As usual, Ray was in the kitchen looking for breakfast fixin’s, and came up with pancakes and eggs. We could get used to having an onboard chef.
After tidying up a bit and topping off the water tank, we pulled out at about 11 o’clock, destination Sidney. The wind was blowing in the 15 to 20 knot range and we had whitecaps, but it was a relatively smooth ride all the way as we crossed Satellite Channel and entered Colburne Passage. This leads to Swartz Bay, a major B.C. ferry terminal. We saw one of the jumbo ferries leaving the bay while we were still a few miles out, and could see another approaching in the distance. A third, smaller ferry coming from Saltspring Island followed us into Colburne Passage, but turned off to the terminal before catching up with us. We chose John Passage, between Coal and Goudge Islands, to round the point and take us towards Sidney. This is a small narrow passage with marked rocks at each end. The passage between them is clear but requires a zig in the middle. We entered just in time to avoid the wake of the third oncoming jumbo ferry, the Empress of British Columbia.
The main harbor at Sidney is at the foot of Beacon Street, the main drag, and has been upgraded in recent years to accommodate hundreds of boats. It is surrounded by a huge rock breakwater. Last year, when we came here with Trav and Barb, we learned that they are quite disorganized in the manner they track and assign slips to visiting boaters. We radioed ahead before approaching the breakwater to get a slip assignment for one or possibly two nights, and found that the process was equally disorganized this year. We circled outside for 10 or 15 minutes standing by the radio for a slip. Finally, we were assigned slip F18, but then informed that the vessel there that was supposed to leave was still there due to the low tide, so we’d have to wait an hour. “Okay, where can I wait?” I radioed back, still circling. After a few minutes of unintelligible chatter at low frequency on the dock radios, we were informed we could proceed to slip F17. We entered through the breakwater, jockeyed past a boat aiming for the customs dock and headed down the F dock fairway. I was close enough now to hear the dock attendants radios, and heard that there was another boat in F17. We were rerouted to F13 and told we could stay there for two days if we liked. As I registered at the office later, I learned that the owner of our slip would be returning tomorrow, so we’d have to move if we wanted to stay a second day. That’s not a big deal, except checkout is at 11 and check in time for new slips isn’t until 1 o’clock. I’m sure they’d work around that, but we’ll probably be on our way tomorrow anyway.
The facilities here are top notch, with new, wide docks and lots of room – other than at the entrance, that is. Every piling, and there are a lot of them, is decorated with two hanging baskets, overflowing with flowers. When we arrived, the baskets were far overhead, but now, at high tide, they’re just 3 or 4 feet above the dock. Each basket is watered automatically from a coiled hose that has enough slack in it for the tidal changes. The only design flaw I can see is that the basket drips right onto the electrical stanchion where we connect to shore power. At the head of the dock is a large two-story floating building. The lower area is a lounge with laundry facilities and the upper floor houses the marina office and souvenir store. The grounds along the shoreline are impeccable, with wide paver stone walkways, manicured lawns and nautical looking fencing with chains and ropes.
A little later in the afternoon the four of us went for a walk into town. Erin had a craving for some fresh bear claws and butter horns from the Sidney Bakery, a longti
me institution here. When we arrived there we found the cupboard relatively bare, but did get some sausage rolls, donuts and cookies. We walked back towards the water to an incredible view of Sidney Spit. Beyond the spit, across Haro Strait we could see Spieden and San Juan Islands, our next destination – back in the USA.
As we were leaving on our walk we came upon Kristine from the Elsa at the lounge area at the head of the dock. They had arrived here an hour or so ahead of us and she had a load of laundry going already. Their plans on to head down to Cadboro Bay tomorrow for a stay there before returning back to home waters. They plan on meeting their daughter and her boyfriend next Monday up at Samish Island.
The rest of the afternoon was taken up with some reading, napping, art work by Erin and a couple rounds of Canasta between Mary and Erin. We planned on dining on leftovers today to clear out some space in the refrigerator, so no major preparations were necessary there. Erin and I walked some of the docks, including D dock, where the Elsa was berthed. Craig was busy barbecuing some chicken for dinner so we only chatted for a few minutes.
Tomorrow morning we’ll make another trip to the bakery for some fresh goodies, and I’ll take a look at the used boat store Craig told me he found earlier today. He said it had quite a few old Chris Craft parts and other funky stuff – just what we may need to see. After that we’ll probably head out across Haro Strait, back to the good old USA. We plan on visiting another Craig and Kristine recommendation, the sculpture garden at Roche Harbor.
After tidying up a bit and topping off the water tank, we pulled out at about 11 o’clock, destination Sidney. The wind was blowing in the 15 to 20 knot range and we had whitecaps, but it was a relatively smooth ride all the way as we crossed Satellite Channel and entered Colburne Passage. This leads to Swartz Bay, a major B.C. ferry terminal. We saw one of the jumbo ferries leaving the bay while we were still a few miles out, and could see another approaching in the distance. A third, smaller ferry coming from Saltspring Island followed us into Colburne Passage, but turned off to the terminal before catching up with us. We chose John Passage, between Coal and Goudge Islands, to round the point and take us towards Sidney. This is a small narrow passage with marked rocks at each end. The passage between them is clear but requires a zig in the middle. We entered just in time to avoid the wake of the third oncoming jumbo ferry, the Empress of British Columbia.
The main harbor at Sidney is at the foot of Beacon Street, the main drag, and has been upgraded in recent years to accommodate hundreds of boats. It is surrounded by a huge rock breakwater. Last year, when we came here with Trav and Barb, we learned that they are quite disorganized in the manner they track and assign slips to visiting boaters. We radioed ahead before approaching the breakwater to get a slip assignment for one or possibly two nights, and found that the process was equally disorganized this year. We circled outside for 10 or 15 minutes standing by the radio for a slip. Finally, we were assigned slip F18, but then informed that the vessel there that was supposed to leave was still there due to the low tide, so we’d have to wait an hour. “Okay, where can I wait?” I radioed back, still circling. After a few minutes of unintelligible chatter at low frequency on the dock radios, we were informed we could proceed to slip F17. We entered through the breakwater, jockeyed past a boat aiming for the customs dock and headed down the F dock fairway. I was close enough now to hear the dock attendants radios, and heard that there was another boat in F17. We were rerouted to F13 and told we could stay there for two days if we liked. As I registered at the office later, I learned that the owner of our slip would be returning tomorrow, so we’d have to move if we wanted to stay a second day. That’s not a big deal, except checkout is at 11 and check in time for new slips isn’t until 1 o’clock. I’m sure they’d work around that, but we’ll probably be on our way tomorrow anyway.
The facilities here are top notch, with new, wide docks and lots of room – other than at the entrance, that is. Every piling, and there are a lot of them, is decorated with two hanging baskets, overflowing with flowers. When we arrived, the baskets were far overhead, but now, at high tide, they’re just 3 or 4 feet above the dock. Each basket is watered automatically from a coiled hose that has enough slack in it for the tidal changes. The only design flaw I can see is that the basket drips right onto the electrical stanchion where we connect to shore power. At the head of the dock is a large two-story floating building. The lower area is a lounge with laundry facilities and the upper floor houses the marina office and souvenir store. The grounds along the shoreline are impeccable, with wide paver stone walkways, manicured lawns and nautical looking fencing with chains and ropes.
A little later in the afternoon the four of us went for a walk into town. Erin had a craving for some fresh bear claws and butter horns from the Sidney Bakery, a longti
me institution here. When we arrived there we found the cupboard relatively bare, but did get some sausage rolls, donuts and cookies. We walked back towards the water to an incredible view of Sidney Spit. Beyond the spit, across Haro Strait we could see Spieden and San Juan Islands, our next destination – back in the USA.As we were leaving on our walk we came upon Kristine from the Elsa at the lounge area at the head of the dock. They had arrived here an hour or so ahead of us and she had a load of laundry going already. Their plans on to head down to Cadboro Bay tomorrow for a stay there before returning back to home waters. They plan on meeting their daughter and her boyfriend next Monday up at Samish Island.
The rest of the afternoon was taken up with some reading, napping, art work by Erin and a couple rounds of Canasta between Mary and Erin. We planned on dining on leftovers today to clear out some space in the refrigerator, so no major preparations were necessary there. Erin and I walked some of the docks, including D dock, where the Elsa was berthed. Craig was busy barbecuing some chicken for dinner so we only chatted for a few minutes.
Tomorrow morning we’ll make another trip to the bakery for some fresh goodies, and I’ll take a look at the used boat store Craig told me he found earlier today. He said it had quite a few old Chris Craft parts and other funky stuff – just what we may need to see. After that we’ll probably head out across Haro Strait, back to the good old USA. We plan on visiting another Craig and Kristine recommendation, the sculpture garden at Roche Harbor.
No comments:
Post a Comment