MacGregorSailors.com

Randy and others, Steve Johnson has not posted it yet but he is penciling out a 10-14 day San Juan-Gulf Island flotilla for early August 05'. Stay tuned to the event board. If you have done the San Juans, you will really like the Gulf Islands. Many people from the States that we talked with last summer said they prefer the Gulf Islands over the San Juans. The dollar is strong in Canada too. We can't wait.

I found the web site for the Gulf Islands.
www.gulfislands.net

Bt the way , my wife and I are planning a 5 day trip to Desolution Sound in mid-June 05'. We are planning to take the boat over by ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island and launch at Cambell River which is a short distance away from Desolution sound. If you got some extra time join us. Ferry costs are 2/3's less from Canada to Vancouver Island than from Washinton State.

Bob,

Thanks for the plug...waiting for some dates from my daughter who wants to go....did you say you stayed at Poets??

We stayed at Poets this summer. It was one of our least favorite marinas. They are trying to cater to the mega yacht crowd. Their docks are also some of the worst we stayed at. We'll look else where when in that area again. It's a fine place to clear customs but not worth the price of the stay.

In the same general area, on North Pender rather than South Pender we really liked Otter Bay Marina. We were also told Port Browning on the east side was very nice, but we didn't get a chance to swing by there.

If you're looking for Gulf Island spots I highly recommend the following:

Otter Bay Marina on North Pender Is.
Pirates Cove Park on DeCourcy Is.
Silva Bay Marina on Garbiola Is.
Schooner Cove Marina up north of Nanaimo at Nannose Bay along the Strait on Vancouver Island

We stayed at them all and they are high on our list.

We also made stops in:

Montague Harbor Park on Galiano Is.
Telegraph Harbor on Thetis/Kuper Is.
Ganges Harbor on Salt Spring Is.

All of these places were quite nice as well.

There are a lot of places in the Gulfs still for us to see let alone more spots in the San Juans to visit.

BK:

Thanks for the link. We're going top head up there next year and then over to Sidney for a few days. Leave from Anacortes again like we did this year.

Jesse

Poet's Cove on South Pender is where Customs is. There is alot of traffic and wash. My boat rocked at the slip until night time. Point Browning is on North Pender Island and there is a bridge that connects the 2 islands but the Mac cannot get under this bridge. We took the inflatable there for the day. It has a new 19 store shopping center a 1/4 mile away from the marina. Poet's cost about $33US as it is a new marina with a pool.
I think it would be a good location to clear customs and spend one night. We went from Poet's to Ganges for the Saturday market and that is about 2 hours away. To try to leave from Stuart, clear customs at Poet's, see Port Browning and Pender Island by inflatable and then on to Ganges would be way too much for one day.
Otter bay Marina is also nice with a pool but it is isolated with no town close.
We rented a car at Ganges and saw the Island. There is a small old hippie town at the ferry landing called Fulford. I was told that the 60's hippies from the US that were hiding from the draft lived in the Gulf Islands. Ganges is the Gulf Islands Friday Harbor with everything you will need.

So BK:

When checking in with customs, what was the procedure? Did they want to search the boat? Or was it just a question and answer thing at their office?

Jesse

As they say, anyone can leave the US, getting back in is the difficult part.
Bring good documents and it's easy. We had passports (expired but still good for the Canadian/US crossing) and birth certificates for the kids. Have your boat registration info and your boat insurance documentation.

Even though there were customs agents on site at Bedwell (this is the bay that Poets Cove marina is in and the customs docks are separate from the marina) the entire process was done on the phone. The signs direct you to a phone which you pick up and get to connected to somewhere. They ask the usual questions, names and info on all on board, name and info on the boat (this is shorter after the first time when you are in their database), questions about what you have on board, where you are going, how long you are staying, etc. As long as you give the usual answers you are fine. At the end they give you a clearance number to post in your window. They then told us no officer would be visiting us and wished us a nice day.

We cleared back into the US at Roche Harbor. They did have agents there who asked all the same info again and typed it into the US computers. They also didn't board, but the agent did walk down to the boat with me and ask my wife some of the same questions to make sure we both gave the same answers. She then handed me the clearance number and left.

BK

All the shore side facilities at Poets are new, but the docks are actually the same old junky docks that have been there for years. Some of the worst we encountered in our 23 days in the San Juans and Gulf islands. For spanking new docks check out Silva Bay Marina on Gabriola, really nice.

Thanks Duane for the info. I just don't to be boarded. We're looking forward to the sidney trip.

Jesse

There is of course no guarantee, they can choose to board and inspect at any time. They can even pay you a visit after you have cleared when you are elsewhere in Canada. In theory the number in the window is to show customs officers roaming the docks that you have cleared properly. We were in Canada for 14 days and I can't say I saw any one checking out the American boats at the marinas, but you never know. Best to just follow the rules and keep your nose out of trouble.

Be aware that the strictest rules are coming back into the US. In particular the food you can have on board is quite limited. Avoid having any fruits or vegetables bought in Canada left, also use up all that Canadian meat before you come back in. They ask about citris products, Potatoes, Chicken, Beef (mad cow), and tobacco.

Going into Canada they wanted to know about some fruit and any alcohol as well as large sums of money.

So Duane:

Does that mean they won't want you to have any beer on-board?

Jesse

Go to Jamaica mon...they won't search you there

Seriously, we drove to Canada and back last year (yea, a too long trip with 4 little kids). They did ask about meat and fruits, but they seemed more interested in whether we were smuggling children. Then when we came into the U.S. from Europe this summer, same thing...they wanted the (bigger) kids to answer questions about how old they were, where they went to school, etc.

I'll bet agents don't give sailboats too much of a hassle really...they probably aint exactly the best "smuggling boats"...

They asked, and I told them we had some beer and wine. They didn't seem to care about that. Perhaps if we had the entire aft berth full of Jacks they would have been more interested. I think they want you buy as much stuff in-country as possible.

Coming back into the US, Washington is particularly sensitive to ANY form of beef bought in Canada.

When clearing on a boat only the captain goes up to customs, the rest of the crew has to stay on board, so there were no kids there to ask questions of. Handing over the passports and birth certificates to the US customs gal seemed to address any questions about the kids. She just typed the information in and handed them back with no comments.

Coming back from Canada in the RV this past summer, the US Customs took all our frozen beef and chicken that we bought from Costco in the US. They also take canned beef.
I think the worst port is Miners Bay on Mayne Island. The wash from all the ferries passing by causes very bad rocking. We could not stay at the government docks it was so bad and just tied up to an empty bouy for a few hours. I counted 3 ferries that went by at the same time.
Jesse, I am not sure how much beer you can bring back and forth but I think a case would be too much. I would not have more than I would want to part with. Canada has good beer but only sold in approved shops. I believe Steve is putting Sidney on the flotilla stop list. Great place. Try "Fish on Fifth" restaurant which is Five blocks away from the marina. It is a very popular fish eatry. You can take the 45 minute bus to Victoria from Sidney.

Hi BK:

thanks for the info. Yes, we want to go back to Victoria, but guest moorage is very limited there, hence that's why we're going to sidney and take the bus into Victoria.