rugged shores, and a mystery solved

i guess we have to concede to the fact that sleeping a whole night through isn't likely to happen until we live back on land.

the expected rise in the winds came in the middle of the night. Rafiki started to rock and roll in the darkness, causing the mast to thwack and our bodies to tense as we attempted to balance in our sleep. balancing was soon done in wakefulness, and the dawn light came in through rolling windows.

somehow i managed to make pancakes on board before we piled into Tubs (the tender) and made for solid ground. the forecast called for 40 knot winds today, so shore exploring was the name of the game. plus, sid and aaron spied a cave the evening before on a preliminary harbour buzz and that was high on the list of things to see.

the tide was low, and getting lower. after puttering as close as we could, then turning back for a deeper nose-up, we finally put our feet on the rugged shore. lasqueti appears to be comprised of an almost-shiny, coal-black rock that is only somewhat smoothed by water and age. angular stones covered in razor sharp oysters made for tricky footing, and i held sage's hand tight as she wobbled along in her clunky gumboots.

sid was off like a shot, eager to get to the cave. the chunky shore soon blended into a flatter sand/mud surface that sage and i followed, while sid chose to scramble high up on the rocks. around the bend we found the entrance to the cave they had sighted. it looked almost like a mining cave from the outside; the entrance was about seven feet high and wide enough for a person to comfortably walk through.

fearless explorers

the cave wasn't too deep. it went into the rock about thirty paces, spanned an unsolvably deep puddle, then abruptly bent to the left into a small, dripping cove. it was dank, smelling strongly of mold, the walls smooth with scum and buildup. stalactites were slowly forming, but might grow an inch in our lifetime. i, for one, am not a huge fan of being underground, but the kids thought it was the bees knees.

aaron looked back out the entrance and shouted, "look how angry the water is!"then dashed out to check up on the dinghy. i took that opportunity to urge the kids out of the cave (i'll admit, i was feeling weird in there) and head out for a shore explore.

we found smooth, kinky arbutus trees and soft spring flowers. we found spiral shells by the thousands, cutting trails in the mud with their little slug-like bodies. scuttling crabs, both of the shore and hermit kind, fled from our squishy steps, taking shelter under broad ribbons of seaweed left behind by the tide. a wayward branch tangled in sea flora, standing alone in the middle of the tide flat, was home to many crawling creatures. the kids delighted in seeing "who's home", noticing the colours and shapes and little lives underfoot.

trying (and failing) not to crush shells by the dozen, we made for more solid ground to go find dad. he was rowing about in Tubs, keeping her off the poky shore. we all scrambled back in, thinking we might go back to Rafiki, but one look at her thrashing about on anchor guided our decision to explore one of the islets in the bay.

there we found a goose nest with egg shells, which took a lot of urging and gross comments about goose poop to keep the kids out of it. huddled behind the leeward side of the rock, we snacked and soaked up some sun. sage found a pile of dried up crab shells (her new favourite thing) that looked like some shore critter's post-snack debris. back down on the wedge of shell-sand beach where Tubs was, sid picked up a very long, stretchy, slightly wriggly worm that we later identified as an Orange Nemertean. it was very delicate and did suffer a rending in the kids hands, though we also learned that nemerteans can, much like our earthworms, survive such a division and become two worms instead. fascinating!

slinky, gooey, wriggly, and wild - all the kids' favourite things

well, the snacks ran out and the decision was made to attempt a boarding of Rafiki. we puttered out and came alongside, waited for a relative lull in the waves... and then quickly scrambled up the ladder and into the cockpit. boy was she tossing about, that old boat! but she was also a warm place out of the wind, and with dry clothes (the ride out was splashy) and the ever-important food.

i'd say we got back out to Rafiki around 2pm. let me just summarize what that was like with this video:

and so it went for hours. and hours. and hours. we darn well very nearly got seasick at anchor, i tell ya! it was a pain in the butt, but it was what it was and there wasn't much we could do about it. the kids took it in stride. i was, and i am, daily, impressed by their positive attitudes and their ability to adapt to all these situations. they didn't make a single comment about the motion of the boat. they just kept eating and playing and fighting like they always do. sid even decided to pull out the bananagrams and start making words. all on his own he sounded out some words and names, and he glowed with pride as he figured it out.

a proud boy, and an impressionable girl

i figured since it was windy as heck, i might as well make it useful. the first round of laundry was done on board - a modest affair of hot water and laundry soap in the bathroom sink. but girls need clean undies, and we hadn't had an opportunity so far - supply was getting low!

i then proceeded to make dinner, which again was not an easy affair. chopping potatoes while bobbing around like a cork is awkward and enraging. adding a minor but persistent sensation of discombobulation to the mix, alongside troublesome boys playing toss where they should not be... well, it was an irritating process. i managed to plate up our food, then hopped outside to enjoy it where i could stare at something solid.

a kindly resident of the bay motored over to us to ask how we were doing, how the kids were faring. he said this was the worst wind + wave action they'd had in there in years (joy!), and that's why it was called false bay - mystery solved! even his dock tucked back in the corner of the bay was rolling about. it was slightly awkward talking to him through a veil of undies, but he was very kind, and offered us help if we needed it ("just yell!" he said with a laugh). he zoomed away and we finished our dinner thinking of the genuine kind-heartedness of islanders.

we crept off to bed, banking on the promise of a diminishing wind in the night, fingers crossed that the thwacking would end soon!