Hummingbird Sting

We left Nanaimo at 8:30am to catch the last of the ebbing tide south through Dodd Narrows.  As we rounded Jack Point we were exposed to the Straight of Georgia, and things got just a little sloppy.  It quickly diminished as we cruised toward the narrows with a flotilla of boats moving south toward the narrows.  As we flowed through with no issues the water got flat calm for our 27.87nm cruise to Montague Harbor on Galiano Island.  Montague is a huge bay with lots of mooring buoys and plenty of room to anchor.  We snagged one of the last mooring buoys close to land, and away from the pack.  It was a lucky find with the place packed on a hot day.

We took of in the dinghy to find a beach.  With the dinghy towing our kayak we searched for the perfect little beach to hang out for the remainder of the day.  This harbor has some of the nicest beaches in the islands.  Many of them are ancient midden beaches where the first nations people would dump all of their clamshells.  Over the years these beaches would become almost pure shells and take on a beautiful white color.  We sat in the hot sun while the kids played in the water.  Ava and Julie convinced me I needed to be decorated with seaweed.  I reluctantly agreed and a few minutes later I became “Seaweed Man”.

Galiano Island has a funky little restaurant called the Hummingbird Pub.  It’s a few miles away from the harbor but they have this old school bus that will pick you up and take you to dinner.  The bus is in pretty bad shape but the driver plays loud music and everyone sings along while traveling to the pub.  When we were here a few years ago we took the bus and it was a lot of fun.

We decided dinner tonight at the Hummingbird Pub would be great, and the kids would enjoy the bus ride.  The 5:00 pickup time came and went.  At 5:20 a blue mini van pulled up, rolled down the window and said get in.  What?  There were 3 seats left in the van and 8 people waiting to get in.  The driver said the bus had broken down and this was all they had.  He wanted everyone to squish in.  No way Julie was doing that especially with the stink flowing from inside the van.  The dog hair on the seats was so thick it was providing some serious insulating value!  The driver said he would come back and gets us, but would be another 15min before he could make it back.   Despite my better judgment I convinced Julie to stick it out.  He returned to pick us up and we all climbed into the dog kennel.   He was actually a very nice guy, telling us all about the island as we drove to the pub.

As we walked up to the front door, a guy coming out said to me “don’t have the seafood”.  I said OK and thanked him for the tip.  What a great way to start your dinner, boy was I excited for this meal!  We all figured the only safe thing on the menu was a hamburger so 4 of them came to the table.  While taking a bite of hamburger Skylar decided to try and eat the bee that landed on his burger.  The bee wouldn’t have it, and stung Skylar right on the lip!  The burgers were marginal at best and the place looked like any maintenance tasks have been put off for quite a while.  I think over the last few years the place has really gone down hill.  We caught a real bus they hired in for an uneventful ride back to the harbor.  It sure was quite the experience though.

Trip Log – 233.73nm