Evening at the Dinghy Dock

July took off her rainhat, jacket and sloppy garden shoes to don a pretty summer dress, sandals and new sunhat ... like any lady might like to do when she wants to show off.  Oh, and she turned heads all over.

One of my favorite memories of this summer comes from practice last Wednesday night.  The KVL Kruisers has been through the big Nanaimo dragonboat festival and half the team is to continue throughout the summer, paddling our way drowsily through the heat.   We went over to the Dinghy Dock on Protection Island.   The restaurant and pub jut out proudly over the water, providing a focal point for both sets of islanders as well as tourists.  As one of Canada's only floating pubs, it draws a fair number of visitors each summer.   Wednesday night is usually regatta night and the boats of summer sail the open waters between Protection and Nanaimo.

The big deal about the pub is that to get there, you have to take a boat of some sort ... providing our own transportation is one of the highlights of any dragon boat season.  No more working hard, lungs pumping, backs pulling, shoulders reaching .. no more stern coach.  The hard work is done and relaxation becomes the order of business for the evening.

Last Wednesday, we were returning a bit late from the Dinghy Dock.  The food had been good - a new menu since I was last there - but if Nanaimo operates on Island Time, then the Dinghy Dock pub sets new standards in adaptive time zones.  Since it is an island off an island, it has the luxury of being a 'destination,' and clocks work on their own schedule.  I wouldn't have it any other way, frankly.

As we paddled homeward with a belly full of cheer of more than one sort, the cooling evening breezes brought ocean smells, the water dropped to that flat calm you have to live on the waterfront to experience often, the birds tended to their business over the shore and there was a collective sigh in the boat as the sun began to set behind the yacht club across the harbour.  It was a definitive summer moment and I only wished I was a kid again so I'd have all my years stretched out ahead to remember it.

I have to connect with one of my paddlers to get some pictures from the dragonboat festival, but I promise I'll put some up here.