August 5, 2017

We left around 8:00am and had a beautiful ride up Return Channel and then down Johnson Channel. The wind picked up a fair amount once we got into the channel, but the current and wind were all behind us so it was fine. We arrived around noon at the dock and there was some maneuvering to get us all on the dock, but the 3 boats all got on the inside. It was pretty gusty and breezy as we came in, but there were no issues.

Greg put the dingy down and prepared to go put the crab traps out with Danny. Between us all arriving and then, the wind had picked up significantly and was now howling through the docks. We all had some lunch, and then Byron and Greg took Byron's traps out as well. He had to squeak in to a spot and didn't have room to put his dingy down. They got a little wet with the wind whipping up the Bay. Susan came by and said there were some signs up advertising a free pig roast in town tonight, and one woman from another boat stopped by to confirm that they wanted all the boaters on the dock. No particular reason given.

Time to get off these howling boats, so we decided to go for a walk through town. Sue stayed behind on EG so it was just the 5 of us and the 2 dogs. We saw a "marmot" in the rocks just past the top of the ramp, and it appeared to be slightly tame? It just sat there looking at us and started getting closer, even with Lowla barking her head off at it. Got photos. We eventually ran into "Rob" who runs the Darkewaters fishing outfit here. We had heard that they don't have the restaurant open because they ran out of food. But he is one of the people putting on the free pig roast. He said they want to do it every year on this "BC day" long weekend and want word to spread to the boating community so that more people come in. (Where would they put them on the docks?). Anyway, they had both chicken and a beef roast stuffed inside the pig as well, and were providing salad and buns and dessert too! All we had to bring was a beverage. How cool is that?

We continued on our walk and went to the gift store (I felt like I should purchase *something* but didn't) and then off through town and up to the dam and then up to the lake and then further down the lake. It was nice to be out of some of the wind, and it was quite warm too. Back down through town and around to look and see what has changed - not much.



Back to SB and then the festivities started at 5:00. We left the dogs behind to make life easier. We sat and talked with folks at the picnic benches and met new folks. Eventually they had carved everything up and had all the salads done etc and we all lined up at the buffet table. The food was *really* good! We had Caesar salad, Potato Salad, Pork, Chicken, nice home made buns, and then some cake for dessert. The gentleman that seemed to put the whole thing on, "Bear", worked his butt off getting it all done, even though he had help. So we're helping to spread the word. If you're boating, you might want to be in Ocean Falls for BC Day long weekend!