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

The Anacortes Yacht Club is running a cruise to the Gulf Islands almost precisely a month earlier than the C-Brats' cruise. This is their itinerary -- perhaps it will give us some ideas. Or not.

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Several members have shown interest in the Gulf Islands Cruise, some want to visit the Port of Sidney, and others would like to go back to the Saturna Island Lamb Feast for the first time in several years. So, take your pick: you can do either, and we will rendezvous at Genoa Bay after the Dominion Day weekend.



June 29 (Friday) Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island. Hike to the school or light house. Mooring buoys, dock, or anchor out,

June 30 (Saturday) Port Browning Marina, North Pender Island, BC. Clear customs at Bedwell Harbour (Poet's Cove) Remember your passport! Port Browning has a heated swimming pool, gift shop, and pub, with shopping and a BC Liquor Store nearby. Call (250) 629-3493 or FAX (250) 629-3495 for reservations. Click this link for more information: http://www.portbrowning.com/pb_contact.asp

July 1 (Sunday) Winter Cove, Saturna Island, BC. Annual Lamb Feast - anchor out. Info: http://www.saturnalambbarbeque.com/



OR



June 30 - July 1, Port of Sydney Harbour Marina, BC - Annual Dominion Day festivities. Call immediately for reservations if you intend to stay at this Marina. Call (250) 655-3711. Info: http://www.portsidney.com/Home/tabid/137/Default.aspx



RENDEZVOUS:



July 2 (Monday) Genoa Bay Marina, Duncan, BC. The Genoa Bay Café has excellent food (perhaps the best in the Gulf Islands) and there is a very nice art gallery. Call (250) 746-7621 or (800) 572-6481 for reservations. Info: http://www.genoabaymarina.com/contactus.htm

July 3 (Tuesday) Telegraph Harbour Marina, BC. Ice Cream! See the murals at Chemainus. Call: 250-246-9511, 1-800-246-6011. Info: http://www.nwboat.com/telegraph/

July 4 - 5 (Wednesday - Thursday) Port of Nanaimo, BC. Choice of Newcastle Island Provincial Park Marina, anchor out, or Port of Nanaimo Boat Basin. Be sure to visit the Dinghy Dock Pub. For Boat Basin, call: (250) 754-5053. Info: http://www.npa.ca/en/bobas1.htm

July 6 - 7 (Friday - Saturday) Ganges, BC. Choice of Ganges Marina (250) 537-5242; or the updated Government Docks; or anchor out. Note: Salt Spring Marina, (800) 334-6629, is sold out this weekend due to a Seattle YC event. Visit the Saturday Market. Info: http://www.saltspringtoday.com/chamber/ ... llfountain

July 8, (Sunday), clear US Customs at Roche Harbor Marina, stay at Roche, (360) 378-2155 or anchor out, Garrison Bay. Info: http://www.rocheharbor.com/activities.html

July 9, (Monday) Return to Anacortes.



All cruise participants are responsible for their own reservations. Marinas in British Columbia generally monitor VHF Channel 68.

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Warren
 
Warren - I can't speak for anyone else, but my idea of cruising the Gulf Islands is about coves, trails, beaches and sunsets, not restaurants, art galleries and festivals. Well, one little exception maybe for the Hummingbird Pub! Look at the pix of the Gulf Island cruise from 2004...Sunset Point, Wallace Island:
Fred_s_Gulf_Islands_6_04_052.sized.jpg
And doing the cannonball off the rocks (Pat and Austin):
eDSC01762.sized.jpg

 
Robbin and I will not be joining the cruise till the 27th. I may travel to Sucia after Bellingham but will have to head back Monday.
Is there anyone who may be interested in Princess Louisa. We are planning to head to Newcastle after the Saturday market at Ganges. We are then going to wait for a time to head across the Straits of Georgia and on to Princess Louisa. It would be nice to travel with someone if anyone is interested.
Fred
 
We have to be out of the water and headed back early on Sunday the 29th, so another run to PL is not in the cards for us...you will enjoy PL for sure, whether you have company or not! Don't know where the cheap fuel is in that vicinity, but it sure is NOT at Egmont...$4.85 a gallon there.

Anita Marie":2lzfjvqz said:
Robbin and I will not be joining the cruise till the 27th. I may travel to Sucia after Bellingham but will have to head back Monday.
Is there anyone who may be interested in Princess Louisa. We are planning to head to Newcastle after the Saturday market at Ganges. We are then going to wait for a time to head across the Straits of Georgia and on to Princess Louisa. It would be nice to travel with someone if anyone is interested.
Fred
 
Our plan is to be at the Bellingham gathering, with my daughter, then to return to Anacortes to put her on the plane back to Utah, on the 25th. Shortly after that we intend to rejoin the group in the Gulf islands. Fred, I am interested in going to Princess Louisa with you, but I am not too clear on what days you will be in Canada.

Warren
 
This morning the "Sea Shift" crew had a "crew meeting" around the dining room table and came up with the following plan.

We would like to join in on the GI gig, however our time frame will be very limited. At the conclusion of the B'ham gathering we are able to join the "flotilla" for its' journeys on Monday and Tuesday, however we'll have to leave the group to return to Bellingham on Wed. 7/25. Have plans been firmed up enough yet, so we'll know where we will be the night of 7/24?
 
Greetings, We have signed up for the Gulf Island-Canada cruise, but have concerns, which are: 1. We must dock every night, 2. We have a yellow Labrador retriever, 3. We will be unable to cruise for the entire two (2) week period. We don't want to create a problem for the group with our needs and will forgo the cruise if our needs are a problem and cannot be easily taken care of. We will attend the Bellingham gathering and will proceed to the San Juans if the group cruise doesn't work out. Please advise. Thanks, Ken
 
We're going to join for the first few days. We have to be back at Cypress Island the following weekend, so we'll cut out Thursday or Friday, depending on weather and distance.
 
Stacy and I are also looking forward to the Gulf Island Cruise but will only be able to join for the first week. We will need to head back on Saturday [7/28] to be back in Seattle by Monday. We are a bit apprehensive about the ability of the facilities and anchorages to accommodate the C-Dory flotilla that seems to be growing by the day. Don't get me wrong, we know this is going to be a blast, but wonder if we should be making reservations (if possible) on the few days that we will be staying at marinas. We have not been to the Gulf Islands so maybe I should not be concerned, but we know that San Juans will be packed in late July.

At this point it looks like the only firm locations we have are Sunday night in Sucia, clear customs in Bedwell Harbor on Monday, Montague Harbor on Wednesday, and Ganges on Friday night. Is it worth it for us to make reservations at Monatague Harbor and Ganges?

Just thinking out loud here.... Hopefully I am not out of line in asking. :embarrased

Jan & Stacy
C-Change
 
For ourselves, we probably will not stay at any dock or marina - we are "anchor out, dinghy in" type of folks, and Baxter is OK with that! Jan, as far as the Provincial Marine Parks (Montague), I don't think they take reservations. Terry, I don't envy your job this year as Cruise Director - this is starting to look like herding cats!
 
Pat is right,

Herding Brats and making marina reservations at that time of year is a no win situation.
Everyone has different needs and as we discussed at the first planning meeting, the distances involved are such that one can be flexible.
We just went with the general outline of Sucia, Bedwell, Montague, Conover,Ganges, Silva, Maple bay etc and made decisons based on a mix of "marina" vs "hang out and dinghy in" that fits our comfort range and list of things that we want to do.

The alternative is to plan it to death and have Mother Nature decide for you !

If anyone is wanting to make reservations anywhere they should do it asap. We already had to juggle a number of choices.



Merv & Kathy
 
WOW !!!
This is geting better all the time. I can hardly wait.
Jan & Stacy, yah, our plans are kind of in flux. Reservations at Ganges might be a good idea. As for Montigue, I plan to anchor out or tie to a float and use the dinghy to get around. Maybe some people that have been up there more than I can coment on the reservation issue. It is getting to be a good sized group, but we're all Brats. We will work something out. With people comming and going at different dates, I don't think it will be as big as it appears on the signup sheet.
Woodduck Ken. We Also travel with our dogso I understand their needs. I can't say there will be dock space at each spot we stop. Some of the places I haven't been to yet and some may not even have a dock. As I said, I'm sure we can work out the bugs. This is a resourceful bunch. Besides, Oregon needs better representation at these get-togethers. I don't want to be the lone DUCK.
Seashift Dave. Always glad to see you and your crew. I don't know where we will be on the night of the 24th. Some where in the south Gulf Is. I'll have to check thru some of the olds posts to see if we have nailed down a location for that night. It sounds like you may miss out on the hippy bus ride to the Hummingbird Inn.
As I said in an earlier post, this isn't my cruise, this is OUR cruise. So, lets get together at Bellingham and firm up the plans. I know some are joining up mid week, so we need to have a time and place set to connect.
Less than a month to go, I guess I better start getting the boat in shape.
Terry
 
Brent and Dixie lent us their cruising guide and charts for the area, and we have been doing some "exploring" while in the dessert. We're looking forward to this cruise... our style leans more to the "freeform": anchor out, grab a mooring, find some dock space, whatever is available. For those who are familiar with the area, are reservations at any particular locations a must? I've been hearing how "unoccupied" the Gulf Islands are compared to the San Juans. See you there.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Pat, Merv thanks for the feedback... yeah I probably need to plan less and relax more. We are totally ok with winging it as we go... It would be nice to get into a marina now and again to get a shower and more importantly some food - if you had tried the results of our cooking you would understand :D

Terry: Thanks for the response and for taking on the task of trying to herd the Brat newbies. We look forward to meeting you in Bellingham. We are really looking forward to exploring the Gulf Islands for the first time.

Jim: I have enjoyed reading your posts with a bit ( ok a LOT) of jealousy. Looking forward to meeting you, Joan and of course Molly the cat.
 
Rock-C":1icj9col said:
Seashift Dave. It sounds like you may miss out on the hippy bus ride to the Hummingbird Inn.
Terry

That's OK Terry....if my memory serves me right, I didn't remember any of that back in the 60's either....
 
Jim, based on a bit of experience, I can say that the Gulf Islands are NOT "unoccupied"! Ganges will be a zoo in July...this is possibly the one place a reservation at the marina would be appropriate, and I don't even know whether it is too late. There will be room to anchor at Montague Harbour and Wallace Island (either Conover Cove or Princess Cove), but folks should not count on getting a spot at the dock. Pirate's Cove is tight (stern lines required) under the best of circumstances. Winter Cove and Cabbage Island both have ample room to anchor. The notion of the Gulf Islands as "the San Juans 20 years ago" is pure myth by me...

JamesTXSD":33glyow7 said:
Brent and Dixie lent us their cruising guide and charts for the area, and we have been doing some "exploring" while in the dessert. We're looking forward to this cruise... our style leans more to the "freeform": anchor out, grab a mooring, find some dock space, whatever is available. For those who are familiar with the area, are reservations at any particular locations a must? I've been hearing how "unoccupied" the Gulf Islands are compared to the San Juans. See you there.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Anchoring out and dinghying in works for us, Pat. Is there a time/place schedule set up that I'm missing... or more of a "see you out there, let's get together" type of thing?

Best wishes,
Jim
 
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