Celebrating on the Islands!

Last week we decided to have our son's birthday a little earlier than usual, so within a week we planned and hosted his party.  We found planning it within a short time was very liberating and forced us to be a bit more creative.  This year the kids were old enough to help us paint signs on pieces of driftwood we collected from the beach.  We silk screened a few shirts (that we picked up at the GIRO) with our "outback tour koala logo" and got busy turning a little "reef" in front of McConvey Road on Gabriola into the Australian outback.   You can walk to this beautiful stretch of sand when the tide is low from the Descanso Bay Campground picnic area, or take a kayak or raft in high tide. This is a beautiful place that feels like a deserted island, we've all decided it's one of our favourite spots on Gabriola. (Submitted by Tina Lynch)

Sailing the seas around Gabriola Island

As someone that spent their time growing up on the Island, I've always had a strong connection to the ocean. Although, I've mainly enjoyed it from the shorelines, we would often use dinghy's, kayaks and boats to go "exploring". With a husband that is a fisherman, we then got into power boating and have done lots of fishing and prawning in the local waters.

My dad recently bought a 16 foot Nordica sailboat from a friend, which I thought would be great in the summer, the only problem is that I didn't have the slightest knowledge about "sailing". 4 girlfriends and myself decided we should find out more, so we hired a sailing instructor from Gabriola. We’re busy working our way through the reading material (Basic Cruising Skills) and set out for a day at sea this past Sunday. We left Degnen Bay at about 12 and sailed into the Nanaimo Harbour at about 4:30, under the direction of our patient instructor Oliver. Tonight it's a bit of theory work, then we have another 4 days of afloat sailing instruction.

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.