Van Isle Marina|Genoa Bay|Maple Bay

I mentioned in my last post that Van Isle marina is awesome. I say that because it may be the best run marina we've ever visited. It's family run and offers a high level of personal service. Someone was at our slip to greet us, not unusual, but also tied up the boat and offered to plug in our power cord. They were also there when we left, untying our boat so we didn't have to lift a finger. It's also quite large. You know you're in a big marina when your slip number is 818.

Probably the slickest fuel dock we've ever seen:

This marina is technically in Sidney but we've always stayed at the Port Sidney Marina. Van Isle is a little north of town in Tsehum Harbor. Another thing that makes this area so awesome is the pure number of marinas, boats, and boat-related services. Marine stores, yacht services, sail-making, carpet and upholstery shops - just about everything you can think of related to boating. I lost count of the number of marinas that are tucked into the nooks and crannies of Tsehum Harbor. And a really beautiful area in general, both the harbor and surrounding neighborhoods we walked through to get to downtown.

We left Sidney for Cowichan Bay yesterday, meeting up with Coorie Doon at the Genoa Bay Marina, another new destination for us. Nice little marina, very quiet. We took a short-ish but difficult hike this morning around for a view of Cowichan Bay.

Ivy-leaved cyclamen growing all by its lonesome in the middle of nowhere:

Views of Cowichan:

A little whimsey in a tree along the path:

Nick enjoying the view:

Janine, Nick, & Steve with Gus:

Steve, Jeanie, Janine, & Nick:

Both boats made the short trip this morning from Genoa to Maple Bay...very smooth cruising on another beautiful day (after a few sprinkles).