View from the Shore - Cadillac Van Isle - Leg 4 and 5

I'm in Port Hardy and now have Internet access again after travelling through the wireless-less zone. Wireless is so rare between Sayward and Port Hardy that I ended up listening to AM static, which is much better than FM static. With AM static, you can modulate the tone by pressing or releasing the gas pedal, or by driving closer or further from another large vehicle. So I managed to play The Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday this way. At least, that's how it sounded in my head, in reality, it sounded like a chainsaw.

Sayward was quiet. I stayed in the Sayward Hotel. It is not inviting from the outside, but inside the rooms are quite nice and the staff friendly. It took two tries, but they found me a room that had been cleaned. The Satellite TV wasn't hooked up, but they had free DVDs.

I arrived too late for the the boat to the fish farm and as nobody was waiting, decided I wasn't getting over there today. So my time was spent wandering Sayward, reading in the sunshine at Kelsey Bay, surrounded by snow capped mountains and watching DVDs.

Kairos had a good run from Deepwater Bay to Hardwicke Island, finishing 1st in Division 2. After an over-early start (requiring a return to the start line), Kairos sailed through most of the fleet, hitting 32 knots (until the wind metre broke) and crossing the finish line at Telegraph Cove as the forth boat over the line. This was another 1st place finish for Kairos.

We had a good time at Telegraph Cove - all the boats and sailors overrun the place and it is great for socialising. Our "house" was perfect for us - it slept 8 in three rooms, and also had a living room and kitchen and spiral stairway to the upper level. Its central location on the boardwalk meant lots of visitors and the door was always open.

In my drive around the island, so far I've seen more wildlife than I normally do. I managed to kill one and almost killed another. At the entrance to Comox the town has a beautiful flower garden, which is very tastefully done and welcoming. The local deer population think so too and when I drove in to Comox, two deer were busy eating the heads of the flowers. Entering Kelsey Bay, a Grouse came within a tail feather of being my dinner (these birds don't like to fly). In Woss Camp, a brown squirrel was not so lucky and met its maker after running under the rear wheel of the support van. I felt the bump. And just 30 minutes ago, I saw mommy black bear and her cubs having lunch at the side of the highway. I got some great shots from the safety of the van. Several other tourist stopped to take pictures and I stuck around with the camera ready to see if any were stupid enough to get out and give me some great photos to sell to the local and national papers. No such luck, so I moved on to Port Hardy.

Also, a big THANK YOU to the home support from the crew of Kairos. Knowing that you are following the race and looking after the home front is really appreciated. Sixteen days is a long time to be away from home.

I don't see a USB connection on this computer so it doesn't look like I can upload any pictures from here. I've got some nice ones I'm dying to post. I'll have to try somewhere else later today or tomorrow.

I'll post more later before heading to Winter Harbour, where I expect we'll be off-line again. I'm told that the Cadillac Van Isle Race Committee managed to post results from Hardwicke Island by taking a boat to Kelsey Bay and uploading via a payphone at the dock.

Bert will be happy to know the Support Van is performing well and today had the honour of taking the Race Director to the start line. I believe the van is to be knighted for this service. Well, actually, maybe not knighted, but at least get the OCVI medal (Order of the Cadillac Van Isle).

Till, later, this is David signing off from the Visitor Information Centre in Port Hardy (and thanks to them for providing this free Internet access.