Through a family friend, I was told about a photography cruise being put on by a local charter company - Due West Charters.  While I love the water and the Gulf Islands, I wasn't sure about the trip.  My fears were quickly put to rest.  We arrived early (wanted to catch the tide out of the Fraser) to the ship which was docked on Annacis Island.  The ship used to be a side trawler is mostly steel (ouch on the shins).

The trip started with a cruise down the Fraser River.  You really don't have a sense of how busy the river is until you see it at eye level.  One ship I really took notice of was a car transport.  This ship travels back and forth between Asia and North America shuttling cars.  The ship didn't look so good, but the consumer good coming out were pristine.
 
 

But the Fraser also borders on wildlife areas so it wasn't surprising to see Bald Eagles flying around.  Of course the ship can't get the close to land (it's a river delta so there is a lot of shallow water), but it's nice to know Bald Eagles are around.

As for wild life, the real treat was when reached the mouth of the Fraser and the break water called the Sand Heads.  On the rocks was a loud Sea Lion colony.

The rocks end with the Sandheads Lighthouse.   I'm told this light house has been around since 1884 which is pretty old for Vancouver standards.

After leaving the Fraser, we headed out across the straight to the Gulf Islands.  We entered the Gulf Islands at the Belle Chain Islets, a long row of islands of the coast of Samuel Island - between Mayne and Saturna.  These islands are just above sea level and I can imagine the waters around would have lots of great places for fish to hide.  The chain started with seals lying on the rocks and ended with another colony of Sea Lions.

After the Belle Chain Islets, the boat sailed up to Reef Harbour, between Tumbo and Island and Cabbage Island.  Because the boat is pretty big (>66 feet), and so heavy, it has to lay anchor in a large harbor. Cabbage Island is a marine park so the island is in pretty pristine state.

We took the Zodiak in and took a walk around the shore line.  The island is composed of the soft sandstone you see so often in the Gulf Islands.  Peter pointed our a shell midden, apparently a place where natives in the past would leave their shells.  As we walked around the island we looked in on various tide pools.

Where the shore met the island there are grassy fields with flowers.

Having circumnavigating the island we returned to the boat.

After a short time on the boat, we got back in the Zodiak and headed for Tumbo Island.  Tumbo is the larger island of the two and we only walked around a small part of the north end.  Tumbo is taller so there is more of forest on the island.

We returned to ship for a great dinner and watched the sun set.  That evening we reminisced about knowing which stars formed which constellations.

The next morning we traveled to Saturna Island.  Saturna Island is the last of the BC Ferries serviced Gulf Island I had yet to visit, so standing on shore was somewhat a victory for me.  We parked the boat in Narvaez bay on the eastern side of the island and took the zodiak into shore.  We landed at the site of an old (and now abandoned homestead) with large fields and great access to small bay.  The shore was composed of pebbles, many of them colorful so we stopped and collected for a while.

From here we traveled back to Pender Island looking for Dals Porpoises.  These porpoises are some of the fastest marine mammals out there (probably have to be to avoid being Orca lunch) and they like to ride the bow waves of fast moving ships.  Unfortunately, we didn't see any (for more than a few seconds).  After crossing back into Canada, we arrived in Bedwell Harbour on South Pender Island.  After a short hike around on the island, we went back to the ship for dinner.

The next morning we awoke in Montegue Harbor!  Jan had woken up well before us and drove the boat into the beautiful harbour on Galiano Island.  (The trip probably lasted a few hours - of course I was sleeping).  After breakfast we boarded Kayaks and the Zodiak and went into shore.

There is a marine park (and campground) at Montegue Harbour, and the walk around the peninsula is beautiful.  We landed on a great shell beach and kept the Ocean over our shoulder for the whole walk.

As we walked around the Island, Peter was nice enough to point out local wildlife highlights, scenic vistas and other reasons to take our time.  Where the peninsula is most narrow there is a saltwater marsh that fills and empties with the tidal cycles.  We skipped across the outflow to complete our hike.

And then all to soon, it was time to go home!  We got back on the ship (It was finally my turn to make lunch - Pizza) and headed back for Vancouver.  The long trip (it took about 5 hours) is like going through a compression chamber - first the isolation of crossing the straight, followed by the increasing inclusion of man made city artifacts.  Eventually we make our way to dock and we make promises to see everyone again.