Sunday Morning
Cowichan Bay
0520 hours Lima (1320 hours Zulu)
Captain Kirsch never showed up at the Windjammer the previous evening.
The militia seemed to be getting along well; Kelsey was more outspoken and earnest, while Chris was laid-back. After the opening points were made in the debate Chris playfully baited Kelsey by adopting a redneck pose. After getting a little hot under the collar she wised up and stopped being so serious. Everyone was agree that they needed to get the Frogs out of Quebec.
Kelsey introduced herself more informally, mentioning her skills in mechanical repair, electronics and Signals. Chris was more of a jack-of-all-trades, with medical training backed up by knowledge gained growing up in the wilderness: not just hunting, fishing and trapping, but the art of making shelter and foraging for food. As well, he mentioned he kayaked across the Strait over to the Island, so he must be familiar with small boats.
The team called it a relatively early night. They had picked up from the locals in the pub that the famers were worried about this year's crop. Also, rumours were floating around that the Russians up in Campbell River were starving and not in any shape to fight, while contradicting rumours suggested that they were getting ready to take over Port Alberni. But the general opinion was they were little better than a gang of mercenary thugs willing to work for the highest bidder.
Meeting the Captain the next morning before dawn, he apologized for not showing up, explaining that loading had taken a lot longer than expected, and they had mechanical trouble.
"
But it's all fixed now! We'll get you across to Vancouver, no problem."
Before leaving port, Sgt. Lee checked the ship's armoury, and verified that the cache of rifles and shotguns locked in the safe were properly registered and stored.
The C6 GPMG and Mk 19 were mounted on commanding positions. The crew tended to keep away from the ordinance. Aside from Captain Kirsch, they also tended to keep to themselves. Work lamps were hung to provide light in the darkness. A pot of tea was brewed, sweetened with honey.
Somewhat behind schedule they slowly chugged past the headlands of Cowichan Bay as dawn broke at 0519. Dirty black smoke laced with sparks marred the blameless blue sky of early dawn.
At a stately pace of 8.5 knots, they were on their way.
Mouth of the North Arm of the Fraser River, off Iona Island
1030 hours Lima (1830 hours Zulu)
It was a gorgeous morning. The water was calm. Gulls wheeled in the cloudless sky.
The first leg of the trip had been careful navigating through the narrow passages between Vancouver Island, Saltspring Is., Thetis/Kuper Is., Galiano Is. and Valdez Is., not to mention numerous small rocky outcroppings and islets in between. The crew kept a sharp eye out for snags and deadheads lurking just under the water.
The many small forested islands had once been home to small communities, hippies and farmers, craftspeople and retirees. Now, active human habitation was few and far between, although they often passed by abandoned cabins and homes merely 50-100m away in the narrow channel.
Once just out in the Straight they saw another fishing boat away to the north, then nothing.
Although the snow-topped coastal mountains had been visible since they left the narrow channels and closed waters of the islands, it wasn't until around 9 or so they saw the green forests of the University Endowment Lands some 15km away. They could easily see the mountains of rugged Vancouver Island behind them.
A ship lay grounded in the treacherous shallow water and salt marsh of aptly-named Wreck Beach to their left, rusted and abandoned but still upright.
They turned to get past the 4km jetty of Iona Island to the right. Across flat Iona they could see "YVR", the Vancouver International Airport on even flatter Sea Island. The control tower still jutted up in the distance, some glass windows intact, others gaping holes.
Just before 10:30 local time, they spotted Deering Island, their destination, up ahead to the left.
Deering Island had been an enclave of one central street bordered by multi-million dollar mansions, waters edge shored up and reinforced by tons of crushed rock and concrete. Just behind and beyond Deering Island on the riverbank lay the quiet buildings and empty docks of the Celtic Shipyards.
http://www.globalairphotos.com...ver/South/2000/273/2
(Iona Is. is at the bottom, Deering Is. is above it across the North Arm, Celtic Shipyards are on shore to the right of it, the downtown with Stanley Park are near the top, and UBC is off the immediate
left edge of the photo.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:34, Mon 14 Jan 2008.