Captain's Log 2020

Covid Pandemic 

One of the reasons I wanted a very remote piece of land on the ocean was so that I would have a safe harbor in the event of a world catastrophe - in case of armageddon, nuclear war, or pandemics.  Hull is remote enough to provide protection from the post-apocalyptic marauding hordes; if the situation got too hot, we could escape by sea and sail anywhere in the world (no need for fossil fuel).

In March 2020 with hysteria over Covid-19 raging, the United States and Canada closed the borders to non-essential foreign travel. All of a sudden we're non-essential people. Huh. 

A full year has passed and the border is still closed.  My dream of a safe place has been shaken.  I wonder how long and how frequently these closures will occur in the future.  This sucks!

The last time I was on Hull Island was September 9th 2019.  In the 18 months away, neighbors have kept an eye on the place.  Mike reports the dock is still there and Don and Kim and their dogs have dropped by a few times for a closer look.  I am super appreciative for their help.

In May, Don sent pictures that showed a few things. The kitchen tarp was still on and looked OK.  The Costco 10' by 20' carport was overturned and in the woods. Apparently our tie-down was inferior.  We also hadn't covered the woodpile or the big table before leaving.  

All quiet on the northern front (Photo by Don Wilson)

Temporary kitchen relocated to the woods (photo by Don Wilson)

It's June 2020 and the borders are still closed to non-essential people.  Who is "non-essential"? Who makes the decision on who is non or not?  It appears we're back to George Orwell ~ we're all equal but some are more equal than others.  OK, let's test the system!

Jedi Yoda once said, "there is no try, you either do or do not."  Liz and I are doers, so we loaded up the truck with two weeks supply of food and water, and of course more tools and equipment.  We both felt essential to getting our beautiful post and beam kitchen roof installed so all our hard work from the previous year didn't rot away.

At the border there are usually 5 or 6 lanes of traffic and back-ups waiting to get across.  This morning it was a ghost town, no one around, very weird.  There were no cars in the one open lane so we drove up, handed over our passports and told the Border guard our story. We had plenty of gas to drive non stop to Port McNeill where we would park the truck and go directly to the dock where BRNR would be waiting in the water.  No human intervention, no deadly virus transmissions. From Port McNeill, we planned to go non stop to a remote island 40 miles away to rescue a beautiful post and beam kitchen from rotting.  It was ESSENTIAL we get the roof on this summer.  We had enough food and water to last two weeks. We would be quarantined on an island, just the two of us, no human contact.

Despite our compelling story, the very professional guard wasn't sure it was OK, but he did let us through the gate into Canada, then had us pull over near the border control office to meet with higher authorities.  We were in!  We speculated we must be good to go since they were taking so long to make their decision. Clearly, they were interested to hear our story and would wave us through.  After about an hour of constructive and polite conversation with several guards and having surrendered our passports and driver's licenses, the verdict was in.   My dear sister Elisabeth and I were non-essential people and not welcome in Canada. What a strange feeling to be rejected this way. Unsettling, alienating and disappointing. We were then served official orders to leave Canada and return to the United States. We were told exactly how we should turn around and head back to the US border patrol. The guards even held on to our passports until we were out of Canada and back in the US.   Probably the quickest in and out border crossing on record.  I'm OK knowing we gave it our best and we respected sovereign laws.  

This should be easy, no one around!

Official orders to leave Canada

In August Don sent another update.  Everything looked good, cabin secure and dry.  The tarp covering the kitchen was in shreds and the Costco tent nowhere to be seen.  I'm curious to see where the tent ended up.