To the Island and back (238/365)

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August 26, 2015 – Another trip to the Island today. This time the ferry, the slow commute. But what a spectacular morning out in the Strait of Georgia. The beautiful morning makes up for the lousy sleep I had last night. I went to bed early knowing it would be an obscenely early morning. The alarm was set for an hour early, 4:45am instead of 5:45am. I don’t really need an alarm clock, I never sleep in, but I always set one just in case. If I’m travelling and in a hotel, sometimes I set two….and then just wake up and wait for them to go off. But even though I set an alarm, I never get a good night’s sleep when it’s an early ferry or an early flight. So even though I was in be by 10pm….I woke up at 1:30, 2:30, 3:30….

And so it goes.

But still, these morning ferries are worth it to me. They are always a quieter crowd, there are rarely the hordes of screaming children found on later runs, and I never have the concern of a sailing wait because they are never fully loaded. The Salish Sea is waiting for the change in weather that is sliding in from the West. We are finally going to see a few days of cooler and wetter weather. It will be a refreshing change.

Yes, I love the “peace” of a morning ferry sailing. It’s a nice bit of alone time where I can just watch the water slip by and admire the beauty of our coastline. There is no better place than out on the water, land doesn’t hold the magic and mystery that the aquatic environment does.

As I was wandering around the ferry on the upper deck a young guy (When did anyone who looks under 30 become “young?”) stood staring out over the ocean, he turned to me and said “It’s beautiful!” I asked where he was from – Toronto. He is heading for the West Coast Trail with friends. He’s never been here before, he asked where I am from, I said here, just heading across the water for work today, back tonight.

He told me I am a lucky person.

He’s right, I know that.

The weather is changing and I asked if he was prepared, mentally. He said he didn’t know, he just planned to follow his friends. Couldn’t tell me whether he was starting or ending at Bamfield, he just planned to follow where they led. I told him that if he weather gets windy he’d be in for some spectacular days ahead, hard days, but spectacular views if the sea kicked up. I wished him a safe hike and wandered on.

Until that weather arrives, I get this field day in good weather. Although the clouds are starting to thicken and build and the air is cooler, there won’t be any wet weather today on the lake.

Fall is coming, not quite yet, but it’s out there waiting.

When the ferry docked I was almost sorry to get off. It was just one of those mornings out on the water. But I knew that I had more on-the-water time ahead today. So it was back to the vehicle and an hour drive up Island to the hatchery. Once there I hopped into the hatchery truck for the ride up to the lake where we launched the boat and had a fantastic run up the lake on flat calm water under sunny skies. The lake was crystal clear and I almost wished I’d had a swim suit with me, the surface temperature was 18C. We netted our catch out of the trap and counted, measured, took some scales, and then released everything back to the lake before pulling in the nets and heading back down the lake on slightly lumpier water as the afternoon winds came up. But still, another great day on the water.

The drive back down the Island was uneventful beyond berating myself for not making a ferry reservation when I noted that the one I was aiming for was getting dangerously full and I was still a fair ways away with a stop to make to pick up some equipment. But I was in luck, they put an extra sailing on and I made that one. Happy little victory fist pump.

It makes for a long day, but how fabulous is that commute and that day in the “office”? So even though it was up at 4:30 am and not finished with the work vehicle returned and settled with a glass of wine until 8 pm, I never say no to these days out on the lake….

There are worse days at work than this 🙂