined to shower in Quatsino Sound.
Once the laundry was finished and stowed on the boat, we saw two people going by the marina riding scooters. The campground owners no doubt. So we went back up to the campground to meet them, hoping beyond hope that they could get the water running for us. They tinkered with the plumbing for a bit, but finally informed us of what we already knew: the showers indeed were not working. Their plumber, they explained, would not be available until at least the next day to fix them. We thanked them for their efforts on our behalf and then headed back to the marina.
Back on the boat we came up with the idea of calling a local B & B. Maybe it would be good to get a night off the boat anyway. At least we would finally get to take showers. There were only a few B & Bs and the first ones we called did not answer. Again, it was the off-season, we told ourselves. The last place we tried, Inlet Haven B & B, was booked solid for the next few days but the owner, Bonnie Overland, detecting the desperation in my wife’s voice, asked what we were looking for. My wife explained our predicament which must have reminded the woman of Steve Martin’s famous plea in Planes, Trains and Automobiles: “have mercy on me; I’ve been wearing the same underwear since Tuesday!”
Bonnie told us to come on over. “You can use our shower,” she said. We told her we couldn’t impose that way but she insisted. “This is a small town,” she said. “It’s what we do. Come on up around 1:00.” Overwhelmed by her generosity, and now well beyond the point of being embarrassed about showering in the home of perfect strangers, we gladly accepted and prepared to head out again on our seemingly endless quest for a shower in Port Alice, British Columbia.
Now Port Alice is a mill town. Or at least it was until the mill closed a year and a half ago. Like many towns in similar circumstances, it has fallen on hard times. A lot of younger families have been forced to leave to find work elsewhere. Enrollment in the local elementary school has dropped from 250 to 37. The people who have stayed are hopeful that the mill will reopen and there have been indications that that may happen. In spite of Port Alice’s economic woes it still has its spectacular natural setting to boast about. The town is terraced on a mountain on the east side of Neurotsos Inlet, a five-mile long finger on the eastern edge of Quatsino Sound. Almost every house in town has a magnificent 180-degree view of the Inlet and residents can all see the comings and goings of boat traffic in front of the town.
Going “up” to Inlet Haven B & B involved just that. First we would climb Heart Attack Hill; then make a left on to Cardiac Crescent; and then a right on to Coronary Artery. Those are not the real street names, mind you, but they could be. Nevertheless, a shower was a shower. So with our paraphernalia in tow we steeled ourselves for the uphill battle and started walking. Before we got half a block, a pick-up truck stopped.
“Hi, do you folks need a lift into town?” asked the woman driver. We explained that we weren’t headed into town but to a B & B. “Bonnie’s?” she asked. “Jump in, I’ll give you a ride.” We hesitated but only for a moment.
The woman introduced herself as Jan Allen, the mayor of Port Alice. “I’ve seen you walking around town,” she said. “You’re in the boat down at the marina, aren’t you?” We were in fact the only transient boat at Rumble Beach Marina at the time and the mayor and probably everyone else in town knew we were there - courtesy of those breathtaking 180-degree views of Neurotsos Inlet I mentioned previously. Jan drove us up to the B & B and offered to pick us up afterwards and give us a tour of the town and the mill. We graciously declined. The trip back to the marina would be downhill and we enjoyed walking, we told her. It would do us good after a couple of weeks on the boat. We thanked her profusely for the ride.
Bonnie and Jim Overland run Inlet Haven B & B in the lower level of their house. They were busy with their paying guests, running meal trays up and down the stairs, but welcomed us into their home. Jim Overland was a retired mill worker and he regaled us with stories about Port Alice, the mill and the area’s history. We tried to pay for the showers – their B & B was a business after all – but they of course refused. Jim insisted on giving us a ride back to the marina and it was pointless arguing with him. With clean clothes and bodies we were now back on our R25SC.
The marine weather forecast for the next few days was not very good. Gale force winds were blowing on the outside waters. We were stuck in Port Alice. But “stuck” isn’t the way we would describe it. Port Alice has everything a cruising boater could want: a nice grocery store, a library with free Wi-Fi, a great Chinese restaurant (which unfortunately was threatening to close because of the town’s economy), a health clinic, a bank and a liquor store. It even had a small hockey arena, a 9-hole golf course and a community centre (which doesn’t open on weekends – did I mention that?). So we hunkered down in beautiful Port Alice, BC waiting for our opportunity to head south around the Brooks Peninsula.
A couple of days later, still waiting on weather, we found ourselves at the post office. I asked the clerk if there was a gas station in town. I had a couple of jerry cans that I wanted to fill as well as a propane tank. The woman explained that the only gas station was at the far end of town, not within walking distance.
“I can give you a ride,” said a voice from behind us. It was Jan, the mayor again! “I can pick you up at 1:00 at the marina.” I explained that the fuel situation was not critical and could wait until we reached our next destination. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.
At 1:00 I threw the jerry cans in the back of her pick-up and off we went to Port Alice’s only gas station. Once I had everything filled and loaded back into the truck I went in to pay the bill.
“How many places can you visit,” I jokingly remarked to the attendant as I pulled out my wallet, “where the mayor of the place gives you a ride to the gas station?”
The guy behind the counter gave me a puzzled look and said, “Is that what she told you? That she’s the mayor? She’s not the mayor. She’s the crazy Cat Lady of Port Alice.”
He stared blankly at me and I stared back at him not knowing what to say. Then he burst out laughing. “Just kidding, she’s the mayor.”
Jan could hardly stop laughing when I told her the story. “I’ll get him for that one,” she said.
On the way back to the marina, Jan asked if they had gotten the showers working at the campground. We had checked a day earlier (funny how one gets used to not showering every day) and they were still not working.
“I have a couple of rental apartments here in town,” she said “and one of them is currently vacant. You’re welcome to use the shower there if you want. It will give you a little privacy.”
I wanted to say no, that we couldn’t impose, that she had done enough already, but I knew what her answer would be. So I accepted and she gave us the key to her empty apartment.
“Use it whenever you want, for as long as you are here,” she said. “Just leave the key and lock the door behind you.”
We used the shower at Mayor Jan’s rental apartment that evening and, since the forecast looked good for an early departure the next day, we left a thank-you card and locked the place behind us.
I suppose Port Alice is no different than a lot of small towns. As Bonnie Overland said: “It’s what we do.” We are eternally grateful for the hospitality they showed us. So thank you, Mayor Jan. Thank you, Bonnie & Jim. Thank you, Port Alice, from two desperate boaters. We’ll be back - but probably on a bigger boat. You know, one with its own separate shower.
Mike
2014 R25SC "Daria"
One of the challenges of extended cruising on a smaller boat (we have an R25SC) is finding suitable shower facilities. I know what you’re thinking: doesn’t the R25SC have a shower? Technically, yes. And I have to tip my hat to Ranger Tug for giving it the old college try for incorporating a combination head/shower in a 25-foot boat. But we find that using the boat’s shower is not feasible for two reasons. First, showering on the R25SC is akin to showering in a very, very small phone booth while Superman is still in there changing. I like lots of elbow room which the R25SC does not have. Second, more water seems to end up on curtains, windows, walls and cabinets than on the bather and there is a considerable mess to clean up when the washing is done. So instead we avail ourselves of shower facilities at the various marinas we visit while cruising. That strategy has worked well for us the past few seasons here on the inside waters of the BC coast.
However, things get a little complicated when cruising in more remote areas as we discovered on our circumnavigation of Vancouver Island this summer. Many of the marinas – and I’m referring particularly to those on the west side of the Island - have no shower facilities and those that do have facilities that can only be described as “rustic” at best. “Rustic” runs the gamut from primitive but clean to downright scary. So showering every day is not a realistic expectation.
The first week of our trip was spent meandering our way northward from our home port of Deep Bay (south of Comox) up the Strait of Georgia to Campbell River, through Seymour Narrows and on up Johnstone Strait to Telegraph Cove (my wife’s favourite spot on Vancouver Island) and then up to Port Hardy, the last community of any size before Tofino on the west side of the Island.
After leaving Port Hardy and civilization behind the first week in June, we made our way to Bull Harbour on Hope Island. Bull Harbour serves as a staging area for boaters waiting for slack on Nahwitti Bar and a suitable weather window to get around the infamous Cape Scott on the northwest corner of Vancouver Island. Once past Cape Scott we cruised down to Quatsino Sound and into Winter Harbour, the first place where fuel is available. The marina there has no power on the docks and the bathrooms, shower and laundry facilities that the Waggoner Cruising Guide said were available were not to our liking. To be fair, we arrived there in early June well before the marina’s usual season begins so I’m certain the facilities would have been spruced up for later visitors. We also understand that the marina does not cater to transient boaters like us looking for amenities but to sport fishermen who trailer their boats in and stay in their campers and RVs or at the local fishing lodge. Some even have their own cabins along the community’s boardwalk. Short story long, we opted to pass on Winter Harbour’s facilities and wait to shower in Port Alice, our next day’s destination, which was located a further 25 to 30 nautical miles inside Quatsino Sound.
Rumble Beach Marina in Port Alice is a municipal marina. It has nice new docks with water but no power or other services. Waggoner’s noted that laundry and shower facilities were available at the campground about half a kilometre from the marina.
Early the next morning, a Saturday, we assembled our laundry and shower gear and trundled down to the campground. Everything was open but not a soul was around. The facilities to our relief were spotlessly clean and we were looking forward to our first hot showers in a week! While my wife got the laundry started, I went into the men’s shower room and pumped a couple of loonies into the timer box. I turned on the faucets only to discover there was no water. I checked the shut-off valves on the sinks and everything was working there. Just no water to the shower stall. We tried the women’s shower and it was the same story there. Frustrated, we called the phone number posted on the office door. The campground owner answered but could not understand why the water was not working. She explained that she and her husband were both elderly and had mobility issues (they both ride electric scooters to get around) but they would be down to the campground around 11:30 to see if they could solve the problem. That was a couple of hours away. I decided to walk up town while my wife waited on the laundry. There was a community centre. Surely there would be showers available there. When I arrived, I discovered that the community centre was closed on weekends. Go figure. It was beginning to look like we were not destined to shower in Quatsino Sound.
Once the laundry was finished and stowed on the boat, we saw two people going by the marina riding scooters. The campground owners no doubt. So we went back up to the campground to meet them, hoping beyond hope that they could get the water running for us. They tinkered with the plumbing for a bit, but finally informed us of what we already knew: the showers indeed were not working. Their plumber, they explained, would not be available until at least the next day to fix them. We thanked them for their efforts on our behalf and then headed back to the marina.
Back on the boat we came up with the idea of calling a local B & B. Maybe it would be good to get a night off the boat anyway. At least we would finally get to take showers. There were only a few B & Bs and the first ones we called did not answer. Again, it was the off-season, we told ourselves. The last place we tried, Inlet Haven B & B, was booked solid for the next few days but the owner, Bonnie Overland, detecting the desperation in my wife’s voice, asked what we were looking for. My wife explained our predicament which must have reminded the woman of Steve Martin’s famous plea in Planes, Trains and Automobiles: “have mercy on me; I’ve been wearing the same underwear since Tuesday!”
Bonnie told us to come on over. “You can use our shower,” she said. We told her we couldn’t impose that way but she insisted. “This is a small town,” she said. “It’s what we do. Come on up around 1:00.” Overwhelmed by her generosity, and now well beyond the point of being embarrassed about showering in the home of perfect strangers, we gladly accepted and prepared to head out again on our seemingly endless quest for a shower in Port Alice, British Columbia.
Now Port Alice is a mill town. Or at least it was until the mill closed a year and a half ago. Like many towns in similar circumstances, it has fallen on hard times. A lot of younger families have been forced to leave to find work elsewhere. Enrollment in the local elementary school has dropped from 250 to 37. The people who have stayed are hopeful that the mill will reopen and there have been indications that that may happen. In spite of Port Alice’s economic woes it still has its spectacular natural setting to boast about. The town is terraced on a mountain on the east side of Neurotsos Inlet, a five-mile long finger on the eastern edge of Quatsino Sound. Almost every house in town has a magnificent 180-degree view of the Inlet and residents can all see the comings and goings of boat traffic in front of the town.
Going “up” to Inlet Haven B & B involved just that. First we would climb Heart Attack Hill; then make a left on to Cardiac Crescent; and then a right on to Coronary Artery. Those are not the real street names, mind you, but they could be. Nevertheless, a shower was a shower. So with our paraphernalia in tow we steeled ourselves for the uphill battle and started walking. Before we got half a block, a pick-up truck stopped.
“Hi, do you folks need a lift into town?” asked the woman driver. We explained that we weren’t headed into town but to a B & B. “Bonnie’s?” she asked. “Jump in, I’ll give you a ride.” We hesitated but only for a moment.
The woman introduced herself as Jan Allen, the mayor of Port Alice. “I’ve seen you walking around town,” she said. “You’re in the boat down at the marina, aren’t you?” We were in fact the only transient boat at Rumble Beach Marina at the time and the mayor and probably everyone else in town knew we were there - courtesy of those breathtaking 180-degree views of Neurotsos Inlet I mentioned previously. Jan drove us up to the B & B and offered to pick us up afterwards and give us a tour of the town and the mill. We graciously declined. The trip back to the marina would be downhill and we enjoyed walking, we told her. It would do us good after a couple of weeks on the boat. We thanked her profusely for the ride.
Bonnie and Jim Overland run Inlet Haven B & B in the lower level of their house. They were busy with their paying guests, running meal trays up and down the stairs, but welcomed us into their home. Jim Overland was a retired mill worker and he regaled us with stories about Port Alice, the mill and the area’s history. We tried to pay for the showers – their B & B was a business after all – but they of course refused. Jim insisted on giving us a ride back to the marina and it was pointless arguing with him. With clean clothes and bodies we were now back on our R25SC.
The marine weather forecast for the next few days was not very good. Gale force winds were blowing on the outside waters. We were stuck in Port Alice. But “stuck” isn’t the way we would describe it. Port Alice has everything a cruising boater could want: a nice grocery store, a library with free Wi-Fi, a great Chinese restaurant (which unfortunately was threatening to close because of the town’s economy), a health clinic, a bank and a liquor store. It even had a small hockey arena, a 9-hole golf course and a community centre (which doesn’t open on weekends – did I mention that?). So we hunkered down in beautiful Port Alice, BC waiting for our opportunity to head south around the Brooks Peninsula.
A couple of days later, still waiting on weather, we found ourselves at the post office. I asked the clerk if there was a gas station in town. I had a couple of jerry cans that I wanted to fill as well as a propane tank. The woman explained that the only gas station was at the far end of town, not within walking distance.
“I can give you a ride,” said a voice from behind us. It was Jan, the mayor again! “I can pick you up at 1:00 at the marina.” I explained that the fuel situation was not critical and could wait until we reached our next destination. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.
At 1:00 I threw the jerry cans in the back of her pick-up and off we went to Port Alice’s only gas station. Once I had everything filled and loaded back into the truck I went in to pay the bill.
“How many places can you visit,” I jokingly remarked to the attendant as I pulled out my wallet, “where the mayor of the place gives you a ride to the gas station?”
The guy behind the counter gave me a puzzled look and said, “Is that what she told you? That she’s the mayor? She’s not the mayor. She’s the crazy Cat Lady of Port Alice.”
He stared blankly at me and I stared back at him not knowing what to say. Then he burst out laughing. “Just kidding, she’s the mayor.”
Jan could hardly stop laughing when I told her the story. “I’ll get him for that one,” she said.
On the way back to the marina, Jan asked if they had gotten the showers working at the campground. We had checked a day earlier (funny how one gets used to not showering every day) and they were still not working.
“I have a couple of rental apartments here in town,” she said “and one of them is currently vacant. You’re welcome to use the shower there if you want. It will give you a little privacy.”
I wanted to say no, that we couldn’t impose, that she had done enough already, but I knew what her answer would be. So I accepted and she gave us the key to her empty apartment.
“Use it whenever you want, for as long as you are here,” she said. “Just leave the key and lock the door behind you.”
We used the shower at Mayor Jan’s rental apartment that evening and, since the forecast looked good for an early departure the next day, we left a thank-you card and locked the place behind us.
I suppose Port Alice is no different than a lot of small towns. As Bonnie Overland said: “It’s what we do.” We are eternally grateful for the hospitality they showed us. So thank you, Mayor Jan. Thank you, Bonnie & Jim. Thank you, Port Alice, from two desperate boaters. We’ll be back - but probably on a bigger boat. You know, one with its own separate shower.
Mike
2014 R25SC "Daria"