Calgary Power and Sail Squadron flotilla
On the boat again! It's so good to be on the boat again!
Where do we start. Well in May the boat went out on charter for 10 days. The couple chartering will have the boat for 7 weeks this summer. They wanted to take it out and get acquainted with the systems before their big trip. Unfortunately they got caught in a 7 knot current coming out of our slip and had an anchor of a fish boat attatch itself to our starboard door. (This is the best way to put it.) Much damage was done but when all is fixed the starboard side of the boat will have new paint, stainless steele, new teak etc. it will be a brand new above the water starboard side. We roped the area and they made a pretend door that worked and we left for our 10 day excursion.
Bev, Stan, Denise and Gary would be our crew for the 10 day excursion. We would be on our own for a few days then meet up with 6 other boats from the Calgary Power and Sail Squadron.
We left Calgary in rain and it followed us all the way to Vancouver. In fact we arrived in torrential rains. Not a great beginning. We went to bed and woke up to cloudy skies, but no rain.
Friday was spent provisioning and collecting our crab and prawn traps from Janet and Jerry's. Since we are storing our personal belongings during the charter season we had to retrieve everything from the storage shed. Luckily next time will be the last time for ever!
All were aboard for Friday evening and made our way to the Flying Beaver for dinner. We had an early morning departure so we did not have a late night.
Saturday morning at 0700 we headed out the Fraser River to our destination Thetis Island. We had decided to go through Gabriola Passage. We hit slack when needed and carried on towards Chamainus to drop Crab and prawn traps. Since Chemainus was not our final destination we jigged for flat fish (halibut, sole, flounder) for a few hours hoping our crab traps would fill up. After 1 1/2 hours we pulled the traps. 12 keepers. A dungeonous crab must be 6 1/2 " in order to keep, a rock crab 5". We do not keep the females. This is not the law just suggested as to keep stocks up. Down went the traps and we would pick them up the next morning on our way to the next destination. Onwards to Thetis Island.
British sailors surveying the area in 1851 cruised into a tiny group of five unnamed islands, naming the two largest Thetis Island and KuperIsland. Life on Thetis is relaxed, peaceful,
all within reasonable distance to urban centers on southern Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
Thetis was first settled in 1874, primarily by British pioneers, following an offer of land by the government. The first wave of settlers purchased land and arrived between 1874 and 1886. Of these first settlers, none established permanent homes, and several met tragic deaths in the harsh conditions of those early days. The second wave of settlers arrived in the 1890s and 1900s some of whose descendents still live on Thetis.
A combination of mild winters and warm, dry summers supports a unique ecosystem and provides an ideal environment for outdoor recreation. Thetis Island is in the rain shadow of Vancouver Island, having an annual rainfall of about 850 mm, with delightful rural scenes, beautiful shoreline, crystal clear waters, and wonderful views. Thus explaining the abundance of seafood.
Thetis Island and Kuper Island were originally joined by mud flats until 1905, when a passage was dredged to allow boat traffic to pass, now known as Canoe Pass. Kuper Island is a First Nation Indian Reserve and permission must be obtained to dock on the island.
The next morning we headed back to the traps. Again we were rewarded. The prawns were big but few. Bountiful crab. We could keep 16 at a time as we had 4 licenses. Onward to Montague Harbour to rendezvous with other Squadron members. Again we would drop our traps.
Near the south end of Galiano Island in the Gulf Islands, the 89-hectare Montague Harbour Provincial Marine Park was the first marine park in British Columbia. This Gulf Island park, which starts at 5 metres below sea level and climbs 180 metres to a steep rocky precipice, has a rich human history.
The white shell beach on the north side of the park marks one of several middens (refuse heaps) that indicate native occupation dating back over 3000 years. Castaway shells left by centuries of harvesting formed berms on the foreshore of the park. Wave action erodes the middens, crushes the shells and redeposits them to create Montague's white shell beaches.
We secured ourselves to a mooring buoy and began shucking crab. The dinghy was lowered and a trip to inspect the campground perused. It was determined a fire expert would have to be sent to begin the fires for dinner. Ken was up to the task.
A Provincial camp ground is ashore and this is where we would meet for a potluck dinner, games and campfire. Wendy and Wayne have wonderful voices. We met the members of all the boats in the flotilla.
Steele Eagle(Wayne and Wendy's boat) had caught a salmon on the way into Montague harbour so we thought after picking up our traps we would try some trolling for salmon. We pulled the crab traps to only find 2 rock crab keepers. The prawn trap had been cut and retied. A practice the commercial prawners are beginning. We were just thankful they didn't cut the float and let it sink. Prawn traps are very expensive as the line must be weighted and there is aprox. 400 ' of line. The commercial fisherman do not like the individuals out there. If we truly crossed over their lines I apologize but I do not believe we did. We started to troll for the salmon for several hours under beautiful sunny warm skies. Unbeknownst to the person steering the boat Wendy form Steele eagle was trying to reach us on VHF. They had been witness to a 1 1/2 show of the Orcas in Active Passage. Wendy has beautiful pictures of the whales breeching. What excitement for them. I will publish the pictures.
Once we arrived at Port Browning we headed to the small village.
North and South Pender Islands, the second most populous of the southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia, are separated by a canal and united by a bridge.
The islands in the Strait of Georgia were once joined by a wide neck of land known as the Indian Portage. A narrow canal was dredged in 1903 to benefit steamship travel through the Gulf Islands, and the islands remained separated until a one-lane bridge was built in 1955. We checked out the real estate and were quite surprise to see how reasonable was the housing market. You never know maybe in the far future. I reminded me of Wolfe Islands village somewhat, in the summer months what with the population being around 2000 people.
That evenings get together was a scavenger hunt. We ruled!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to our dump diver Bev. We almost wet our pants with laughter. For the most ugliest thing, Gary picked up doggy dung. Most broken was a pair of cut jeans(Legs only). It was fun.Sounds lame but it was fun. Sometimes it good to get back to the kid side of yourself instead of being serious. It was also a night that the hockey playoffs were on. Edmonton had lost and the Calgary cheered loud. The BC folks couldn't understand how we couldn't cheer for Edmonton. That rivalry!!!!!!!!!!!
We left early the next morning to go pick up the prawn trap. Good thing. The tide, current and wind had caused the trap to be 1 nautical mile south and 1 nautical mile west. Our bearings didn't help us much, it was Ken's thinking about the water action that had him going south.
Again wonderful sunny skies as we headed to Maple Bay Marina on Vancouver Island. Now Denise was busy asking nautical crossword puzzle questions for our next competition.A t one point we passed the Canadian Coast Guard and they couldn't answer our question. (Scary thought, it should have been something they knew).
Denise did such a wonderful job checking our charts. I must say for the first time since boating on the coast I didn't keep a very good log book. I blame it on being tired from getting the house ready. My brain went on a sabbatical. Good thing someone else was there to take up the slack. A mighty fine job she did!
We arrived at Maple Bay Marina and as in most cases the wind picked up the current got stronger making docking challenging. It is the Murphy 's Law or in nautical terms would it be Odysseus's Law?
Maple Bay is a pretty seaside community located in a narrow inlet and surrounded by smooth, pebbled beaches, Maple Bay is one of the finest natural harbours on the West Coast, and bustles with marine activity all year round.The sheltered haven of Maple Bay is situated halfway up Sansum Narrows, and separates Vancouver Island from SaltSpring Island, the largest and nearest of the southern Gulf Islands. A well maintained marina.
That evening was the crossword puzzle contest we didn't win but we made a hit with our crab quesedias we shared with everyone. That evening seem to fly by.
The next day was a very short trip to Chemainus. We invited the crew from Steele Eagle over for breakfast where we made crab cakes and other breakfast entrees. We would teach everyone how to crab while in Chemainus. All boats now had their own crab. Chemainus is one of my favorite spots.
Chemainus is a jewel. A seaside town set between a mountain range and the ocean, oozing with history.
It is a small town whose heritage is diverse. Lumber, fishing and mining were the main industries over the last 200 years. Chinese then later Japanese were brought by large ships to be labourers in these quelling businesses. In later years Europeans were to come to Vancouver Island. As the businesses began to close the town did not want their fate to be similar to other west coast towns. Ghost towns! The decision was made by council to commission artists from around the world to paint murals on buildings depicting the history of Chemainus. A total of 37 have been done to date. These murals along with a live theatre have resulted in the town realizing financial gains through tourism. Bus loads (Americans, Japanese) are brought in from Victoria.
The marina was one of the Federal Marinas that has been handed over to the Port Authorities to be run by the town. To date we have not been disappointed by any such marinas. We find the pride the communities have put into the marinas have made them better than they were previously.
We spent our time going around the quaint town looking for costume props for the next nights festivities. We visited the Legion and manage to get the industrial garbage bags we needed. Had to have a drink. A small sacrifice to get the garbage bags!. The rest of the stuff was found at the dollar store.
The next day we headed out at 1000 hr in order to arrive at Dodd's Narrow at slack. We arrived a bit early and the eddies gave us a bit of a ride. Nothing too bad. Next time I would wait until slack as traffic was heavy. NewCastle Island was our destination.
Newcastle Island Marine Park is located just offshore from Nanaimo on Southern Vancouver Island. One of the charms of this park is the absence of cars on Newcastle Island, which is accessible only by privately owned boats or a foot passenger ferry from Nanaimo. We decided to hike the island. Part of the east side of the island is grassy and flat with sandstone beaches - the rest is wooded. It takes 2.5 hours (8 km) to walk around the island, which has 21 km of trails to explore. The Giovandi Lookout at Nares point is a fine viewpoint on the island. We were lucky enough to get up close to a bald eagle. The island was know for its coal and sandstone.
Newcastle IslandÂs supplies of sandstone lasted longer than did the coal: this attractive building material, used in many constructions along the west coast, was quarried from 1869 until 1932.
Newcastle Island also played a role in the fishing industry of the province. By 1910 the Japanese, who dominated fisheries, had established a small settlement just north of Shaft Point on the west side of the island. Here they operated a saltery and shipyard until 1941 when all the Japanese-Canadians who lived along the coast were sent to internment camps in the Interior in the interests of national security during wartime.
In 1931 the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company purchased the island and operated it as a pleasure resort, building a dance pavilion (now the visitor centre), teahouse, picnic areas, change-houses, soccer field and a wading pool. An old ship named Charmer (later replaced by the Princess Victoria) was tied to the dock at Mark Bay (Echo Bay) and served as a floating hotel. The island became very popular for company picnics and Sunday outings, with ships from Vancouver bringing as many as 1,500 people at a time. The advent of the Second World War caused a decrease in the number of ships available for pleasure excursions and Newcastle Island suffered a consequent decline in popularity.
The evening event was a nautical theme. We were to come dressed nautical. Our group decided to dress as a fishing tackle box. Gary was the fisherman, Ken a tackle box, Stan a silver flasher, Denise, Bev and myself different coloured hoochies ( lures used for salmon fishing). It was a blast. Everyone had a good laugh. We won the prize. A sucker.
We had been lucky to have had 7 days of sun and no rain , but it appeared that it was to come to an end. We watched as a wall of rain wastravelingg up the channel then all of a sudden it stopped. We never did get a drop of rain. We were off again, Silva Bay would be our destination.
The sheltered haven of Silva Bay on Gabriola Island provides anchorage and mooring facilities for local and visiting boaters. The marina has great facilities.
Known as Petroglyph Island, a nickname acquired because of its wealth of ancient native stone carvings, Gabriola Island is one of the enchanting Gulf Islands of British Columbia.
Gabriola Island is one of the best places in the Gulf Islands where you can still pick and eat fresh oysters, mussels and clams. However there was a red tide warning when we were there.
Gabriola Island offers an abundance of wildlife, including resident and transient killer whales, sea lions, seals, otters and bald eagles. It was here that we had seen the minke whales the week before.
We were at the end of our holiday and had to head back to the Delta Marina. We had spent 8 days in the Gulf Islands and we had been fortunate enough to have wonderful weather, greatcamaraderiee, a wonderful time, 100 crab of which we threw 50 back. A few prawns. Yes it was great to be on the boat again!
Pictures will be coming and will be found under the photo button as soon as I receive everyones pictures.
