We moved over to Manana Resort and Marina to await the Murphy's arrival. They took the Coho over from Port Angeles, rented a car in Victoria and drove up to Ladysmith. They kept the car overnight so we could check out Ladysmith, do a little provisioning and had a fabulous gluten-free lunch at the Wild Poppy the next day. Dave and David returned the car in Nanaimo having the customary beer and tequila on the way back. Dinner was at the 1948 Bistro there on the marina property. The marina and property are quite nice.
The next stop was Montague Marina before we landed in Ganges for a couple of nights at the Saltspring Marina. We rented a car and went out to the Solice Spa. We were lucky enough to get the last booking so got the spa area all to ourselves for a nice evening picnic. The staff packs up and leaves telling us to close the gate when we leave. Fabulous.
Then we went down to Port Browning for a night followed by Poet’s Cove for a night. The next day was a 4-hour cruise down to Victoria mostly in the fog. Visibility was only 1000 feet and there was a fair amount of traffic and hazards to challenge Captain Dave. We made it fine but Dave was worn out from being IFR for hours.
David and Dave knocked off some boat projects while at port. Unfortunately, something went wrong when installing the new reversing sensor for the stabilizers and they stopped working. Dave spent an hour in the hot engine room unsuccessfully figuring out what happened so ended up pinning them probably for the rest of the trip.
Lisa and David boarded the Coho the next day for the trip back to Port Angeles. The day after that, Melissa and Dave rented a car and went to the Butchart Gardens and toured three wineries. Our favorite was Neighbourly Wine Company that Melissa carefully planned for last. Finally, we stopped and got some of our favorite dairy-free ice cream before returning to the boat.
