07/22 - 08/05 - The Gulf Island Cruise

Thanks, Terry - we are on the cruise only from Sunday to Sunday, do not have any days the following week. So I assume we head to Sucia sometime after breakfast at Squalicum Harbor? At the end of the cruise, we will need to boogie fairly early Sunday morning in time to get back to Bellingham to retrieve and drive home to Fall City.

Comments on spots on the itinerary - Poet's Cove / Bedwell Harbor really doesn't offer a lot unless you want to pony up to stay at the resort. Montague Harbor definitely! Winter Cove is a really neat place, when I have gone through there I always have thought it would be a great place to anchor - is there any public shore area there (got to get Baxter to shore for his duty!)? Wallace Island is a must-see spot and it will be fun to go back. Ganges is fun but where do you spend the night? We were a little put off by the cost of docking there for only a few hours on our one and only visit. Don't know Silva Bay. Would love to get to Newcastle Island, on this schedule that would happen the Sunday we have to leave. We would miss Telegraph Harbor on Thetis (been there, we have a ham radio friend who lives on Telegraph Harbor) and Maple Bay in any case. Was nobody interested in heading south first to Sidney Spit, D'Arcy Island or Portland Island? You are so right about the times and distances not being great. Glad this is back up to the top! Sorry to have missed Lopez, but we had a pretty good excuse!
 
Hi Pat - Winter Cove is one of my favourite anchorages. It is part of the Gulf Islands Marine Park system. There is a good landing on the south side to the right of the log loading ramp. Plenty of places to run a dog and pit toilets near the road. Very good trail to Boat Passage - very impressive views over the Strait.
 
Having just spend a week based out of a house (with dock) in Bedwell Harbor I would agree with Pat that Poet's Cove doesn't offer much except a decent restaurant. Just about impossible to walk anywhere on the island unless you are amountain goat. They do have ONE taxi but that will cost you about $30 to get to the Mall and back.

The anchorage there, just N of the marina does not offer much either.

If you go through Pender channel into Brownings Marina you can (or at least you could at this time of year) tie up free for long enough to walk the 15 minutes to the Mall if you need foodstuff etc. Brownings marina is a little in need of TLC and it does have a bar. Did not try the food.

Montague charges more for gas than Poets cove !! I guess the appeal is the hippy bus. Haven't tried that yet.

Ganges has both a government dock and marina(s). As of last week the marina was free for up to 2 hours, then 1/2 day ($10) and I suppose $20 for the night. Didn't check the government dock. It's fun for the farmers market, shops and restaurants.

Don't know Sidney spit other than in passing but can tell you that the marina is $5 per hour (or two if you are lucky).

We are going to be looking at a mix of overnights on the boat plus some time with a real shower and bathroom !! Bloody mindedness and arthritis demand it !
As you said the distances are not great given good weather, so when we see where the consensus for destinations lies we will plan around that.

Merv & Kathy
 
Thanks, Dave! Sounds perfect! Have gone through Boat Pass twice, once following a friend from Victoria in his Albin 28, the other time on our own - when we went through on our own, I think the bottom of our boat found every single rock in the Pass...
sailor-d":15vispxc said:
Hi Pat - Winter Cove is one of my favourite anchorages. It is part of the Gulf Islands Marine Park system. There is a good landing on the south side to the right of the log loading ramp. Plenty of places to run a dog and pit toilets near the road. Very good trail to Boat Passage - very impressive views over the Strait.
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Also, I know the itinerary is full, but Cabbage Island Marine Park should be considered too - the anchorage is between Cabbage and Tumbo islands, just off the east end of Saturna. There is a campfire site on Cabbage Isalnd for the nightly gathering. This is a fantastic place, actually our favorite in the Gulf Islands...
 
Its all good.
Pat & Patty, I'm glad you guys are going.
I'm open for some new spots. I like to anchor out, but a shower at a marina is nice every day or two.
We're stopping at Sucia because some may be late leaving Bellingham Sunday. When we settle in at Sucia, we can all get together and talk about options.
 
We have stayed at Sidney Spit (Sidney Island) a couple of times, it is a really cool place, lots of dock space, fee is the usual Canadian marine park fee, not outrageous. The spit itself is a fun walk. Here is a photo from the 2004 Gulf Island cruise - Ami Fiero and Oscar at the end of the spit by the lighthouse:

_and_Oscar_at_Sydney_Spit_Lighthouse_6_28_04.sized.jpg



Grumpy":3ehr4f1m said:
Don't know Sidney spit other than in passing but can tell you that the marina is $5 per hour (or two if you are lucky).

Merv & Kathy
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Great photo of Ami and Oscar -- flood of memories of that fine cruise together. We hope to be on the first part of the cruise this year as well, but probably without the grandkids.

Brad and Bryce are planning on coming up to the Pac NW with us in early June to do some cruising so will probably cross ways with many on the water. Perhaps others with kids would like to have a kid party together, on the water?

We see the doc this am and expect to get a 'release to travel' from him -- plan to do a family raft trip on the Colorado first and then off to the NW.
 
E & B -great news that you will be on the Gulf Island cruise! I only wish we could take a bit longer than a week, but such is the lot of working folk...

C-Brats on the "hippy bus" from Montague Harbor to the Hummingbird Pub, 2004 Gulf Island cruise. Brush up on your Fats Domino tunes and be prepared to belt them out! ("I found my three-oh [thrill]...on Blueberry He-oh [Hill]...")

Canadian_Trip_001.jpg
 
Hey - great idea! That would probably get the two kids to his left to come to the cruise and there could be a 'kid boat' piloted by your young skipper! And the young kid in the yellow kneeling in front (and maybe a few others) would join them for the ride -- yeee hah!
 
Pat,
Agree with you about Sidney Spit. Must try it.
What I meant with the earlier post was that the Port Sidney Marina is not cheap and if you get stuck out at H dock it would cost you $2.50 for the time it takes to walk to the port office !!
BUT very close to downtown.....

Merv & Kathy
 
1. About what time does the group expect to leave Bellingham?

2. Has the itinerary been finalized? Even if not, have there been changes since the May 16 posting?

3. Should everyone be bringing a dinghy and stern line, in the expectation that there will not be dock space (or not enough dock space) everywhere we go? (We plan to go only through Thursday morning, so we're only concerned about the first four nights, Sunday night through Wednesday night.)

Thanks!

Dan and Jo Marie Richman
Shoreline, WA
"Nootka"
 
At first, Lori and I thought we could go, then my daughter decided to come up for a visit during the time of the Bellingham gathering. We eventually decided to drag her along to Bellingham to meet the Brats. She is going home on the 25th, so our current plan is to catch up with the Cruise maybe on the 27th. That means needing to know approximately where the group will be. Is this do-able?

Warren
 
Well, Warren, with your TC255 speed, you can probably catch up with anyone who is still cruising in short order..on the 27th we'll have two days left on our cruise. Should not be a problem.
 
Pat Anderson":2rovvppj said:
Well, Warren, with your TC255 speed, you can probably catch up with anyone who is still cruising in short order..on the 27th we'll have two days left on our cruise. Should not be a problem.
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OK, what we have here is a failure to communicate. According to the C-Brats Event Signup, the Gulf Islands Cruise is to run from July 22nd through August 5th. However, you are saying that there will only be 2 days left on the cruise. Did you mean "2 days INTO the cruise"? Or has the cruise been cut back in length?

Thanks,
Warren
 
We have to head back earlier than others...our cruise ends Sunday the 29th, as I can only take one week off after B'ham, sorry for the confusion, I had forgotten that most will be staying out another week! You know how to find us when you come out on the 27th!


Lori Ann":3qz1709m said:
OK, what we have here is a failure to communicate. According to the C-Brats Event Signup, the Gulf Islands Cruise is to run from July 22nd through August 5th. However, you are saying that there will only be 2 days left on the cruise. Did you mean "2 days INTO the cruise"? Or has the cruise been cut back in length?

Thanks,
Warren
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Warren
Friday night the 27th, we should be at Ganges. Hope you can make it. As for the travel plan, nothing is set in stone, it may change as we go along, depending on the consensus of the group. That being said, the Sat. market at Ganges is one stop we won't want to miss.
Terry ;-)>
 
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