This summer, I spent my time in Tofino on a social media fast working on the I Digher, a 1961 decommissioned gillnetter with a built-in living space. I purchased the old boat last summer, with the intention of using it primarily as a living space when in Tofino (writing and surfing), and secondarily as a vehicle for exploration, fishing, and adventure for next summer (2017) – a dream I have had for as long as I remember.
The I Digher was originally called Miss Gloria, but was renamed by a previous owner who also had a prospecting company – as told to me by the previous owner – hence the play on words with the name I Digher.
Since last summer, I’ve worked on making the living space as comfortable and practical as possible.
Though I was able to spend a lot of time on the I Digher over the last year, because of school it was never for very long. With the summer sessions over at VIU, I finally had the opportunity to spend several weeks working on the boat (thank you Brianna for watering my plants!). My last course had been a social media course, which had left me burnt out as far as keeping a vigorous online presence. As I had no internet at the dock other than my phone, I decided to go on a social media fast. It wasn’t planned at first, but with every day away from the “real” world I noticed I felt more and more connected to the environment around me, to the moment, and ultimately to myself. Thankfully, I had packed for a long stay and brought more than my backpack and guitar.
With days of extremely hot weather, but rapidly approaching forecasted rainstorms, I focused first on the outside of the boat, fixing rain leaks and repairing areas that had fallen into disrepair. Then, when the rainstorms came, my goal shifted to working on the inside and getting the boat running again. The attached video above shows the end result!
This was the hardest I have been able to physically work since before my cancer – which was the summer of 2010. I often went the whole day barely taking a break, but I loved it. I was still able to hang out with friends on occasion, and went to Radar Beach, Virgin Falls, and got out on the water as well.
It was probably the best summer I’ve had since returning from Afghanistan – mostly thanks to feeling good – and for that I am grateful. For my YouTube subscribers there will be a couple of other videos posted in the weeks to come, mostly of outdoor excursions, but also eating fresh raw seafood off the dock and feeding free-roaming chickens wild-foraged blackberries with my buddy Dan outside Darwin’s Cafe lol.
Thanks to the new subscribers for following, and for those of you who left comments I appreciate your patience with my lagging responses. I will be working hard on the Haunted Vancouver Island book over the next few months and will keep everyone up-to-date on that progress as well.
Until next time!
Beautiful boat are you going to change her name back?
Thanks Nick! I don’t plan on changing her name back. I like the history, knowing that the boat itself has evolved over the years, grown a personality if you will. Not sure if you noticed all the retro decor, but I kept as much of that as I could too.
Yeah, looks authentic, good choice.
Whoooo Hooooo!!
Thanks Karen 🙂