Firstly: I failed to note that the $101 we spent for a night’s moorage in Sidney is Canadian dollars, so about $70 U.S.

It was a bit windy Wednesday so we opted for a third night in Sidney. Still beautiful weather. We visited Fish on 5^th for lunch. Nick really enjoyed his haddock fish & chips; I mostly enjoyed my fish tacos. Slaw (very good but different in some way), LOTS of greens and deep-fried rock fish. All that was great but they don’t warm their flour tortillas, which is kind of a deal-breaker. Definitely going on our list of places to dine again.

We arrived in Ganges yesterday to find no space at Kanaka Public Wharf. Fortunately, Russ (the wharfinger) who caught sight of us coming in – on his day off – moved a couple of boats to fit us in. This time of year, many marinas have given space to over-wintering boats. That will start changing as the season progresses.

We had a nice paddle to the other side of the channel.

We’ve been constantly entertained by the busy float plane dock next door, as well as the Canadian Coast Guard. As I’ve mentioned before, we really like this dock as it’s right at the town center. The only drawback really, is the smell of aircraft fuel.

Also, as I’ve mentioned in the past, it’s fun to watch the Graduate and Scholarship boats go in and out, transporting school kids back and forth from neighboring small islands.

Ganges Harbor is one of the many places we visit with a goodly amount of “water dwellers.” People who choose to live aboard anchored boats. I’m sure some of these folks would be homeless if not for their floating abodes. Unfortunately, many of these vessels turn in to eyesores and threats to water quality. Some are abandoned and sinking. Many are covered in accumulated junk and trash. I am concerned about what they do with waste – theirs and their pets’ – we don’t see pump-out boats servicing these vessels. They can come into docks to make use of pump-out stations, but it’s pretty obvious that some of these boats haven’t moved for a very long time.

One thing I’ve noticed over time is the types of conveyance they use for getting back and forth to shore. We’ve seen some interesting solutions. Lots of these people have barely floating tiny dinghies, and use oars…not outboard motors. Or kayaks. Or anything, really, that gets the job done. Here’s a new one:

A note about our very pregnant daughter: Sierra is carrying a baby that is big enough to have been born a couple of weeks ago. So…not sure her due date of May 23 will stand fast. Mom and baby are being closely monitored and we should know more soon.