Aug. 21st - Ganges

Last night the wind really picked up.  It was good to be at a dock but we could feel the fenders rubbing against the dock & lines tugging on the bull rails.  This morning it was beautiful when we got up & in the low 60's.  But the wind picked up to 25+ knots so we changed our plans to leave at 10-10:30 to wait until the wind tied down.

Yesterday afternoon & again this morning I saw a seal who must have been fishing.  He kept coming out of the water so you could see his tail in the air as he dove down to eat.  Yesterday I couldn't really see what it was - thought it might be a fish.  But this morning you could really see him - haven't seen that before.

We left at 11:00 & 3 other boats left about the same time.  Only Panther, the sailboat, was left & they're going to Ganges too.  When we got outside of the bay it started blowing again - up to 16 knots but that slowed to 3-5 pretty fast.  Shadow stayed in the salon with us the whole time - think we've crossed a milestone (& it's only taken 7 wks)!

We arrived at 1:45 & it was 63' & sunny blue sky.  I always forget how busy this area is.  Lots of boat traffic & sea planes flying in & out.  There also is a SYC outstation here at Saltspring Marina.  We don't stay there because the docks are bad & there is limited space for larger boats.  But the 3 other boats were staying there.  We stay at Ganges Marina. 

After we got settled, I walked to the market to get a few things & stopped by the fish market at the top of the marina to see if there was anything we wanted to buy tomorrow.  They get fish from the locals.  There was a new liquor store where a restaurant we used to go to was located right by the walkway down into town & a new taco stand where a little coffee hut was also at the top of the marina.  Those are all changes within a small radius of where the boat is.