Gabriola in the dark

One of the first things I was told when I came to Gabriola was to be prepared for power outages. In fact, our housewarming present from Cousins Robbie and Mary was a delightful hamper containing all that was needed to survive just such an event.

Gabriola's electricity comes from Vancouver Island along a rather tired supply line that is reputedly on the verge of overload or collapse much of the time. Power outages are frequent - sometimes it's a tree falling over a line and blacking out part of the island; sometimes it's the whole island plunged into darkness - maybe for hours on end. And, being an island, there's always the potential for the outage to occur too late in the day for BC Hydro's repair gang to make it over - and back again - before the last ferry leaves. In which case, you just wait till tomorrow.

Travelling late around the island, it's sometimes difficult to tell whether there's a power outage or not. With only 3 streetlights, all within a short distance of the ferry, you can drive for miles without seeing another light - especially after curfew  (generally somewhere between 9 and 10pm) when all good folk have retired for the night. Arrive on the last ferry at 2315 and it feels like you could be the only ones here.

So far, I've not experienced a prolonged outage here after dark - but earlier this evening it seemed like that might all be about to change. Lights flickered a couple of times and then went out. Complete and total darkness under a cloudfilled sky without even a star to break through.

Where's my torch, I wondered? I've been using it every day in and out of the crawlspace under the house, where much of the plumbing and wiring lurks in constant darkness. Did I plug it back in when I'd finished, so that it would come on if the power went out? No, of course I didn't.

Tonight's outage lasted less than a minute - but it was a reminder that maybe I needed to pay more attention in future to the little things. Where are the candles and matches? Hmmm, I think I saw them last week.

Despite the very brief interlude without power, I just happened to have my camera at the ready and was able to capture the full effect for posterity. I thought I'd share it with you while I go look for the matches.

G'night all!