The EYC boats rafted together in the bay but we rafted our own four boats together so that we can easily slip out in the morning when we are ready. We dropped three anchors in one direction, and then Bob and I dropped ours in the opposite direction. We got good strong holds and even though many boats drifted around, we stayed firmly placed all night.
Wikipedia describes Galiano Island as having a large variety of animals and plants. In a major flight path for migrating birds, Galiano has hundreds of bird species. Commonly sighted are eagles, herons and cormorants. Off its shores are resident orca whales, seals, otters, sea lions and many varieties of sea life. Montague Harbor Marine Provincial Park is one of the most popular parks in the Gulf Islands. It is unique for its Shell Beach, which is a west-facing beach with worn shells covering the whole expanse of the beach instead of sand. For thousands of years, it was the location of a midden used by Coast Salish people. Montague Harbor is popular with the recreational boating community; the harbor is often crowded with yachts and sailboats during the warmer months of June, July, and August.
The Park's mooring buoys are in limited supply and cannot be reserved, but the harbor is well sheltered if one chooses to anchor. A marina with moorage, gas dock, several small stores, and a cafe (summer only) is located at the southern end of the harbor. A public dock is near the marina.
We spent our afternoon trying out our new kayaks and relaxing on the boat. Apparently we are all readers and found several of us were reading the Jack Reacher series and had just finished books that others had found interesting. What a great group to travel with! I'm looking forward to all of our destinations and time together with friends.
This evening we had dinner with the EYC folks at the Sea Blush Café. It was a great little café with wonderful food and lots of character. The gift shop was a great way to pass the time for the ladies while we waited for our food to arrive. After dinner, we got in our dinghies and ran out of the bay and around the corner to Shell Beach. The beach is a midden, a gradually formed rubbish pile made up largely of shell refuse disposed of by the local Native Americans. These photos shows the view from Shell Beach of the harbor we are anchored in and a close up of the beach made up of broken shells.
We spent about an hour at Shell Beach and watched the beautiful sunset. We took a lot of pictures but the view was constantly changing and offered so many beautiful shots. Here are a few we captured as the sun was setting.
When we returned to our boats we were greeted with a beautiful and serene setting that deserved another picture to capture the moment.
Beautiful photos! Some of those sunset photos look just like ours from when we stayed on Reid Island. Would love to go back again!
ReplyDeleteLarry & Ann