Debra leaves today, so here is the final recap of our journey south:

We left the dock promptly at 8am to time the slack at Dodd Narrows at 9am. It was quite the caravan as there were about half a dozen boats all heading there from Nanaimo. We hit the narrows right at slack, called out that we were entering and started through only to hear another sailboat call out that they were heading the opposite direction about 30 seconds later (poor boating etiquette). It just so happened that there was a large log floating right in the middle of the narrows. We planned to pass on the right, but the sailboat traveling the opposite direction decided to pass on his right but then turned drastically in front of us. I had to divert our course and pass the log on the left (behind his stern), but all went well with no mishap (It was a lot closer than the picture depicts). Again, the other boat did not follow basic navigation rules of passing port to port (left sides).

We continued through the narrows and proceeded to our next destination, Ladysmith and the Ladysmith Yacht Club.

The clubhouse lies at the very end of the docks at the private marina where there was numerous, huge boathouses holding boats up to 70 feet (You can see our mast sticking up above the boathouses).

The yacht club dock holds about 5 boats, and there was only one other boat there, so we docked using our reciprocal privileges. We launched our electric bikes and headed into the town of Ladysmith.

The first stop was the local bakery which features cinnamon rolls, so I chose a blueberry one. Debra asked about gluten free options, and we were sent across the street to Wild Poppy which is the sister bakery.

Not only does it feature gluten free baked goods, when I sat down and to eat my cinnamon roll, I was told that I could not eat it there because the facility is celiac safe! No gluten of any kind can contaminate the tables. Debra enjoyed a gluten free date square, and I had a coconut meringue. We then walked the main street where we went into a very well stocked kitchen store.

We returned to Lion's Paw for the remainder of the day and then re-mounted the bikes for a trip back to the town where we had a delicious meal at an East Indian restaurant called the Spice Hut. It is right on the TransCanada road between Victoria and Nanaimo, and we would definitely recommend it. We returned to Lion's Paw for the night.

We basically slept in on Sunday morning due to the timing for our next destination, Maple Bay Yacht Club, for another night at a reciprocal facility. We arrived to find only three other boats on the dock which can hold about eight boats (last time here we could barely squeeze into the last available spot). We spent the afternoon with one round of dominoes and one of cribbage before relaxing before dinner. This was our last onboard dinner before Debra heads back to Colorado on Tuesday. We have a reservation at the Port of Sidney Marina and will dine out on Monday night.

We left Maple Bay for an uneventful journey to Sidney. We hoped to do a bit of sailing, but the winds were so erratic that it was a motoring trip. We arrived and confirmed our slip assignment before entering the marina and docked without incident. I spent the afternoon doing a bit of shopping before we ended the day with a round of dominoes and dinner out at a Thai restaurant. Debra leaves in about two hours, and I will then be off to Vancouver with a stopover in Ganges.