Alert Bay
We took a field trip over to Alert Bay, a small 'Namgis First Nations village a short ferry ride from Port McNeill. The sun was out, plants were in full bloom, lots of people out strolling and friendly. The downtown is a mix of older buildings that are abandoned and fading away, and a few buildings that have been fixed up. There is a new walkway along the waterfront with benches to take in the view. A highlight of the village is the museum of First Nations people artifacts, mostly masks. The masks are beautiful and cover a wide span of time. It had me thinking of how masks are used in so many cultures around the world, that there must be some deep cultural drivers that push people to tell stories around the fire, assuming the identities of mythological figures or to tell stories of their ancestors and daily experiences.
We have been waiting for a replacement for our broken gypsy. The new part arrived but does not fit. In the 18 or so years from when our windlass was built the manufacturer has changed some of the parts and the new gypsy will not fit on the old windlass. Many calls and photos sent later we think they have built a solution for us, which should be delivered tomorrow. FedEx lost the last package they sent, so we'll see how this goes. If it arrives and works as spec'd we'll anchor out in front of Port McNeill for a night and try it out, then be on our way north.
We've been here a week and a half, the weather has been mostly just fine if not great, so we've been able to work on various other projects. Taking advantage of the internet access to download weather apps, splicing tutorials and a couple of movies. I've started to work on splicing the cones onto our series drogue - one of my summer back burner projects. Good rainy afternoon work.