We left Vancouver Rowing club on Tuesday as the tide was rising (we had a small issue with low tide upon entering) and headed across the Strait of Georgia toward Porlier Pass.  We had a light southeast wind and had a really peasant sail across the Strait.  The pass was calm, as we went through at about slack tide.  We decided to try to anchor at Clam Bay, but it was crowded and there wasn’t really a good place to take Charlie ashore.  So we decided to head for Preedy Harbour, a familiar place with a nice dock and warm water.

We had a calm night at anchor and the next day we decided to take a long walk and see both marinas that were close by:  we walked to Telegraph Harbour and looked at Telegraph Harbour Marina, which was really quaint and homey, and Thetis Island Marina, which had a nice pub.  We spotted a farm market neat Telegraph Harbour Marina and went in to find that it was based on the honour (nod to our Canadian friends) system. Can you imagine? Meats, fruits and veggies, fresh baked goods – it was amazing! We ended up picking out a zucchini for dinner, some tomatoes and some cherries.  The cherries were the best I’ve had in a long time. We had another peaceful night at Preedy Harbour(warm, swimming water temp).

The next day we headed to Ganges Harbour, Saltspring Island, and anchored; Noah arrived by seaplane in the afternoon.  We did some provisioning at the great market at Ganges and headed out the next day.  Our first stop was Bedwell Harbour at South Pender Island.  We picked up a mooring at the provincial park – what a lovely place.  Noah and I took the dinghy out with Charlie and explored the beach and a little bit of the campground, and we also kayaked around the bay.  We took the dinghy over to Poet’s Cove resort and rubbed elbows – a very nice place.   We had a very calm night at anchor.

The next morning, Noah and I decided to take the kayaks out and had a lovely paddle around with Charlie.  He likes to sit on the bow of my kayak.  We decided we would go to Port Browning, which was about a 7 mile trip.  We had a nice motor/light sail and arrived at the lovely harbor. We anchored and had a fun afternoon and evening, filled with games and popcorn (it was raining).  Our night at anchor was peaceful.  This morning we decided to try to get a spot at the dock at the marina in Port Browning, as several household chores were piling up (grocery shopping, trash, recycling, etc). The marina is really comfortable, and has a pub, cafe, store and a grocery sore within easy walking distance.  Tonight we are barbequing steaks and relaxing at the dock, having fun with Noah.  He swam in the marina pool and we’ve enjoyed warm showers. Life is grand!