Post Chatterbox Notes

A couple more things about our AT Rendezvous & Chatterbox Falls trip…

Friday Harbor

Earlier in May, near the beginning of our AT Rendezvous/Chatterbox Falls trip, we spent almost a week in Friday Harbor. Kit picked us up and we spent several days with her, plus Melissa (Nick’s other sister) and Bob (Melissa’s guy), who arrived by ferry. Crab dinner was excellent!

We had a great week at Kit’s Pear Point Road house, made a couple of side trips out to various places, and collected a lot of beach glass. We had some nice sunny days, some wind and rain, and Orca whales went by twice! On Cinco de Mayo I made margaritas and chili rellenos for a Mexican feast!

Things Learned at Poet’s Cove

We all left Friday Harbor Saturday May 6th, with ToG heading to Poet’s Cove to clear customs and spend our first night in Canada.

When we pulled in to Bedwell Harbor (Poet’s Cove), several interesting things happened. While underway, Nick called the marina to secure a reservation. The guy who answered said he hadn’t logged in yet and would call back. Nick finally connected with him and he said he would email the details. No email arrived.

In the meantime, we pulled into the customs dock, where in the past we have easily completed the process via phone. This time, Nick was told we would be boarded. He came back to the boat to let me know, and we waited a couple of minutes for the custom officers. Nick told me I would need to be off the boat. When they arrived, Nick was told that he should have returned to the boat and asked me to disembark, and not gone back on board himself. Okay, misunderstanding. They asked where the booze was. We told them. A couple of minutes later they came off the boat and told us that we had more than we should. (Yep, after meeting up with family, and in preparation for four more weeks out, we had plenty.) One of the officers said he could tell the minute Nick answered the questions about booze that he wasn’t disclosing everything. (It sounded to me like Nick did a pretty good job – he tried to be honest but actually forgot a few things.) The officer then told us that they don’t usually care as long as people are honest. It sounded to me that even though they didn’t really believe Nick, they liked that we told them exactly where to find it. They also told us that it’s all about Canada wanting us to buy our alcohol in Canada, and not based on concerns that we are going to sell it. Hmm. (Is this customs and border policy or Canadian marketing?)

We also told the customs officers that we would most likely be at the customs dock a while longer, as we were having trouble getting a slip assignment. They told us the marina would respond to a hail at 1066. (They weren’t.)

While Nick was initially up at the customs house, I called the resort office to ask about the email that was supposed to have come. I figured she had Nick’s email address incorrectly spelled but she wasn’t really listening when I tried to correct her. She said she’d resend. Still no email.

The woman from the main office called me back because her last attempted emailed bounced back. We finally got that straightened out – she indeed had it in the system incorrectly. (She offered no mention of a slip assignment.) I had her put my address in her system as well, so then we got two emails. No slip assignment, rather instructions to hail 1066, which we did. Several times, no answer.

Nick finally called the main office back and was told that the marina office is still closed for the season and no one is responding to radio calls. The person he spoke to was able to give us our slip assignment.

Good grief.

P.S. Friends told us later they were told at Poet’s Cove that new officers are being trained and they are boarding all boats. Another hmmm….

Salt Spring Marina

We went from Poet’s Cove to Ganges on Salt Spring Island. We’ve been to Ganges a few times and have stayed at the Ganges Marina. It’s been okay, but we thought we’d try the next-door neighbor, Salt Spring Marina for comparison. The docks always looked a little nicer…and it’s closer to Moby’s Pub!

The docks are nicer, however, it’s about 10 additional minutes to walk into town. No big deal, but on a hot day with groceries, a better option would be to take the dinghy. There is also a fairly junky boat yard you have to walk through. Not a deal breaker but they certainly could spruce the place up a little.

Dinner at Moby’s was really good…again.