What It Means to Travel

I found this song amazing, and had to listen to it repeatedly.

Lyrics:

You've seen many beautiful places.
You've seen many beautiful girls.
You are lost in every brief moment of time on the map.

You've enjoyed the nights in Paris.
You've strolled through snow in Beijing.
You memorize every line of your favorite in the book.

But you cannot tell me why you love me.
But you cannot tell me what is your favorite look of mine.
But you cannot tell me in which occasion I rocked your heart.
You cannot tell me why you leave.

You've accumulated a lot of travel.
You carefully picked souvernirs.
You've collected every nice and sunny weather on the map.

You embraced passionate islands.
You buried some memories in Turkey.
You are obsessed with those beautiful but unrealistic scenes in the movies.

But you cannot tell me why you love me.
But you cannot tell me what look of mine attracts you the most.
But you cannot tell me when and where I rocked your heart.
You cannot tell me what it means to travel.

You cannot tell me why you love me, with hesitation.
But you cannot tell me what look of mine attracts you the most.
But you cannot tell me in which occasion I distracted you.
You cannot tell me why you leave.

You told me, with hesitation, every single letter you sent me is the reason you left.
Your leaving me is what it means to travel.

Sand Art

This clip blew me away. It is absolutely romantic.

My Type of Travel

I went to Tim Horton's for breakfast again today. Ham'n Swiss sandwich, large coffee, and a maple dip donut. One bite of donut, then sandwich and a sip of coffee, I was so content. On the way back I stopped at Longsdale Quay Market to get emails and read some plurks, then I left at a different exit. I knew exactly where I was going. I may not know some of the must-see's in Vancouver. I may not know where to get the best souvenirs. I am, however, completely happy just to have a glance of the skyline of downtown Vancouver whenever I want, feel the rocking of the boat, see the height of the poles of the dock and realize that the tide is so high and I can actually touch the top of the pole. It is so important for me to feel comfortable and content in the trip. Trying to visit few countries in 10 days is just not my cup of tea. 

We expected it to be a long ride coming back to Vancouver from Pender Harbour, but still, it was longer than I expected. 

It was a gusty day. We ran the motor the whole day with headwind against us at 25 knots. Waves were high. The boat ran up and down, breaking waves quite often. Having a rough night the night before, I tried to take a break in the cabin, but the boat was just rocking so much that I started to feel sick, and that I ended up staying in the cockpit for the whole day. 

I was a bit nervous at first. Fred asked me to calm down, relax, and try to enjoy it. I hid in a well covered corner in the cockpit, was fine and actually had some fun watching the boat bang the wave. But when he had to go to the can and asked me to take over the boat, everything changed.

I stood behind the wheel, he went down the stairs, the boat banged a few big waves, then auto pilot stopped working. The boat started to swing, auto poilot screeching loud.  It was time to cancel auto pilot, so I did that and took control of the boat, tried to steer the boat to the right direction. It was not the right time to count on electronic device, I guess, as the refresh rate is slow and with such strong wind and wave, the number does not stay at a fixed number. So as I was struggling to watch the device to figure the angle, the boat was heading to the shore.

Fred ran back to the wheel and put the boat to the right path. I asked him to stayed for few more minutes, just to be sure I could take care of it. I then grabbed the handle with one hand, the wheel with the other, firmly. It just took some time to get used to the force from the nature. It was fun to see people do it, but so different to do it myself. 

After few hours, I asked Fred to check marine weather. I was thinking of calling it a day earlier and maybe stopping at Gibson's Landing for the night. After a while I heard the broadcast say something like putting on the life jacket. I was not sure what was going on. Fred said it is a mayday. A boat was sinking. There were 2 adults and 2 kids on the boat. The broadcast asked them to wear life jackets and asked if any boat happened to be there to rescue. That just made me really uncomfortable with where I was and what I was doing, especially it would be any more hours ahead of us I'd we'd like to make it back to Vancouver. I kept thinking about them. Gladly, they were rescued.

It was dark when we finally arrived at Vancouver. I could have enjoyed the view of the harbour, but running a boat is so different than running a car. There is no head light on the boat, and NO BREAK! when I tried to look ahead, it was so dark. I knew we were close to the marina, but the marina was not well lit in the dark. Later Fred said that was his first trial in the dark. I guess I would be so freaked out if I have to do it myself, and may end up running around the harbour till dawn. 

The world is so different when I look at it in other's perspective. 

Type rest of the post here

Itinerary

Aug 11 Vancouver to Plummer's Cove
Aug 12 Plummer's Cove to Gibson's Landing
Aug 13 stayed at Gibson's because of rain
Aug 14 Gibson's to Pender Harbour
Aug 15 stayed at Pender Harbour, loved it there
Aug 16 Pender Harbour to Egmont
Aug 17 Egmont to Princess Louisa Inlet
Aug 18 stayed at PIncess Louisa Inlet

Aug 19 Princess Louisa Inlet to Deserted Bay
Aug 20 Deserted Bay to Pender Harbour
Aug 21 Pender Harbour to Vanvouver
Aug 22 Vancouver
Aug 23 Vanvouver
Aug 24 Vancouver

Passion

2:40pm now as I'm tapping on the iPod. Fred is taking a nap. I just open all the curtain, so it is nice and bright in the room. I'm sitting on the carpet, iPod plugged to recharge the battery.

Been out a few times, walking along beach and marina and all that. Fred kept talking about sailing, like the places he had visited, parts that he purchased and the troubles he had gone through to get them, he could sit on the bench all day watching the boats go by. It is nice to have such passions to do things that one really likes. He also keeps saying 'life is good'. These are things that I should learn from him.

Fred will get the boat back from his brother tomorrow, so we'll check out of hotel tomorrow morning and move to the boat. Weather will be bad on Monday, so will help get the boat ready. Monday will bea good day to clean the outside of the boat. The TV news this morning said that there will be meteor rain in mid august, so maybe we'll sail north to watch it if the weather is nice. It must be nice to watch it when the sky is completely dark when we dock out.

Almost There

Ticket, check.
Traveler's checks, check.
Tripot, check.
Birthday present and card, check.
Camera and accessories, check.
Clothes, packed. Just need the final check and dump bathroom stuff in. Will pack iPod and its charger in the backpack, and also one or 2 books. Will bring my computer to my brother's place, so the tragedy that happened in May won't happen again. Also will bring leftover food in the fridge over. Don't want the food to go bad and rot in the fridge for a month. One more day to wait, and then out for different experience. More excited and anxious than ever.