Mike and Beth's Adventures

August was a short cruising month for Amy Marie.  She was treated to a spa treatment at CSR South Boat Yard in Des Moines while we attended family events.  Beth headed to San Diego and Santa Rosa California and I headed to Colorado.  We reunited with Amy Marie in mid-August.  During her "spa" visit she had damaged gel coat areas repaired, heat exchangers serviced and a full exterior buff and polish.  She looked quite jaunty and proud of herself when we returned! As we planned to attend the annual PNW Ranger Tug Rendezvous in Roche Harbor in early September, we started meandering that direction.  This gave us an opportunity to re-visit some favorite destinations as well as explore some new ports of call. Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island Our first stop was Eagle Harbor.  Why?  It has a great grocery store and it is fun to walk and explore.  Town and Country Market is very close to the public dock, so a good location to perform a major resupply....

Do you want to visit an exciting and fun city?  Well, Vancouver is the place.  With mountains and water at it's doorstep, it is located in a truly lovely location.  It's transformation from rough and tumble lumber town to sophisticated cosmopolitan city was aided by hosting the World's Fair in the '80s and the Winter Olympics in 2010.    Their skyline is enhanced by it's interplay with the weather and the geography. Their general plan actually talks about preserving sight lines to the most prominent features in the surrounding terrain. The town transitions smoothly and effortlessly from it's daytime to nighttime persona. We Stayed at Fishermen's Wharf Marina Welcome to Fishermen's Wharf Our Home while in Vancouver Fishermen's Wharf is conveniently located next to Granville Island Granville Island Granville Island is a mecca on the southern shore of False Creek. Packed within the borders of the island you will find nourishment, entertainment, shopping...

Saturday is the best day to visit the town of Ganges on Vancouver Island as that is the day you will find the Salt Springs Island Village Market is held in Centennial Park from mid-March to the end of October.  We needed fresh produce, so we arrived at the Kanaka Public Dock ready to shop.  It was a rainy morning so we slipped into our rain gear, shouldered our dry bag and walked up the ramp, past the Tree House Café and over to the area where tents were erected to provided shelter for the market merchants.   Beth is excited to see what treasures she can find at the market She quickly zeroed in on the fresh produce The rain did not deter the shoppers It was well attended Right at the entrance, there was a pre-teen young man selling home made cookies - $2/each.  He was doing a brisk business.  Beth found some good fresh produce so we are set for the next week or so.  Arts and crafts, fresh bread and pastries, pizza, BBQ and Indian food were also availab...