It is our 31st anniversary today. 31 years ago we were in Winnipeg, with all our family and friends. It was a gorgeous hot, sunny day. I remember Barry and Bruce coming over to wash the wedding car, my parent's olive green Dodge Dart. It didn't look too bad.

31 years later we are in Duncan, B.C. with Barry's mom and we are awaiting the survey of the sailboat Cats Paw IV. It can't be surveyed until next Monday, June 24. Apparently the Fast Passages are known for getting osmosis blistering, where water gets under the fiberglass and starts delaminating the boat in spots. This is not a good thing for a boat to have and can cost up to $30,000 to fix. That is going to be the longest week that I've had for a while. Both Barry and I are trying to think what we can do for a week plus while we wait. Barry was talking about going down to the casual employment office, I am not sure if I am ready to do that yet. It's one thing being on holidays and having money to spend and it's another thinking about every penny and finding things to do.

We woke up this morning and went for a lovely breakfast at the Pioneer House, a local restaurant. Then we decided to visit Cowichan Bay, a community located on the water not too far from here. We hit it lucky and ran into Cowichan Days on the waterfront. There were displays of sea kayaks, canoe races, food vendors, a blue's band, fishing derby, a painting contest, a tour on a 1922 steam driven trawler, and a boat building contest. The boat builder's had to be in costume, have only two builders, and use only hand tools, not power, and their supplies could only cost so much. At the end of it they had to sail or paddle their vessels.

It was interesting to see the different approaches to boat building. A couple of retired navy types built a submarine out of wood, they had painted it and put a periscope on it as well as a sail. The tree hugger entry made their craft out of vines and willow branches, then added netting and covered the whole thing in plastic. One of the other entries had 5 gallon water bottles for floatation and a flat platform to paddle from, it actually looked like it might be seaworthy. We may go back to see which one actually cut the mustard.

We are planning on going out for dinner tonight. There was a nice looking restaurant in Cowichan Bay that we may try out. The sun is shining here at the moment, so I may go outside and enjoy it, sometimes it doesn't last for long.