“Falling” Around South Van Isle - Part 6

On day five (Oct. 9th) of Jomo’s Autumn whirl-wind work and relax tour of South Van and the Gulf Islands, the decent south began.  Kids and dogs were waiting for us back home.  We planned to depart Thetis Island after Erika’s last meeting of the day.  Not unlike hotels, marinas have checkout times, usually 11a.m.  Erika’s last meeting didn’t end until 2pm so she walked up to the cafe/marina office and asked if a late checkout was okay.  The manager giggled at the question, “take your time”, she said genuinely, noting that we were the only guests in the marina and therefore “it wasn’t a problem in the least.”  Did I mention early Fall is a great time to go cruising?  We would have the same quiet and quaint experience in Maple Bay, our next destination.  
Sunny skies and gentle tail winds made for a very relaxed and scenic sail thru Stuart Channel and, eventually, into the fjord of Sansum Narrows (pictured).  Fourteen nautical miles and three hours later we arrived at the entrance to Bird’s Eye cove, an inlet off Maple Bay and home to the marina and it’s adjacent seaside community.   After striking our sails, we motored down the slender inlet and into our assigned slip.
Later, we counted over 20 empty guest slips, we were all alone, again (pictured).  October 1st marked the shoulder season for the marina and the reduction in the daily moorage rates.  The savings happily went towards dinner at a nice restaurant located at the end of our dock.  One more reason why “Falling” around South Van Isle is a good idea.