Spring on the west coast

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After returning from La Paz, Mexico, Leslie and I made a brief stop in Golden followed by a brief stop in Vernon to repack suitcases with foul weather sailing gear before heading to Sidney for 2 weeks of sailing on the west coast; a week sailing around Salt Spring in the Canadian Gulf Islands followed by one week in the San Juans Islands, USA.

Ladysmith and Butchart gardens were highlights in the Gulf Islands.

The Ladysmith Maritime Society marina is home to the largest Purple Martin colony in BC. After spending the winter in Brazil, the Blue Martins had returned to Ladysmith for the season. Purple Martins were first observed nesting there in 1989. Several nest boxes were installed in 1990. By 2002, there were 75 nest boxes and 35 pairs nested that summer and produced 70 offspring. By 2018, there were 100 boxes in the marina pilings and 75 pairs produced 178 young.

Butchart Gardens have 4 mooring ball in Butchart Cove which we used to gain access to the gardens. It is too early for most of the flowers, but over 60,000 tulips planted throughout the gardens made the visit well worth the price of admission.

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Photos

Foul weather gear
The weather was sunny, but cool

Blue Martins
..return to Ladysmith marina to nest

Butchart Cove
Stern tied on a mooring buoy

Tulips
A few of the 60,000 bulbs

Tulips
Counting the tulips