It is Liberte, Lulu’s, and my seventh season cruising together and every summer’s cruise has had its unique specialness: highlights, faux paws, mechanical nightmares, and magic.

Before I left for my longest and farthest cruise to date, I asked my South Sound Sailor friends for their favorite places in the Gulf Islands. Montague Harbor was mentioned by most as was Ganges on market day. Today as I spend my last night in BC and am about to head south back into the USA, I realized that I now have my own favorites though each place has its own unique energy and now memories. Especially the Islands.

As I walked the trails of Russell Island in awe of the vista at every turn, the darkness of the forest and the story of its settlement, I reflected on how every island has its own magic. The orchards on this fair island reminded me of the apples on Hope Island in our own backyard where the deer ate them out of my hand a handful of years ago.

This trip I returned to my favorite San Juan Island marine park Jones Island, the magic of its trails and vistas as special as on my first visit two years ago. Each visit has its unique magic and memories, this different than the last memorable in ways that everyday life cannot be. We arrived on the East Cove just ahead of a squall from the East with the wind building and all the buoys and anchorages taken. There was however a short spot on the north side and distal end of the dock that we grabbed. Great job with the lines, Margaret. The couple we competed for space at our brief Friday Harbor stop grabbed the other side once we were safely tired. It was a couples docking show they might have preferred not be so public.

There was already a dock community that had been built over the prior hours, days or weeks. You never know because these sorts of communities can be built instantaneously. The guys of the community, mostly power boaters and fisherman, advised me to turn Liberte around with bow rather than aft into the building winds. I told them I was not comfortable moving her in those gusts in the small cove filled with vessels. Instead a handful of the guys grabbed Liberte’s lines, jumped on her deck and turned her lickety split right there at the end of the dock!

Posted many places on the island were signs warning of raccoons. My crew convinced herself and me that those critters could not walk the dock and on to a boat and we need not worry about stowing our cantaloupe rinds in a 5-gallon bucket in the cockpit until morning when we would bring them to the trash. We awoke to those rinds and seeds scattered all over the cockpit – what a mess!

There I met the first shrimp fisherman wives cleaning a 5-gallon bucket of huge mouthwatering shrimp for dinner. That’s what those yellow floats are marking! I had no clue that such delicious sea life lived in 300 feet of water in our own Salish Sea.

Wallace Island Marine Park might be my favorite destination on the trip though now I know why my sailing buddies hesitated when I asked them the favorite question. As marine parks go, this one is yummy. The island is long and narrow with trails on east and west shores that span the entire length of the island with seals and breathtaking views at every lookout. I can’t wait to read the book written by the Conovers whose homestead still stands in the cove that bears their name. Next time I will bring a piece of driftwood decorated with Liberte’s name to hang in the unique boat name shed.

In Princess Cove we found generous help with anchoring by a friendly Canadian couple, where I will be ready next year to stern tie for the first time. The Canadians generously have placed dinghy docks on their island destinations, a much appreciated amenity with a dog and my new outboard in an inflatable. There we took our dinghy to the north entrance of the cove to join a handful of other boaters to linger and enjoy the seemingly endless sunset. On our way south, the tiny cove at the southern end big enough for a single boat to anchor hosted us for our first crabbing adventure and winds fair for the less protected but quiet spot. I will never forget Jo out there in the sunset, standing to row the dinghy and setting the crab pot. This scene I handily caught on my iPhone video for posterity.

Montague Harbor is on the island of D’Courcy where Lulu and I took in perhaps the second best sunset though there were so many special sunsets on a three week cruise they do blend together almost cause nonchalance. This large and friendly harbor has plenty of marine park buoys for $14 a night, anchorage, and trails galore of which I explored only a fraction on this trip. I must go back and take in the rest but then there are so many more islands to find and explore next time! I have heard earfuls of adoration for Jedidiah and hope to discover that for myself next year, set up for our first stern tie.

Other islands visited on this summer’s cruise included Saltspring, Ganges the delightful site to be stuck with this year’s mechanical challenges, Thetis the burgers are delicious – thank you Paul P, San Juan where Westcott Bay and English Camp are fantastic, Orcas finally did the laundry at Deer Harbor, and Whidby: Bowman Bay, Coupeville, and Langley, All taken in this summer with their many tales to tell and memories to cherish.

Hopefully other cruisers will share their special experiences and places here in these pages for all of us to enjoy and follow in their wakes.

Debra Glasser, Liberte