Another foggy day awaited me. The major chore on today's list was to get the diesel jugs filled.
After topping off the diesel heater with the last full jug and then putting the remainder 15L or so in the fuel tank, all six 20L jugs were now empty and ready for refill. Racheal, at the Shipyards, was called to ask for a convenient time to come by for some fuel. She said that most of their workers were out of town on a job and would not return until about 15:30 to 16:00. That was fine by me as there were still some preparation and that late in the afternoon would allow me rowing to town for some additional supplies.
The Post Office and many of the businesses in town were closed. It turned out to be Victoria Day, a semi-statutory holiday. The Foodland grocery was not such a monarchist as to close; so among other things some bakery sweets were procured as they could not be found in an open cafe in town.
With the sugar hit extended by a fresh mocha coffee there was ample time to do some online stuff.
On the way back from town there was a couple readying their dinghy as well and we got to talking. They told me about a wonderful association called MICA, which stands for Mahone Islands Conservation Association.
Not only is it a great association to support because of its stewardship of a number of islands in Mahone Bay, but they also have mooring balls at all of their islands which members can freely use with the price of membership. For a $25 membership fee it seems quite a deal. Prepare for mooring ball reviews as the summer continues! 👍😎
The 16:00 appointment left much of the day to relax with a little gaming and some attention to social media and YouTube. All made the more comfy, in this foggy damp day, by my greatly loved diesel heater.
A little after 15:00 it seemed time to get ready. The exact location of the gas pumps were still unknown to me. My errored assumption was that they were at the shipyard itself. There was a nicely dredged channel leading right up to the slip.
In the pic of the chart, below, my route was the black line with the red triangles at each end. Upon my arrival there seemed no pumps in sight. It was then that Racheal called again. She said she had been waving from her office doorway and that the pumps were not at the yard but further west along the harbour to where the old ferry from Halifax was berthed.
To my knowledge the ferry was berthed to the right of the yellow line heading north from my mooring position in the chart above. The yellow line was placed on the chart when going into town, earlier, with the phone tracking turned on. The yellow line indicates my frantic search for an open cafe with sweets and coffee. All to no avail.
Idling around the dock that berthed the ferry the diesel pumps could not be spotted. It was decided to come ashore and scout things out further. A solo docking was made on the same pier as the ferry. Just as the bow line was secured Racheal called again to say that there would be a further delay until 16:30. It seemed like a good opportunity to get more detailed directions.
It was not long before she realized that it was not known to me that there were two ferries in the habour. The one she had been talking about was on the far west end past the orange marker with the boat on a trailer in the chart above, which indicated a boat launching point.
With that insight from Racheal, Makina was cast off from the pier and we headed west along the waterfront until coming to the gas pumps (and the other ferry) at the far west end of the harbour.
With the 120L onboard Makina, a subtle pressure has expired. Back at the mooring the heater was pumping out cozy temps without any thought of diesel rationing and the batteries were nicely topped up from a couple of hours of running the engine today.
Tomorrow looks to be rainy so it is nice to have the supplies onboard to make it comfortable one onboard.
A listing of my sailing posts:
@novacadian/categories-of-novacadian-s-sailing-seasons
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