Visitors, and Sea Stories (Part 2)

After one pacific March day on the Pacific, we and our guests woke up to a veritable hurricane on day two. To fully appreciate how riled the sea got, I offer a BEFORE photo of our (borrowed) rowboat:

Rowboat, and the vista from our yard.

And an  AFTER photo:

Greg woke up first the morning of the storm, and said: "I'm going to check the boat."

We'd left it high and dry on the rock wall in front of our house. Logan and I checked it before we went to bed. All was well.

Greg came back in the house, poker-faced. "Boat's gone."

"No way," I said, because Greg can be known to pull fast ones. I bolted outside, housecoat flapping in the 100km (or more) winds, and sure enough. Oh, there were logs and clams and a tire and rocks and other unusual debris on our lawn, but nary a boat in sight.

"Logan," I called to my sleeping son, "get up. We've got to find our boat."

Greg went to school and Logan and I slipped into rubber boots and rain gear and began splashing down Stalashen Drive, checking the beach at various points along the way for any flash of silver. We got to the beginning of the Davis Bay esplanade, about 1 km from our house, turned the corner and Logan said: "There's your boat."

Ahoy. Sure enough, there she was, washed up on the sidewalk beside the public washroom. It looked like a pitbull had had its way with her. Or a team of hooligans with baseball bats. Or the sea.

(Reminder at this point in the story: BORROWED boat).

I was feeling terribly distraught, and didn't know who to call. The authorities? The boat owner? A scrap metal dealer? Logan and I returned home. Bystanders were taking photos of the sorry boat. Waves continued to wash over and under her. Oh, god.

"Well," I said, "at least we had one great day of crabbing with her. Let's go back home, call Greg and let him know we found it."

We did that, and at home I checked for any other damage. The sea'd turned maniacal. An otter skirted across the rocks before my eyes.

A few metres from our door.



Too close.

We returned to Davis Bay with Kira, because I didn't want her to miss a minute of this.



Later, after I'd called Sechelt officials, the boat was picked up and scrapped.

Does anyone out there have a good, used aluminum rowboat boat for sale?

If so, please call 604-989-4959.

I mean really ... PLEASE CALL.