Ganges Harbour, Salt Spring Island

Ganges Harbour, Salt Spring Island

13 July

At about noon we upped anchor at Russell Island and headed off for the 90-minute run to Ganges. Ganges is the largest community on Salt Spring Island, offering plenty of funky shops, restaurants and galleries. Those of you who followed our blog may remember that we spent a couple of days here last year.

The channel into Ganges was not overly busy this year but one still needs to be watchful for the sea planes landing along the same stretch of water.

After securing Kaos at the dock, we checked in with the marina, which is now under new ownership and management. With the absence of American vessels due to the borders being closed, the marina was not busy but plenty of renovations and dock repairs were being accomplished.

As we headed up the ramp towards town, we were greeted by a delightful RCMP reserve constable. Apparently the arrival of a US vessel (us) had been reported and CBSA (Customs Border Services) were en-route to chat with us. We sat outside the marina office for two hours, chatting with the RCMP constable while we waited for CBSA to arrive. I guess we were being detained because the constable had to remain with us until CBSA arrived. 

Even though we have done everything required correctly and are Canadian citizens, a face to face meeting is apparently required each time there is a report filed. After satisfying everyone that we are here in Canada legally, the CBSA officer said that we will likely meet again, to which I answered that we would soon be on first name basis. He replied by saying that his name is Roger. Au revoir, until we meet again Roger!

We walked this quaint, funky town, enjoying lunch outside on the patio at the Oyster Catcher. 

After a visit to Mouat’s amazing hardware store, we picked up a few provisions at the local grocery store. To Alan’s delight, many of the stores are closed on Monday.

We tried to get fresh Dungeness crab for dinner but the Fish Market is closed on Monday and would not have crab until Tuesday evening when we would be gone. Maybe next visit.

Russell Island

Russell Island

12 July

After a few days of stress and toil, acquiring parts, completing repairs and re-provisioning, we were joined by Alan’s sister, Gil at our new home port, Maple Bay Marina near Duncan BC. Gil will be  be our guest for the next 7 days.

Our plan is to circumnavigate Salt Spring Island, the largest Island in the Southern  Gulf Islands chain and explore some of the local highlights.

Night one, we anchored off the picturesque Russell Island, a small island just south of Salt Spring Island.

This is a popular anchorage with good holding. 

The park provides a dinghy dock, which allowed us to get some exercise as we enjoyed walking the trail around part of the island, ending up at the restored historic home.

The old Mahoi/Fischer homestead

Russell Island is now part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and has an interesting history and Hawaiian connection, dating back to the late 1700’s and the Northwest Coast fur trade. When the Hawaiians (or Kanaka as they are known in their language) became involved in the maritime fur trade, sea otter pelts were being traded in Asia and at this time the Hawaiian Islands became a natural stopover between North America and Asia. The Kanaka became employees of the various fur trade companies, including the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Over time, small Hawaiian settlements began to form around HBC posts in both Canada and the United States. When the United States government began passing legislation which prevented the Kanaka people from becoming American citizens or owning land, many Kanaka people moved to Canada. By the 1870s, the Kanaka began settling in the Gulf Islands. 

Maria Mahoi had previously lived on Salt Spring Island with her first husband Captain Abel Douglas and their seven children. After being  identified in Haumea's will as the sole heir to Russell Island, Maria moved back to Russell Island in 1902 with her second husband George Fisher. George Fisher was the child of an English father and a Cowichan mother. The Mahoi/Fisher family expanded with six more children.

The Mahoi/Fisher family continued to build on the work begun by Haumea on Russell Island by maintaining the cleared land and adding to the orchard and strawberry field.

Russell Island remained in Kanaka hands until 1959 when it was sold to a local. It was later sold to the Pacific Marine Heritage Legacy in 1997. The island has subsequently become part of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.

A beautiful sunset was enjoyed on the back deck of Kaos.

Wallace Island

Wallace Island

14 July

Wallace Island Marine Provincial Park is only accessible by boat. This park lies in Trincomali Channel between Galiano Island and the northern tip of Saltspring Island, off southern Vancouver Island. Boats can enter the sheltered anchorages at Princess Bay and Conover Cove from Houston Channel.

Princess Cove

We read great reviews on Wallace Island and departed Ganges Harbour for Wallace. We poked our nose into Conover Cove first, but the bays looked full with a few boats anchoring and most stern tying to shore. It was just too tight for us at 55’ so we moved up to Princess Cove. There were a couple of boats swinging at anchor, but they were smaller than us. 

We found a spot to stern tie, a skill we have not yet mastered and proceeded to provide the cove with some entertainment. Little did we know that the fun had not yet begun!

Stern-tie, drop anchor out front, then back in and tie rope from stern of the boat and tie to tree, rock or chain ashore.

Aerial shot of Princess Cove

Bald eagles

After a walk ashore and a dinghy excursion with Gill, we disembarked, tied the dinghy to the boat and relaxed until Happy Hour.

Princess Cove is narrow and shortly before 6pm, the wind blew up and just howled through the cove, causing Kaos to act as a sail and drift sideways towards other boats. I was enjoying a shower when the engines started, and I could hear voices …… not a good sign! Once the engines went into gear, I knew all was not well and dashed out of the shower, wet hair and pulling on underpants and shirt as I ran up the stairs. Alan had cast off the stern line to release the tension and I had to climb in the dinghy, half clothed and retrieve the line. 

Mission accomplished, we drifted into the middle of the anchorage and remained safely swinging on anchor for the rest of the evening. It is times like this when the boat humbles the crew that I so wish she were named anything but Kaos!

Now it was time for cocktails and relaxation before dinner.

We viewed the setting sun aboard, vowing not to stern tie again.

Conover Cove

Next morning, we upped anchor and headed the short distance down to Conover Cove. We were hopeful that some boats may have left, creating space and our hunch was correct.

We spent part of the day walking and exploring Conover Cove.

The park provides limited dock space, dinghy dock, walk-in camp sites and trails.

It is funky and what remains of a 1950's  resort. Some of the original buildings remain.

The funky gathering spot for campers and boaters is closed due to Covid. Boaters and visitors leave mementos as decoration.

A short but pleasant visit. 

We felt we were rather large and taking up to much space in this small cove. After lunch we headed off to spend the night at Montague Harbour.

Boho Bay, Lasqueti Island

Boho Bay – Lasqueti Island

4 July

Our son & daughter-in-law departed Courtney Marina at 5am for a 7:30 am ferry from Victoria to the British Columbia mainland and their drive home to Calgary Alberta. Since we were up, it seemed a waste to not capitalize on calm travel time out on the Straits of Georgia. We tossed the lines off and left the dock shortly after 6am. We were headed south toward Maple Bay Marina, our new home base. The decision was to stop half way and we chose to explore anchorage options on Lasqueti Island, selecting to drop anchor in beautiful Boho Bay.

This protected, picturesque bay had us thinking we would enjoy a two day stop here. Wrong!

Susann could here a motor constantly running and later discovered that the float switch in the lazarette (rear bilge) was not working. Subsequently, we learned that the bilge pump in the shower sump had given up the ghost. It had quit working and the shower water that drained into the sump was not being pumped overboard.

After a dinghy explore, we realized that there was water accumulating on the dinghy floor and further investigation discovered that another  bilge pump had ceased operation. We bailed the water out of the dinghy but it seemed to come back as quickly as we bailed. Not a good sign! We opted to hoist the dink and head for home base early next morning and complete the repairs. All well and good until our crane quit working as the dink was half way hoisted up on the boat. Really not good! People wonder how we came to name the boat Kaos …. duh! Thankfully the crane was able to lower the dink back into the water. Alan did some trouble shooting and detected some screw holes that someone had drilled and not sealed. He baled and did his best to seal the leak. Finally, the water intrusion ceased, meaning we could tow the dink to Maple Bay.

All this excitement necessitated a happy hour bottle of wine to calm us down. We enjoyed dinner, sunset and a peaceful evening after all the stress from a crazy day.

A beautiful full moon rising was enjoyed as a beautiful, calming end to a busy, stressful day.

Tenedos Bay

Tenedos Bay

June 30 & July 1 

After spending two beautiful days in Drew Harbour (Heriot Bay), my favorite anchorage, I reluctantly agreed it was time to move on. We opted to  head to Tenedos Bay, one of Alan’s favorite anchorages, 

We upped anchor shortly after 7am and enjoyed a quiet, smooth 25mile run to Tenedos Bay, located on the mainland side of Desolation Sound.

We enjoyed sunny days, although the wind was cool at times. Although there were numerous boats anchored in the large bay, Canada Day (July 1) was a quiet un-eventful day. Not sure if this was a result of the Covid pandemic or people just looking for a tranquil escape from reality aboard their boats. In true Canadian fashion, we celebrated Canada Day with BBQ burgers and a fine glass of wine.

Above is another view from our galley window. Once again, washing dishes by hand is much less of a chore with views like this to enjoy.

Each day we took the dinghy and explored the many coves and hidey-holes. At low tide, we spied a harbor seal sunning itself on an exposed rock and later saw numerous seals doing the same next day.

I am always amazed at the tenacity of the trees like this arbutus tree, seemingly growing out of the rock with little or no soil to sustain it.

Due to my pinched nerve and weak leg, we chose not to venture ashore for the hike to Unwin Lake, a short distance from the beach where boaters love to swim in the warm, fresh water.

Tomorrow we head to Courtney on Vancouver Island to meet up with our son Adrian for one night.