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| 2010 CRUISE REPORT, WEEK TWO
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June 21, 2010.
When we closed last week’s adventure, your friends were without a car in Sidney, B.C., their plans for meetings in Victoria dashed. When given a lemon, make lemonade, goes the old advice, and that’s what we did. The delightful seaside village of Cowichan Bay would have gone unvisited this year, but now could be seen. We departed Van Isle Marina to check out the lovely Brentwood Bay Lodge and Marina in Saanich Inlet, then on to Cowichan Bay.
Brentwood Bay. Matt Smiley has been in charge of the marina for several years, now. He’s unusually well informed about the area, and he presents his knowledge easily. Up in the lodge, the busy pub served us a tasty lunch. Dan Behune, the developer, showed us through a block of six very deluxe condos nearing completion next to the lodge. They’re in the million dollar range, depending on the floor.
Cowichan Bay. Additional docks have been installed at the Cowichan Bay Fishermen’s Wharf, but we went further, to Dungeness Marina, where we tied on the west side of the float that extends into the bay. It was mid-afternoon, the sun had broken through, and a gentle easterly breeze was blowing. As the day went on the breeze increased, until waves bumped the dock up and down, and our lines strained tight to hold the boat. Rob and Carrie Hokanson, the owners, told us this was the customary afternoon breeze on nice days, and that the breeze dies around 6:00 p.m. Sure enough, around six the breeze went away.
Readers have urged us to have supper at the Masthead Restaurant in Cowichan Bay. When Rob Hokanson volunteered the same recommendation, we decided to give it a try. Add us to the list of enthusiasts. The Masthead is more than good. It’s outstanding. We also bought cinnamon buns for breakfast at the bakery, and cookies for later snacking. Marilynn had a dish of rum and raisin ice cream at The Udder Guys (along with chocolate, ice cream is a basic food group for Marilynn). Cowichan Bay was a high-calorie stop.
Genoa Bay. The docks are in fine condition, the washrooms and showers are spotless, and the store is fully stocked. The Genoa Bay Café has been leased to Gord Rumley and Stacey Johnson, who have worked at the café for several years and know its reputation for great dining.
Poets Cove already had several visiting boats. Three of the staff you’re apt to meet have distinctive accents – Aussie accents, mate. The girl in the little snack bar café above the family pool told us she’s traveling the world, with easy access to various Commonwealth nations.
Port Browning. The 2010 Waggoner notes that major new investment has been made at the Port Browning Marina, but our visit in 2009 was too early to see the results. Not so in 2010. The improvement is amazing. The café and pub are attractive, with good menus. A little store is getting under way in the lower level of the pub and café. Next door to the store the washrooms and showers are outstanding, as fine as any we’ve seen. The huge grass field in front of the pub was freshly mown, and a couple vendor tents were in place. This was NOT the Port Browning we were used to seeing, where the best that could be said was that it was very “relaxed.” The docks were busy, too, filled with good boats.
Chuck Spence, by the way, is on the staff this summer. Longtime cruisers will remember Chuck from Otter Bay Marina.
Otter Bay Marina. Managers Jess and Charlene Mansley are doing a wonderful job at Otter Bay. The store and café are even better than when Kay Spence was alive and adding her touch. The grounds are attractive, the swimming pools are ready, and there’s a play area for kids. It’s so encouraging to see marinas go through changes in ownership and improve.
Ganges. The Thrifty Foods store near the docks was busy as usual. It’s only a few steps from the ramp to the Rotary Park dinghy dock. A box at the top of the ramp receives not-required donations to help pay for maintenance, and we happily put some loonies in. As noted in the Week 1 report, Mouat’s has everything. The galleries are full of interesting offerings. Ganges Marina is keeping the docks up. Saltspring Marina has the go-ahead at last for dredging and major expansion. Next year should see quite an improvement. Neighbors on the dock had supper at Café Picolo and reported it spectacular, as usual. I took a cab to the Saltspring Island Golf & Country Club 9-hole course, which I hadn’t played in years. Good course.
Last, I have to mention The Local Liquor Store & Pub, although we didn’t buy anything. The Local is filled with thousands of bottles of wines, many of them from B.C. wineries too small to supply the government liquor stores. Wine lovers should check it out.
Telegraph Harbour. New owners Ron Faoro and his wife Tara Kaulback have poured imagination, energy and investment into the already popular Telegraph Harbour Marina. The grounds are lovely and the store and café have been changed around to create a small bistro. They’re waiting for a liquor license so they can offer beer or wine with meals. The huge collection of yacht club burgees that used to hang in the store has been moved to the covered pavilion, where they hang overhead and look absolutely right.
Silva Bay. Ken and Gloria Hatfield and their family continue to improve Page’s Resort & Marina. This year they redid the rental cabins. Next year, they say, the docks. The 150-foot dock extension installed last year doesn’t have power yet, but otherwise is a good place to tie up. The Silva Bay Resort and Marina docks are in good shape. Jenny Ireland remains as marina manager. We think she’s terrific. The pub is popular. We had a tasty lunch.
Don and Vicky Mayrand are building the Silva Bay Shipyard into a fine little business. Gloria Hatfield at Page’s told us that visiting boats with difficulties get a prompt visit from Don, and that locals are pleased with the work they get. At the pub, Don and Vicky had lunch with Jenny Ireland from the Silva Bay Resort and Marina. We were told that a friendly sense of cooperation exists in the bay, and we believe it.
Good news about anchoring. The larger permanently-anchored boats have bowed to community pressure and moved out to the edges, leaving the middle of the bay with more room for overnight anchoring. It’s still pretty crowded, but at least anchoring is possible. Don’t anchor, however, in the channel that runs from the Silva Bay Resort fuel dock to Page’s. That’s where float planes land and take off.
Strait of Georgia. The Strait of Georgia is always a concern. It’s big, and if you’re out there when the wind begins, the result is a rough ride. At Silva Bay a little before noon a sailor who had just crossed from Vancouver came in to register. He said he had a great sail, but his wife and kids were Not Happy. A fresh northwesterly had been blowing all morning, and the strait was pretty lumpy.
A little after lunch we looked at the flags and saw the wind had changed from fresh northwesterly to light southeasterly. Hey, maybe we could cross to Pender Harbour that afternoon instead of hoping for good conditions the next morning. Back at the boat we listened to the 10:30 weather forecast. It called for the northwesterly to shift to light southeasterly, building to tops of 15 knots by early evening. A southeasterly would be on our stern, and light wind is what we wait for. It was time to go.
So we did. By the time we were about 10 miles from Pender Harbour we saw a few whitecaps around us, but the seas didn’t have time to build. The only problem was the direction. The seas were from astern, but to starboard of astern, off our starboard quarter. Every so often a particularly aggressive wave would grab the stern and try to spin us into a broach. It took quick and definite work with the wheel to keep the bow pointing the right way. At times Marilynn and I had fond memories of sailing. The spinnaker would be up and the big rudder would surf us down the faces of those waves. Those were the days.
The point is, that when crossing the Strait of Georgia, you have to watch the weather all day long. Things can change from bad to better. If that happens, you need to be ready to go. Likewise, if conditions are favorable but forecast to turn bad. Then it’s better to wait.
Pender Harbour. The first two weeks of the yearly research cruise are the most demanding. We have so many places to visit and so little time. Last year when we reached Pender Harbour I sat and stared for much of the next day. I wasn’t physically tired, but the emotional effort had drained me. This year was better, thank goodness. We got in on the evening the day before we hoped to cross, and we’ve had time to decompress. We went shopping in Madeira Park, washed the salt off the windows, the rail, and the varnish. Marilynn has done two loads of laundry and will do another tomorrow. This morning I played nine holes at the beautiful Pender Harbour course. If you’re a golfer and don’t bring your clubs to Pender Harbour, you’re missing a great experience.
We won’t move for a total of three full days, a luxury for us. The weather is beginning to improve. It’s time for Northwest boaters to load up and go. v
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