Anneline and I decided to take a weekend cruise to the Gulf Islands before they leave for South Africa. Anneline had Sunday through Tuesday off so it would be a nice three day trip. The weather was absolutely amazing for all three days and of course we had way too much sun on the first day!
I spent Saturday provisioning the boat and getting everything ready for the trip. By the time Anneline got off work Kuredu was ready and we decided to spend the evening on the boat and leave early on Sunday. My folks dropped us off and after unpacking our clothes and stuff we took a nice stroll along the seawalk. It was a spectacular evening:
The next morning we left Vancouver pretty early. We crossed the Georgia Strait and passed between Saturna and Mayne Islands. Entering the Gulf Islands here is pretty tricky and we backed out of one spot when the depth sounder showed less than 5 feet under us. Once through, we visited Winter Cove and Boot Cove on Saturna Island. Had breakfast at a small little pub at the ferry landing on Saturna.
After brekkie we headed to the Pender Islands where we would spend the evening. We wanted to anchor outside of Poets Cove Resort in Bedwell Bay. To get there one could go round the bottom of South Pender or through a man-made channel which now seperates the two Islands (they were once one). This is pretty tricky as the channel gets really shallow at low tide and we were not far from low at the time. Also, you have to go below a bridge with little clearance at high tide. Once through, we picked a spot and dropped the anchor. there were several other boats and we were about 300 yards from Poets Cove Marina. I was not happy with our spot so we decided to lift anchor and move a little, just to give us swing room should the wind pick up. When the anchor came out of the water there was a huge sun-fish wrapped around it and it just would not let go. Obviously very much in love. So we just left the anchor hanging, moved to our new spot and dropped it slowly back in again. The anchor is just over 4 feet long so you can imagine the size of this sucker!
The next day we tied up in the marina and went exploring. This is a new property and is pretty expensive ($200 per night) with excellent facilities for a relaxing getaway. This is the main hotel and spa - there are also cottages which you can see in some of the pics.
After leaving Poets Cove we headed over to Saltspring Island and tied up in Ganges Harbour. Went for a nice walk and a little shopping for supplies. Leaving Ganges we headed for the evening's stayover on Prevost Island's Anette Bay. It's a long 'finger' sticking into the Island. Pretty small, very protected and very quiet. We shared the bay with 4 other boats for the evening.
The next morning (Tuesday)
we headed through Active Pass and back home. Leaving the Islands behind...
