Sleepless in Vancouver

We finally got hit with a good storm last night. Winds gusting to over 100 km an hour, with sustained winds of 60 km/hr and lots of rain. My tarp frame took it well with only some minor loosing at the back on the right side. David, my hero, got up at 5:30 AM with screw gun in hand and fastened down the bits that had come loose. It was a long night, listening to the wind howl, strange things banging in the dark and the boat tossing around like a washing machine. Things finally calmed down in the late morning and I went out to assess the damage. Not too bad, had to fasten down the tarp in a few places and it looks like the rotten wood on the sides of the boat took a bit of a beating, but all in all very good for the extent of the storm. There are about 200,000 people without power today in the lower mainland. Luckily we aren’t among them. Our power is only about 50 percent, cant run heaters, microwaves etc. but still have lights and a working fridge. And strangely enough the satellite stayed up the whole time.

A few heavy pieces of railing went flying off the deck of the Bowie and hit Karen’s sailboat and Troy’s boat, but the damage seems minimal. Otherwise the marina looks pretty good, thank god for that. The sun came out this afternoon, which gave us the opportunity to go around and tie everything down more securely just in case it decided to storm some more.


I spent the afternoon contemplating my bathroom. I’ve designed some storage cabinets that I will have to build, and decided to paint the outside of my bathtub. I wanted to get rid of it altogether and build a shower stall but don’t think that will be feasible. It’s going to cost me about $300-400 to get the bathtub reglazed. It needs doing badly so will just slap a coat of the burgundy paint on the outside of it until I can afford to have it redone properly. I’m praying Mike finally shows up tomorrow to install my hot water heater, I cant wait to get that done and have my first bath here.

Last year a film crew came down to the marina and did some filming for a reality tv show about our life down here. Today the producer showed up with a copy of the dvd containing the footage they shot. It was really well done. It would be so cool if they decide to go ahead and do the show. There is defiantly never a dull moment around here, and an odder cast of characters they couldn’t of dreamed of if they tried.