It has been a long dry land spell for us water loving folks, and it feels great to know we are soon to return to our lovely island away from home. Tumbo has become our go to island of preference if we have a three day weekend, and with MLK day coming up, that's where we will be. We will have to check the forecasts to make sure there aren't any strong NW winds expected, but that is fairly unusual for the winter time. More likely is the typical southern winds, which Tumbo is well protected from.
It will be fantastic to smell the sea again, from just feet away. To feel the sway and nudge of the boat beneath my feet. To see the splendor of islands dotted amidst a dreamscape canvas of sky and water. To see the wild life of birds and seals and maybe whales doing all their birdy, sealy and whaly things in a natural, wild place. To run free in an undomesticated place, to risk life and limb just enough to know that you have a life, and limbs. To watch the boys be feral creatures unbound by the conventions of domestic comforts.
We are already excited, and this excitement will build in the days ahead.
And we are already planning our next big sailing trip. We think our next big voyage will be to Haida Gwai. This summer we only have time to make it back to the Desolation Sound area. But maybe the summer after that, or the one after that, we need to head further north and visit the truly wild and historical vastness of Haida Gwai.
For now, we will return to little Tumbo, and be as free as can be with only the salty sea and quiet islands to remind us that we are bound to earth. For in most ways, our trips to these wild little places transcend the merely manifest natural world into other more distant, and less concrete, spaces.
