Ganges Harbor-Salt Spring Island

After several days in Van isle Marina in Sydney we are finally anchored out in front of the quaint island community of Ganges on Salt Spring Island. We made good use of the cool showery days in Sydney working on boat projects, bicycling and taking a driving tour and shopping run into downtown Victoria with our friends Doug and Patricia. Free internet access was not available from our marina slip so we have fallen behind with our blog entries. Our original plan had been to base the boat out of Campbell River, further to the north, for the month of June allowing us the opportunity to fly home for a week. Because of our delayed departure from Seattle and our need to stop in Port Townsend for repairs, we have decided to rent a slip in Sydney at least until we return from Idaho on about the 18th. That will give us more time to explore the Gulf Islands that we hurried through last year. Before leaving the marina today Mark went up the mast to replace an anchor light bulb but came down an hour later frustrated by not being able to open the light fixture. Meanwhile, Anne busied herself in the galley making what looked like a fabulous batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies only to find that she used salt from an unlabeled container instead of sugar. Needless to say, the batch ended up in the dumpster. The trip to Ganges under sunny skies with a light breeze was great and made up for the morning's disappointments. We are writing this at anchor while sitting in the cockpit enjoying the warm evening sunshine and watching Dehavilland Beaver float planes land just 100 yards away from our boat. We will go ashore shortly to have dinner at a funky restaurant called The Tree House, literally built around a live tree and may find the energy to stay awhile longer and listen to the live music that is planned for this evening. Rain showers are in tomorrow's forecast, but the weekend is looking good, so we will likely sail to a few other islands before heading back to Sydney for our trip home to Idaho.

Cheers to everyone,

Mark & Anne