Last Summer Cruise to Vancouver Island

Last week there was a window of sunny skies and calm winds. It's calm winds we like the best. We used it to for a last summer cruise in our Bayliner 2452. It was a spur of the moment trip so we decided to visit marinas near restaurants for easy dinners.

We left in the afternoon to arrive at Campbell River in the early evening. There were a few cloudy skies along the way, but we dodged the showers just by chance.

Dodging a few showers heading for blue skies.

We stay at Discovery Harbour Marina quite often. It takes less than two hours to get there and we can get there with protection from several island along the way. There's a large shopping centre next to the marina where we ate at the Riptide Pub. They had Dinosaur Bones (beef ribs) on the menu and they were excellent.

A mix of working and pleasure boats at Discovery Harbour Marina.

We timed our departure for slack tide in Discovery Passage and to fish for salmon at the southern tip of Quadra Island. No luck.

We rarely travel this part of the Strait of Georgia. The open area can get big waves, but this trip was calm. As we approached Comox, we saw boats fishing. It's salmon season so we decided to give it another try. Wayne caught an undersized fish, so we let it go.

On the way to Comox, BC.

We headed for the Comox Valley Marina. The visitor's dock was filled with large expensive yachts. Our 24' Bayliner looked like a toy between them. We love our boat. It's perfect for us. We found a great spot for dinner, Martine's Bistro a short walk up the road. We both had the Seafood Linguine filled with clams, mussels, prawns, salmon and halibut. The chef brought out our plates, a nice touch.

Playing with the big boys at the Comox Valley Marina.

The next morning we headed across the Strait of Georgia to Powell River. We stopped at Coho Point on Texada Island for one last try to catch a salmon. Again no keepers. We don't care. Fishing is fun.

Our three day and two night cruise was a great way to end the summer season. That afternoon we put our boat in Powell Lake for the winter.

Do you have a boat? What do you do during winter months? -- Margy