Garden Bay, eh.

The faint orange line is the route we took to cross the Strait of Georgia from Oven Isle at the entrance to Ladysmith to Garden Bay. Photo from Google Earth, North is to the left Vancouver BC is in the right upper quadrant of the picture.

This morning early, we made the boat and Dusty ready for sea and set out from Oven Isle to Garden Bay. Our course took us north of Thetis and through the Gabriola Passage, out in to the Strait of Georgia which, thankfully, was relatively flat. A 6 hour trip at 10 mph Speed Over Ground.

We ate breakfast underway. Passing thorugh Cabriola Passage past the Flat Tops was iimpressive. As you approach the passage you wonder where is the entrance and you rely on your charted course. Finding the entrance to the passage, we wove our way through to the Flat Top Islands and out to the Strait of Georgiea. Again, as we approched Garden Bay, the entrance is not visible from sea but as you approach the red and white marker on an out cropping of rock, the entrance revealed a gorgeous setting. The harbor is picturesque with all variets of small crafts from working boats to personal water craft and yachts bo th sailing and power. Entering the harbor you are treated to a visual display of ruggedness and civilization. In my humble opinion, this harbor with its various bays is the gem of the Salish Sea. As we motored into Garden Bay, we spotted the Seattle Yacht Club Outstation where stied up across from friends from SYC.

Gabriola Passage

Garden Bay

I hitched a ride to the small but well stocked IGA and came back to the boat to find dinner had been prepared by Lynne. While I was unloading my purchases, I got a text from the Caretaker, "Hi, this is Vickey the Outstation Manager. please don't forget to register, Thank you! Enjoy your stay, eh." After I fed the dogs, they found their fiestiness and wrestled in the cock pit, the galley, the salon, the cat walks and then crashed in the State Room where I took a small nap myself.