Canada

First off, let’s get this straight: it’s not GAB-re-ola, it’s GAY-brie-ola. Why? Canada.

Silva Bay, on the east side of Gabriola, is a popular jumping-off point for boaters intending to cross the Strait of Georgia. That’s because Silva Bay opens directly into the Strait, so no

Pssst! Wanna see a hippie?l

Galiano Island is a place where counterculture lives. Catch the free bus to the Hummingbird Pub, and Tommy Transit will hand you a rhythm instrument so you can join in the neverending concert. Rock on as the old school bus tries to make it

All you folks who’ve been to Italy listen up! This small bay on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island is not GEN-oa Bay, it’s Ge-NO-a Bay. Get it right. Don’t annoy the locals.

Not that anyone around here is easily annoyed. Genoa Bay is a friendly place

See what I did there? Through. Yes kids, that’s how cavemen spelled thru.

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll have seen plenty of flower photos. Many of them will have been taken at The Butchart Gardens. Just in case you haven’t had your

Several of you, my faithful readers, have asked whether we finally took delivery of Étude and whether we were finally cruising. Yes and yes.

We planned to meander around visiting Canadian ports denied to us since before the pandemic and familiarizing ourselves with our new floating home. But after about

It’s been said that the thousands of kilometers of dry stone walls found in the United Kingdom and Ireland might be considered the Eighth Wonder of the World because of the unimaginable amount of human labor put into constructing them.

If you’ve ever stood at the bottom of

We met a woman who had been in the Broughtons for several months and was ready to go home. “After a while”, she said, “it’s just rocks, rocks, rocks, trees, trees, trees.”

Perhaps if you stay anywhere long enough you become inured. We never got to that point, but

During Japan’s Edo period the phrase “the floating world” evoked an imagined universe of wit, stylishness, and extravagance—with overtones of naughtiness, hedonism, and transgression.

But that’s not the floating world we’re here to talk about today.

Like other places around the globe where folks make their

Bill Proctor has lived all of his 85 years in the Broughton area. He worked as a logger, trapper and fisherman for many years. Later in life, he became a passionate advocate for habitat restoration, primarily salmon.

During his time, Bill met many of the true old-timers; men and women

That this native village , better known today as New Vancouver, exists is a testament to the vision and determination of one man.

A combination of government policy and economics resulted in many people leaving their villages for larger, one might say more Caucasian, places. The grandfather of our guide, Amy,

After hearing the sad story of Port Harvey, I thought you might enjoy seeing a marina that is thriving.

Lagoon Cove, run by the Ryan family, features a communal “happy hour” at 5:00 every afternoon. They supply freshly caught prawns, guests supply everything else.

We are approaching the book

We had to cheat a little on the “run rapids at slack” rule in order to get to the Broughtons today. We hit Green Point rapids about an hour before slack and ran with the flow. Nothing eventful and it was nice to get a push along our way. We

We ran the Gillard and Dent rapids early and uneventfully, bound for Blind Channel marina. This will be our last stop before heading into the Johnstone Strait and making for the Broughton Island group. Until now, everything has been fairly familiar. But after Blind Channel, it’s all new to