Our last stop: Galiano Island
September 10 arrival
We left Burgoyne and it was an easy 20 nm to get to Montague Harbor. We were here in 2017 and Stephen was nostalgic to return. It is a generous bay with lots of space for boats and offers good holding in 6-7 fathoms in mud. The sun was still shining on us! We always put the paddleboards away to avoid the extra windage but I had encouraged Stephen for us to keep them out since it was such a short jaunt and then they would be available for usage immediately.
We took the north side of Salt Spring to round and then head southerly and easterly towards the bay. The wind was at a good clip around 15 knots SOUTHEAST and great sailing weather! But to tack back and forth with paddle boards on the port side is not ideal. Whoopsies! The one time we kept the paddle boards on deck and had to forego sailing due to this decision. Oh well, we chose just to motor but luckily it was not too far and Stephen may have repeatedly reminded me, "We had to keep the paddle boards blown up....". That was his polite way of saying, we could be sailing right now!!!!
We arrived and anchored easily and later that afternoon, John, who is another HAM user, came by on his dinghy to Soulstice to visit and introduce himself. We know his voice but not his face. He and his wife Barb, are on a lovely 42ft Grand Banks called Aeris. John is a net controller on the Great Northern and Southern Net at times. The Great Northern Net ended on September 1st but the Southern Net goes all year round. He saw we were in the anchorage and wanted to meet us since we check in on the Net daily at 0800 PST on 3870 LSB. We had a nice visit and he encouraged us to please come by and see them.
That evening I was able to paddleboard the entire anchorage and enjoy all the lovely shore homes with their private docks. I wonder what it costs to have your own dock? And I say this because some are quite lengthy from the shore to the bay. Additionally, I know it is more temperate weather here but I can imagine if they ICE up... Yowzers! What an ice rink?! More like a luge!
Anywho, the next day we were excited to get on land and check out the island. Stephen had been thinking about this pizza place we walked to in 2017. We did some googling and agreed it was a place called Babes in the Woods, which is in Sturdies Bay, across the island. We decided we would walk there and walk some trails I could see on the map along the way with some road time too. Mount Galiano happened to be on our path that gave us another 1000ft peak climb with a fabulous view! We hiked up to the top and enjoyed the splendid view as the blue skies and fairly cloudless day permitted a long-range panorama.
We still had plenty of daylight to make it to Babes in the Woods. They moved their locale but only by a block away. The pizza was just okay to be honest but still fun to revisit due to his nostalgia. Also, no longer is alcohol served but an under-the-radar BYOB can be had:)
The one thing I have forgotten to add, or maybe it was on purpose, a subconscious exclusion, is that I injured my foot mysteriously falling off the paddleboard on the way into shore to start the day. It is more of a hit to my ego, as I feel I have paddled in some serious conditions of wind and waves including boat wakes with lots of gear on the boat as well! Groceries/laundry etc... But on the paddle board to the shore that morning, we got waked by a little boat and the curl of the wave grabbed the edge of my board perfectly and tossed me over. Not completely as I slid off just to waist line but enough that I wanted to go back to the boat and change my soggy bottoms!
I usually wear Chacos, a type of hard-soled sandal popular with outdoor folks to paddle for 2 reasons when paddle boarding. One is that my left foot already has some deformities and it provides me with better stability than being shoeless/sandal-less, and two, it provides additional protection for any type of ground I need to walk on when reaching shore, for example, rocks, shells, pokey/sharp things, docks with splinters, etc... You get the idea. Once I changed my bottom half, I paddled back to the shore and carried my paddleboard up a dock to secure it with a lock. I had no pain or any idea that I injured my foot until I changed into tennis shoes on shore.
Stephen and I always pack a bag with a little towel to wipe our feet and then put on our shoes and socks. We don't wear sandals to walk in because we always plan to put in some mileage. Today was no different but when I put on my tennis shoes and started to bear weight I immediately had some pain. How bizarre I thought?! Yes, I slid off my paddleboard but I did not remember any significant trauma as a cause for this new pain. I took a few more steps and yep, I definitely had some pain. Being stubborn, desperate to walk and enjoy our island, and thinking there was no real mechanism for this pain, it must just be a bruise/contusion, I decided to continue with our original itinerary.
This included the hike to the peak and walk across the island and part of the way back. We did stop at the Hummingbird Pub on our return trip from Babes in the Woods, which offers a bus ride back to our anchorage for $3.00 pp. It is a famous pub and bus ride as the bus driver will hand out instruments to the bus riders and can be quite animated. I will say this was not the case that evening but that was fine. We were pretty tired. Normally, we would have walked back to get the exercise but Stephen bid me to take the bus and I agreed.
The next day my foot was swollen and bruised, particularly to the dorsum of my foot and my pain seemed to be along the lateral aspect of my foot with weight bearing. As I mentioned before, this foot already has previous injuries so it can be sore at times and I never walk on it barefoot. LONG STORY but just suffice to say, it is my "gimp" foot but we get along. I run, hike, ski, walk long hours at work, etc... This pain was different, in a different place and the swelling and bruising demanded attention. I chose to lay low and ice and elevate, all the good stuff. Some Tylenol and do some careful watching.
Stephen and I were planning to leave in two days to end our long journey. We would wait the next day to see how I felt. So the next day was a "down day". I did a knee paddle to join Stephen for our visit on Aeris, the Grand Banks, owners, John and Barb. We spent a few hours with them in the morning, reminiscing over our similar sailing ventures in Mexico. They too had spent several seasons there when they owned a Passport SV. We also enjoyed talking about the Net in Mexico and then the history of the Net up in BC. John and some other locals took over the net after a woman who ran it for over 20 years had to leave her home and go to an apartment where she could not have an antenna. People volunteered to keep it going because the frequency can be lost to others and never regained once you give up the slot. They are retired and so come and go throughout the season. They bought the Grand Banks 5 years ago and live fairly close by in Pender Harbor. Their old boat they still follow and is reportedly in the South Pacific now. They too had plans for the South Pacific but chose to stay in Mexico and then put their sailboat on cargo ship to bring her back to Canada. It is a Dutch one that allows you to keep your mast up and basically sinks the boat in of sorts. Very cool. Their Grand Banks is an incredibly comfortable space and ideal cruising vessel for the Pacific Northwest. I am not ready for a Grand Banks or the fuel bill but perhaps one day. His wife would get seasick on their Passport but has never has gotten seasick on their Grand Banks once! Impressive for stability.
The next morning on 9/13, I still had pain and swelling and decided an x-ray would be prudent. I still could not wrap my brain around what happened but we suspect with the board being lifted up somewhat abrasively by the wave and perhaps a force underneath that my foot and hard plant down? So maybe a fracture occurred. I was more concerned initially with an avulsion fracture that can happen with a twisting motion, causing a ligament to pull a bit of bone off and this seemed more logical to me.
After coffee and discussing our limited options for the day because of my concern that any further walking could be more harmful ( trust me - this was a challenge to admit but I can be reasonable when necessary - ha) I asked Stephen if we could return so I could get an x-ray. And so... this LONG journey, expedition as Stephen prefers to call it, came to an end. It was anticlimatic but this is life and so it does happen like that.
We left leisurely but still with time to make slack going through Active Pass, an area known for turbulent water and then headed straight for Blaine. Only 25 nm away. It is uplifting to know how close we are Gulf Islands for future return trips. We docked in our slip around 1515 and tied up Soulstice! I found an Orthopedic Walk In Clinic in Bellingham. My car was dead but jumpstarted by our buddy Mark and off we went. A few hours later an xray confirmed a fracture at the base of my 3rd metatarsal. This was not the area on my radar. Ortho PA perplexed as well! But no Jones fracture ( base of 5th metatarsal and my concern due to need for possible surgery) and no other real evidence of other trauma besides my old stuff! No surgery, conservative measures, walking boot/shoe and Behave Jenny! I did later read that perhaps my other activities of running/hiking etc... can cause stress to this area from overuse and certainly my rheumatoid arthritis can play a role. It is what it is as this trendy saying goes.
Behave Jenny is the hardest part but I am so grateful!!! Sailing has taught me more patience believe it or not! I still have to practice daily and often don't succeed but still try! Stephen has been so fantastic through out the entire journey and particularly on the day I requested to leave. He has been nothing short of supportive and solid CAPTAIN of Soulstice. I will do another follow up as a kind of synoposis of the trip but here we are back in Blaine. All is well! & 73 (Best Regards in SSB/HF speak:) )
Luceny base of 3rd metatarsal
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