|
August 16th Reid Harbor to Sidney British Colombia
We plotted this course so that we would have about 4
nautical miles of good sailing before we needed to resume our
motoring process. While crossing Haro Strait we lifted all
sails. With the main, jib and staysail, we were an awesome site!
Or at least that is what these two proud owners felt and we
truly sailed our boat for the first time. We were able to make
8 knots in 11 knots of wind and current and tides against us.
What would she do in good wind? An Island Packet is not noted
for speed, being wide and heavy but she was very stable and
would almost sail herself with out a hand on the wheel and no
autopilot engaged. Yes, we were happy with our decision to
select this boat. As we
 approached the harbor of Sidney,
Hank changed clothes, shaved and made sure that all our papers
were in order for customs. We pulled up to the customs
dock to find a phone and table with chair. After a few
questions concerning the amount of liquor on board, no firearms,
number of persons and birthdates, we then proceeded to our
assigned dock space. We pulled in, got ship shape and went to the closest pub for a
bite of lunch. We noticed that most people had stopped for a
cup of tea, but we chose Canadian beer. We came back to the
boat for warmer clothes as the breeze had picked up considerable
and it was now quite nippy. We walked the town checking out
restaurants, grocery stores and morning coffee shops. All three
grocery stores encourage you to walk their carts from the store
back to your boat and they pick them up from time to time. We
also learned that there would be a local farmers market on
Thursday at 5. We were looking forward to purchasing fresh
vegetables and fruit.
The beauty of flowers has been evident from the
first moment we pulled up to the customs dock. Large hanging
baskets of flowers are attached to the end of the docks and
along the walk way. In town there are flowers and benches
lining the streets. The bronze statues on some of the benches
make clever accompaniments to your pictures.
The grocery ads in the paper are given in both
pounds, kilograms, and 100 grams. This must keep a shopper on
their toes if they want to get the best bargain. Hank was sure
that if he has going to be staying is this part of our sailing
route for long, we would need a heater installed on the boat. As it
is, we have a small West Marine heater that we turned on in the
evening and early morning.
Computer wireless was available and we were able to
check email messages.
August 17th Moved to G dock for D dock
This day was spent doing mainly project work. Hank
made a list and happily checks off each one as the day went by.
Companion way screens, port light covers, fishing poles mounted,
and teak cup holder varnished.
We worked all day on projects. Around 4pm we headed
for town to do a little shopping and to see what the Thursday
night market was all about. We visited the local marine store
that was a lot like Second Wind. Plowing through all the second
hand merchandise we found two u-bolts. Then on to the farmers
market, which was just beginning to set up at 5. We milled
around and then found that the place really attracted the locals
and visitors alike. We purchased fruit and vegetables and then
looked for something to eat from the many vendors. We tried a
spinach crepe, yuck, we thought fresh spinach, they used
canned. Next we tried a wonderful vegetable Jamaican pie, with
some fresh ginger ale. Finally, we shared a wonderful salmon
burger that was made right before our eyes. Betsy found a very
creative anklet for only 5 dollars Canadian. Trudging back to
the boat we realized that we were tired but happy thinking of
how calm our life had become.
August 18 Early morning phone call
We woke with the phone ringing at 5:30 AM. Since we
didn’t get it in time we listened to the message concerning our
generator. The mechanic didn’t have any idea that he was
calling the west coast but he gave Hank several ideas to check.
We told him we would check out his suggestions and call back in
several hours. In the meantime we headed for town and the local
West Marine. It is a new experience to be able to walk to
everything and not think about a car! After spending time at
the local marine store we went to a grocery store that was
recommended to us by a local shopkeeper. She said it was the
best of the three markets and we agreed. We stocked up on our
provisions and proceeded home or back to the boat to deal with
the generator and seal a meal all the frozen food items. After
everything was individually sealed in packages for two, I
realized that I had become quite the seal a meal maven. Food
was inventoried and stowed and Hank was even making progress
with the generator. He realized that the battery for the
generator was not charging and was down to 5.6 amps instead of
the 12 which it should be.
I went to the marina to do the wash, wash was $2.50 and
so was drying, so for the two loads it was a total of $10
Canadian. Wow, when I think of the dollar wash and $0.75 dry
in Port Ludlow, I should have realized that that was a bargain.
While I was at the wash area, Hank called to say that he had met
the Rotary group and that we were invited to their party at 5:30
pm. We took a bottle of wine and an appetizer and headed over
to meet the group that is called IYFR. Twenty years ago George
Kent started the group which is truly hands across the border.
Now IYFR is a group of 90 fleets around the world. The incoming
commander is Patrick Hunt for Canada West. We met people from
all over even a commodore from Argentina. This year after the
Colorado Rotary Convention, IYFR will hold a post convention in
the San Juan Islands
August 19th Left Sidney for Butchart Gardens
Betsy had been to a session on the Gulf Islands at
the last Oakland boat show.
 The session leader recommended
several things about visiting the gardens. First get there
early so you can get a buoy at Butchart Cove. Go in the back
gate and when you are paying, order a gourmet picnic dinner.
Lastly, take two blankets so you can put one down on the lawn for
the music and one for the firework display area. We followed
directions to the tea! We got the buoy and there were only 5
available, we took the dinghy over to the back gate area and
talked to the young lady on duty. She wasn’t aware of the
picnic basket idea but she said that she would call the dinning
room to find out. We also found that once you pay you can go in
and out at you leisure. So we went in to scope it out and found
that everything we had heard at the boat show was exactly
correct. We headed back to the boat for camera, warm clothes,
and blankets. We deposited the blankets and a backpack of
clothes and then started to walk around and enjoy the beauty of
the area.
 It is said the Jenny Butchart created the gardens
starting in 1904 to hide an abandoned quartz quarry. She did a
fantastic job and the array of flowers and landscaping ability
is breathtaking.
We went for our picnic dinner at 5. Our selection
was salmon and the basket came with a shrimp appetizer,
raspberry vinaigrette salad, cold salmon, herbed potato salad,
and curried noodle salad and pickled zucchini. Dessert was a
sampling of cheese, grapes, fruit tartlet, and a chocolate
cheesecake. This was served on the ground of a red checkered
tarp, small wooded block with table cloth covering. All was
well thought out and a fantastic way to enjoy dinner and the
gardens.
 The music was an Irish group who played two sets
until it was almost ready for the firework display. Fireworks
were an understatement for the show that was given. The lawn
was completely covered with people and the ones who had not
thought to bring a blanket could purchase one for $10. They did
a lively business on the
 blankets for the lawn was damp and it
was chilly. The show was worth every minute of waiting and in
fact I believe it to be the best show I have ever seen. The
Saturday night show is only given in July and August, so we were
lucky to hit the correct date. Walking through the gardens late
at night was a fairyland for the paths were lit and guides were
stationed to help people exit. We just had a short way to go to
the dinghy and home to bed.
August 20th Butchart Cove to Mill Bay
We only went a two hour trip up the inlet to anchor
at Mill Bay. It is a beautiful area with homes overlooking the
water and a small shopping area. Thank goodness for their
Thrifty Grocery stores for they seem to be in each small town.
Luckily we were not in need of anything from the store, but we
enjoyed seeing the town and picking local wild blackberries
along the road. Today was a very relaxed day for us!
August
21st Mill Bay to Maple Bay
We woke early to call about
gen-set problem. Left
messages and hoped that they would call back soon. Finally go
word that there was a Yanmar mechanic in Maple Bay. We called
them for an appointment and got ready to sail to Maple Bay. We
motored most of the way. When we had 11 knots of wind we put up
the sails up the wind quit!
Finally we arrived at the marina and
docked at C-96 at Maple Bay
Marina.
August 22 Maple Bay to Telegraph Harbour
We went for a walk down the road at 7:30 AM. picked
berries along the road and saw a mechanics After about an hour
of his time he found a loose wire that didn’t allow the Gen-set
to charge its battery.
We sailed all the way to Thetis Island, making 8
knots. Arriving in a beautiful narrow bay we anchored at Telegraph Harbour.
We stayed two nights and tried to see all the sights of
the guide book, eating a huge banana split, buying a berry pie
and going to the local winery. Most important thing was that we
were able to mark our anchor chain.
August 24 – August 29th Long Harbour on Saltspring Island
This has been a delightfully calm anchorage. We
have worked on projects for our sail down the coast, caught a
rock crab in our trap, and have met some delightful sailing
friends. Inviting people to come share a glass of wine and a
few appetizers has been a pleasant addition to the joy of
sailing. We also joined the BC Boaters Net on the ham radio and
now check in at 5PM each day. Both Hank and I went up the mast
trying to fix a lighting problem.
Up around 8,
we went to the ferry terminal and saw the
many cars in line for the 9 AM ferry. We then ate breakfast and
planned out route to Long Harbour on Salt Spring Island. We
were out and away by 11:30 motoring until we had 10 knots of
wind. Putting up all the sails, we really started to go
for we
passed another boat and had a SOG of 7.2kts. Now not surprisingly,
Long Harbor is long and very calm near the far end. So we
anchored with 100 feet of chain at the end of the harbor. We
met Clark and Nina who built their own catamaran while living in
Sacramento. It took them 15 years to do but now they are living
their dream. This was the start of their second season in
Canada. Nina showed me pickles that she had made out of bull
kelp. I can’t wait to try making some myself. I used my crab
trap but mainly caught small ones that I had to throw back. We
connected with the BC boaters Net on 146.680 mhz and began checking
in every night at 5pm.
Long Harbor was a delightful place where we met many
fun cruisers. We stayed there 5 nights. It finally hit us that
we were not going to make Desolation Sound and that we were not
having a relaxing time by always looking for a new place to
anchor. The net might have thought us strange for every night
when we checked in we told them that we were still in Long
Harbor. I was very busy in Long Harbour, I made the three lee
cloths needed for our trip down the coast, went up the mast to
fix a blinking spreader light, worked on the web site,
entertained new friends and finally caught a big enough crab to
cook.
On Saturday morning we took the dinghy on a long
ride to Ganges Harbor to go to the farmer's market. The ride
over was easy for the water was calm, coming back it was more
like an E ticket ride at Disneyland. Of course you must be old
enough to know that Disneyland first started out giving tickets
for their rides and E was the most thrilling of all. We landed
the dinghy at the Rotary dinghy dock and proceeded to visit the
farmer's market. It was early so there were not as many people
in the picture as there could have been later. We purchased
some great goat cheese and some wonderful spices. Then we went
to the library to do some internet work, for it is free there.
Next we had lunch, shopped for groceries and visited the liquor
store. It is a wonder that any Canadians drink for liquor there
is very expensive. Beer was $10 a six pack for something that
we might pay a lot less for in the states. Finally the amount
of people in the town really got to me, or maybe it was that we
were now hauling so much with us in our foldable West Marine
cart, but I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Talking to
about 5 different friend cruisers, we started to plan our trip
down the coast. We had suggestions about the length of night
watches, whether to go a rum line versus harbor hopping and any
other way that they could think of that might make our trip
easier. One thing we knew was that we must leave this
delightful anchorage and start heading for Victoria.
August 30
 Hoisted anchor and sailed to Victoria. We had good winds
in fact Betsy slept most of the way until the last two hours.
At that time we had 20 to 25 knot winds and choppy seas.
As we approached the Victoria harbor there was a lot of
activity. Cruise ships, tourist boat, landing planes and
water taxis are all funneled into a narrow channel. We
arrived and were given a slip right below the Empress Hotel.
It would only be for one night and then we would have to move
because there would be a big wooden boat show and we were not a
wooden boat! The Empress and the surrounding harbor was
awesome especially at night. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Victoria,
docked right below the Empress. The next day
we moved down the wharf next to an old schooner. We walked 20
blocks to the nearest West Marine store and stopped by Chinatown for lunch. That night we found a wonderful tapa bar on
Trounce Av. and had everything the waiter suggested. One of the
favorites was bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds.
|
