Tuesday, September 17, 2013

                                  
We spent last week visiting cruising buddies.  We had a great visit with the crews from Gavia Arctica, Toketie and Cop Out.  The last two boats left Canada with us and Toketie sailed back from Australia and have their boat at Maple Bay on Vancouver Island, while Cop Out was sold in Langkawi. We went to Saltspring Island to see Cop Out home. They have recently renovated, adding a bedroom with an ensuite bathroom and big walk in closet.  Wendy is a potter and at the moment they are building a potting studio below their main floor. 
                                     
While we were there a cement floor was poured and the walls were being framed in.  She will have a beautiful view of Ganges harbour.  A load of gravel, oh excuse me, a yard of 3/4 inch crush was delivered to make a driveway into the studio and to spread on their road.  Barry and I promptly dug in :) and loaded up first wheelbarrows and then the back of Ken's truck and proceeded to spread the gravel around.  As you can see there were compensations involved.  The hot tub was enjoyed by all at the end of a hot dusty day. 
                                     
It was nice to be afloat again, if only briefly on Toketie and we had a great visit with Linda and David.  The Captain of Gavia Arctica slaved away in the kitchen and produced a wonderful meal while we were there.  They have a home full of antique furniture and it is beautifully decorated. We really enjoyed catching up with our chums, it was great to catch up with them once again. 
David, Linda and I on Toketie in Maple Bay
We are headed to Calgary tonight and then on to Trinidad in the morning.  We are all ready to go, Doug our brother-in-law after putting up with us for almost a month is very kindly driving us to the airport.  We thought we had a buyer for our X-Trail but it turns out there are a few more things wrong with it than we thought.  We are leaving with our cousin to sell for us.  I hope there are not too many surprises when we get back to Cat's-Paw IV.