7/20 Silva Bay to Maple Bay

This morning the weather pattern was a little different. The morning wind came from the opposite direction, and some light rollers entered the harbor early in the morning – not much to look at, but enough to rock the boat back and forth.

We got up around 6:30 and did some usual chores. I made tea for Erin, and later she made some breakfast for both of us – a fair trade indeed. We were preparing to head out later this morning, and since the engines hadn't been run in a week they needed a little encouragement to start, which we take care of by running engine coolant heaters. Back at the Bar-T-Na, Trav was checking his fuel levels and the gauges weren't showing what he'd like to see. Barb went down in the engine room to tap on the tanks while Trav sat on the step and listened, and they sounded fairly hollow. They went over to the fuel dock for a little supplement.

We headed out of the harbor around 11:30, via the main entrance past Shipyard Rock, then on to Gabriola Passage. We were a little closer to slack time, so there was quite a bit of traffic going both ways as we passed through.

It was a great day for a Sunday cruise – the sky was blue and the wind was light as we headed south past Thetis Island and Telegraph Harbour. As we headed towards Stuart Channel on the west side of Saltspring Island the wind picked up quite a bit, but the amount of chop on the water wasn't enough to make the ride lumpy, although it did get some salt spray on our front windows.

As we turned into Maple Bay, we were rewarded with the sight of two square-rigged tall ships under full sail in the bay. They were the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain, participating in some sort of regalia put on by the Maple Bay Yacht Club. There were several boats, dinghies and kayaks out milling about as well, and we reduced our speed to 5 knots long before entering Bird's Eye Cove, where that speed is required.

I had emailed ahead to the marina that we were coming, and moorage wasn't too hard to obtain. We had to stand by for a few minutes while they moved a smaller boat out of the spot they had picked for us, while the Bar-T-Na went ahead into her assigned slip. We had arrived just after the start of a jazz band performance, so we got to listen in on the last hour and a half or so of that. It was a local band, but they were very good. They had a drummer, trombone, saxophone, trumpet and guitar and played a lot of the old jazz standards, with solos by all, including the drummer. There was a covered area in front of their stage where quite a crowd was watching, and we were docked just behind them about the same distance away. We learned later that those in the audience had paid a $28 admission for their seats. We heard just as well for free, a very fair trade for watching the band's backsides.

We are situated at the head of the dock, between the C and D docks next to the ramp, in the very same spot we were assigned 3 or 4 years ago when we came here to attend a Canadian Chris Craft Rendezvous. Trav and Barb were originally assigned to a berth on D dock a few slips away, but a slip next to us on C dock opened up and they were able to move there, putting them closer to us and also closer to the ramp, which Trav's bum knee will appreciate.

Barb, Erin and I went for a short walk in the evening, down the row of float homes and around the grounds and small garden here. We'll do more exploring tomorrow.