Canada or Bust, cont.

     We left Sidney Marina at 10:05 am.  Our next stop and planned anchorage....Ganges, on Salt Spring Island.  A waitress in Sidney told us that this was a cool place to visit.  The people are hippy-ish and it is a real laid back place.  We pulled into the marina and on to the fuel dock where, as we were just to secure the lines we were approached by a local who politely said, "Didn't you call in first? The marina is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday as of yet."  Hmmm....the sign DID say call in on VHF 67A before entry.  Okay, from here forward we will do as the signs advise and for today we will anchor in Ganges Marina along with the other 20 or so boats.  From the looks of some of those old boats this was their safe place, their home spot, and they didn't get out much.

     We released FRESH from her binding harness atop Velvet Sky and set her free to once again be rowed to shore where she would share parking with other dinghies of all shapes and sizes at the local "Dinghy Dock."  I have not taken enough pictures because I am not kidding about the several varieties of dinghies.  There was a homemade batman style dinghy and an old school graffitied up dinghy (love, peace, hope, hearts, and rainbows), definitely photo worthy.  We did purchase new point and shoot camera for the ease and convenience of always having a camera on hand, so no excuses on missing a good shot.  The Nikon is pretty bulky and gets cumbersome after a while.  Here is the one picture that got captured in Ganges.

     We wandered aimlessly around Ganges, in and out of stores, stopping for the usual ice-cream treat.  We wandered into the playground of the elementary school and watched the Bucket make new play pals and utilize the equipment. We stayed here through Thursday because Wednesday was close to an end and we wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything.  We found the lumber store and bought a 3 foot piece of teak for stern reinforcement on FRESH.  She was close to getting a 2.5 horse power Yamaha outboard to help her move along the water.  We would pick it up in Nanaimo.  Little did we know, this small piece of $30.00 wood would end up costing us double because some screwball stole it right from under our nose while we were in the cell phone store, unbelievable!  I don't imagine we will return to Ganges anytime in the near future, the thievery left a bad taste.

     Thursday was a travel day that was carefully planned out according to the tide and currents chart.  We were going through Dodd Narrows, a devilish short but fierce narrow.  I didn't even imagine.  In my mind it was going to be something like a short ride on a smooth flowing river with a little jolt of a thrill.  I am so glad that Scott put so much time, and thought into making this pass.  Sometimes I make myself feel so naive and oblivious to the dangers of nature.  This was a crazy (and fun) ride, though looking back I can see how it could so easily go wrong.  Bucket and I went to the bow sprit and planted our bottoms near the anchor rollers.  This was such an awesome view.

Aprox. 4:34 pm approaching Dodd Narrows two miles away

     There was such a peaceful easy feeling, as the cool wind kissed and brushed across our faces.  We watched the jelly fish swish by the boat in the depths of the salty water as we motored forward into the unexpected.

A shot of the churning action in Dodd

     A video camera is really the appropriate thing to have here.....why oh why did I not have the Go Cam?  I have so much to learn.  Land seemed to be within arms length and the water was churning in every direction.  I thought I was dreaming about the rafting trip we never took.  This could easily be described as being similar to the rapids in a river.  We flew through at a whopping 10.6 knots at precisely 5:00 pm ( and 49 seconds), Scott reckoned we would cross through at 5:00.  The hull speed of the Velvet Sky 8.2 knots.  Wow! I say! And remember, Bucket and I were on the sprit....ooooh!  We have crowned ourselves "Adventure-ests" And Scott, well, he totally rocked the ride!

Rockin' the Narrow

FRESH tags along,  gleefully

     Forward to Nanaimo!  Docked at 6:10 pm.  Life is good!