Nanaimo

August 24, 2024

After our favorite oatmeal and tea for breakfast we dinghied back to shore and caught the 9:15 free passenger ferry over to the big city of Nanaimo.

We spent a good bit of the day exploring Nanaimo since we’ve never been here before.

First sighting was this statue. Is he a pirate or a conductor or ???

Turns out this scupture is of Frank James Ney (1918-1992) in his pirate costume. Ney was mayor of Nanaimo from 1967-1984 and 1986-1990 serving 21 years overall. Mayor Frank Ney is immortalized in bronze, standing atop a rock, dressed in the gaudy pirate costume he would wear during the town’s annual bathtub races.

Another interesting landmark was the Bastion. Originally built in 1853 by the Hudson’s Bay Company, the Bastion served a very practical purpose: It was designed to defend coal mining operations in Nanaimo.

The construction of this structure is very interesting as it can be taken apart, moved and put back together again in a new place which it did three times here on the Nanaimo waterfront.

And here’s a shot of the inside of the third floor, most all of the timbers are original!

Here’s a view looking back across the bay to the Provincial Park and our anchorage in the distance to the left.

Here is the Courthouse. It looks so much like the SPI (Superintendent of Public Instruction) building in Olympia.

The architect, Francis Rattenbury, was the architect of the Provincial Parliament buildings in Victoria. The sandstone came from Protection Island where we are moored.

Here is the Palace Hotel.

By mid-afternoon we took the passenger ferry back to the island and after a quick shower we hopped into our dinghy and rowed over to the Dinghy Dock Pub on the island next door for a great dinner.

And now I will leave you with this “Thought for the Day”.

Ladysmith to Nanaimo

August 23, 2024

(Side Note: We’ve been tied to mooring bouys the past several nights so – no internet = no blog. Once I get behind it’s hard to catch up.)

Another lazy morning except this time Annabelle joined us for oatmeal just like back home. Annabelle would often bop over in the morning and join us for breakfast. Always a special treat for us.

By 12:30 Chris and I said good bye to Ladysmith and headed north to Nanaimo. In order to get from Ladysmith to Nanaimo we had to pass through Dodds Narrow at slack tide which was at 1:25 this afternoon.

Since we were a bit ahead of schedule we poked our nose into Boat Harbor. 

This was the home of Julian Madson who in the 1970’s-2000’s owned the Argonaut ll and restored her to pristine conditions. Julian passed away just a couple of years ago.

We’d never been through Dodds Narrow before so it was a new experience and very exciting. All the boats had to go single file.

This is some of the landscape we’re passing by on the other side of the Narrows.

Then it was on our way to Nanaimo with Captain Chris keeping a watchful eye.

So many empty tankers just parked.

Once in Nanaimo we snagged a mooring bouy at Saysutshun Provincial Park on Newcastle Island just across Departure Bay from Nanaimo.

Once settled in and the rain stopped, Chris inflated our new dingy and we rowed ashore for a little exploring.

This 900 acre park has 22 kilometers of trails, historical sites, and camping. Here’s an interesting site. Read the sign below to learn all about the Wheels of Stone and how and why they were made.

Back on the boat we cooked our first big dinner onboad – rice with onions, garlic, bok choy and pistachios. Yum!

Ganges on Salt Spring Island to Ladysmith

August 21, 2024

Started the day with a walk into town to Barb’s Buns Bakery for a tasty pastry and coffee. By 10 we were on our way to Ladysmith for a couple of nights. One thing that amazed me the first time I saw the Pacific Northwest in 1980 was how the trees grow right down to the water’s edge.

Here’s Moka chugging along.

Since we had plenty of time to get to Ladysmith we took a side trip to Thetis Island. It looks just the same as it did in 2016 the last time we were here.

As we arrived at Oyster Bay Marina at Ladysmith we passed by this log barge. This was a common sight when we first moved to the Northwest in 1980 but is very rare now-a-days.

Had a lazy afternoon, got to use the free shower at the marina, such a treat.

Later we got takeout Indian food for dinner back on the boat.

Ganges on Salt Spring Island

August 20,2024

Delicious made from scratch oatmeal for a cozy breakfast on the boat this morning. Complete with brown sugar, pecans and banana. Yummy!

Another lazy day. It’s fun revisiting many of the places we stopped at 8 years ago. Some have gotten more touristy but so far we’ve been able to find the exact place or experience as we had back then.

Here are a few pics of our day today.

The trail to Hastings House, a 1940’s hotel and restaurant.

View of Ganges Harbor and Salt Spring Marina.

Winny after her 2nd outing of the day, back on her boat all pooped out.

Justin and Annabelle slipped out for an after-dinner treat.

Tomorrow it’s off to Ladysmith just a short hop to the north of us.