Gabriola. Searching the Sea.

We had the pleasure of taking a few kids out on the boat for a few hours yesterday,  within a short time frame we viewed an amazing amount of sea life.  We started our adventure by pulling the crab traps first, and we were pleased to find they liked the bait.  We then went and pulled the prawn traps and although they didn't overflow, there was enough there to please the kids.  We found an octopus in one of the prawn traps, which was an amazing sight for the kids.  We ended our trip with a little jigging, and managed to get a quillback in the boat.  The 9year old kids ended up with a nice little goodie bag of treats from the sea, and were pretty proud to be providing dinner for their families.  The shores of Gabriola are rich with fresh seafood and have an abundance of experiences waiting for you to discover! 

We Live on an Island...

It's pretty evident that someone likes boating! I know this isn't the best photo, but I just had to take it and share with you. The creativity that went into creating this is freeing and it really has to put a smile on your face when your driving, to see such a creation. On the side of the "vehicle" are tire fenders, there are planters off the porch in the back and of course every ship needs a mermaid.


Just one of the joys of living on an Island! (this was from the big island, Nanaimo)

Fishing Thrasher Rock

We had a few hours yesterday afternoon that we could spend on the boat, so we loaded up the kids and took my dad out to Thrasher Rock, near Silva Bay on Gabriola Island. The water was calm, it was hot and sunny and there were lots of boats of all sizes out on the water. We did some jigging at about 50-60 ft, and landed 3 nice size Ling Cods on the boat. I recently found this website that shows the bites and tides in a visual format, which I think makes it pretty easy for anyone to follow : tides4fishing Submitted by: Tina Lynch

Launching a sailboat on Gabriola

It took us almost a month for my husband and I find a few hours together during the day to launch our little sailboat. On Friday that timed up perfectly with slack tide. We had heard that False Narrows would be the right place to launch our Nordica sail boat, so we thought we'd give it a try. The boat launch for False Narrows is located just off of El Verano on Gabriola. The launch couldn't have gone any better, the sandy bottom and the slack made it really easy for us. When we got to the dock we worked on rigging up the mast and the shrouds, not a bad job for our first time, but we'll have our neighbour come and have a look before we set sail. There are a few options for launching a boat on Gabriola, there is a place at the end of Gray Road (Degnen Bay), a small boat launch at Twin Beaches (Gabriola Sands), and you can also arrange it at Silva Bay for a small fee. With all the outer islands in such close proximity, Gabriola is the perfect place to begin your explorations at sea.

Launching into fun from Gabriola

If you live on an Island, you likely have some love/appreciation/longing of the beautiful waters that surround you. We recently put our dad's boat in the water, and found it easy to launch from the end of Gray Road (Degnen Bay, Gabriola). There is also a place to launch your boat from Narrow’s Road just off of Elverano. The best time to launch is definitely high tide, and there are many places to explore around Gabriola, including Valdez, Ruxton, Mudge and Decourcy. With sun in the forecast everyday during the next 14 day period, you definitely want to consider being close to the beach. I've created a google map to show places on Gabriola to set your boat or kayak, if there are any others that you know of please let me know and I'll add them too.

Boating adventure from Gabriola Island

We were lucky to have our friends lend us their Zodiac this summer. On Sunday night, we decided to cook dinner over a campfire. My husband, kids and myself loaded up the small Zodiac and headed to Black Berry Point on Valdez Island, it was about a 15 minute boat trip from Degnen Bay on Gabriola. Surrounded by clouds, the shells on this beach glistened in the sun. There was a beautiful fire pit already made, so we brought out the European Hot Dogs and Bannock Batter and had our best summer night yet. Inspired, we've decided to head there again tonight with some new Islanders - hope they like small boats and outdoor cooking.