Friday, July 31, 1992 - Point Roberts

Enjoyed a leisurely cruise to Point Roberts. Warm, sunny, calm day. Encountered one weird stretch of water when we first entered the Strait of Georgia--lots of eddies, waves, and rips. Looked frightening from a distance, but there was no difficulty going through it.
Point Roberts is a tiny chunk of U.S. dangling off the end of Canada. There's a big marina with slips for 100 boats. There is also a yacht club, but no one was in the office, so we paid for a couple of nights in the marina.
It was the same story as at Port Angeles--the slip already had a boat in it. Went back to the marina office and got reassigned. This time, the slip was empty, so we tied up.
In the State of Washington, you have to put coins in a slot to take a shower. This is somewhat outrageous, considering the amount we paid for a slip. Anyway, when I checked out the showers here, I saw a slot for a dime, so we went to the showers armed with dimes. Someone was in the women's shower, so I waited 15 or 20 minutes. Then someone told me there was a second shower, so I went in there. Got undressed and tried to put a dime in the slot, but it wouldn't go. After two or three unsuccessful attempts, I saw a slot for a quarter. Since I had nothing but dimes, I put my clothes back on and went back towards the boat to get a quarter. Roy had the gate key, so I stood around for 10 or 15 minutes, hoping someone with a key would come along. Finally, a group of people with a key headed for the gate, but it turned out their key was for a different dock, so they couldn't open the gate I needed.
In the meantime, Roy had gone into the men's shower, laid out his dimes, and gotten undressed. Luckily, he had some quarters in his pocket, so when the gadget wouldn't take dimes, he put in a quarter. He grabbed the handle to turn on the shower, and the handle fell off! He tried to put it back on, while time was running on the meter. He finally got it on, adjusted the temperature, and enjoyed a good hot shower. He was all lathered up when the water suddenly turned icy cold. No matter what he did, he couldn't get any more hot water, so finally he went out to the wash basin with his wash cloth and rinsed off there, to the amusement of other guys going in and out.
When he finally emerged, we exchanged tales of woe. Then he gave me two quarters and let me back into the women's room (same key as the dock gate). Profiting from his experience, I turned the handle very gently and made sure I was rinsed off before the hot water quit.