7/10 Nanaimo

We're still in Nanaimo – Trav has been giving his sore knee some needed rest and for the last couple of days we've been dealing with and recovering from Rosie's sudden illness and demise.

This is by far the most relaxed and pleasant visit we've had at Nanaimo. We're pretty sure that the reason is we have no agenda or time constraints, and aren't chomping at the bit to move on while waiting for a weather break. Erin has been spending time with her art work and is engaging Barb's help as well. They've both been busy with painting the last day or two and are producing some remarkable works.

The weather has been beautiful since we arrived, with mostly clear skies and sunshine. For the past two days the wind has been blowing pretty hard – today Trav and I went over to the fuel dock to buy Canadian fishing licenses and there were some small whitecaps on the far side of the dock, still inside the breakwater. Our anemometer shows that the winds here in the inner boat basin, the older and more shielded part of the marina, are blowing 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 24 mph. Flags around the marina are all flying straight out from their masts, and the view out the passageway between Protection and Newcastle Islands shows that the Strait of Georgia is all churned up.

Trav and I have been contemplating some future routes and destinations and we seem to be agreeing that rather than trek further north an exploratory tour of the Gulf Islands may be in order. For many years we've always just passed through in a couple of days on the way north and that's the same story with Trav and Barb. Some of their first extended boating was in the Gulf Islands, and since they plan on selling their boat after this season, it seems very fitting to make this a Sentimental Journey through the Gulf Islands and we're excited to share that with them. Once we leave Nanaimo, we'll head back through Dodd Narrows and visit the Flat Top Islands and Sylva Bay first. More on that later.

Today Barb, Erin and I walked into town for a little excursion. We climbed the observation tower at the harbor to view and video our surroundings, then headed over to the Bastion where we watched a bagpiper accompany dance school students perform various Scottish dances. The show ended at noon with the daily ceremonial firing of the cannon, with the bagpiper doing the loading and a guest from the crowd touching off the fuse. They have two cannons side by side, and both are operational, as last year when I watched it was the other one. There are more cannons in the Bastion itself. We learned that they came from a foundry in England and were used to protect the Nanaimo Harbor during the 19^th century. They are capable of firing a 6 pound shot as far as Protection Island.

Afterward, we roamed through the town and visited a couple of art galleries and the Literacy Nanaimo store, where Erin picked up a used book. We returned to our dock with the wind still blowing.

It's now a pleasant evening – the wind has subsided to under 10 mph, and a street musician is playing the violin nearby – I've heard Pachelbel's Canon in D, Verdi's The Four Seasons and some Bach pieces I can't quite name.