Ready, set, go SAIL !

There are lots of great activities and camps for kids of all ages to attend on Gabriola.  This week, my kids are attending the "sailing camp".  The instructor Tom Bradbrooke is great with children and is teaching them about points of sail, knots, safety and how to tack and gybe.  My 8yr old daughter and a new friend have been busy sailing across Silva Bay on their own.  I'm really impressed with what they've been taught and the weeks not even over yet!
If you live on the Island or if your planning a trip, you may want to look at some of the camps that the Gabriola Recreation Society offers.  (Submitted by Tina Lynch)

Ever wanted to Sail around Gabriola

True sailing is a new business to Gabririola Island, serving and catering to visitors.

"For many reasons, we are blessed, fortunate to have discovered Gabriola Island, the people, the wild life, the wild turkey's, the deer and the robins, the ducks and the geese, witness the free spirit of the eagles as they soar over head sailing in the wind. Not far from this setting, is the shore and the sea, where my own spirit is set free, where my passion can not be contained, where my horizons are limitless and my dreams infinite, yet I am not dreaming, I am sailing aboard Samatas, the most perfect boat in the world, in the most perfect bay, in the place I call home, Gabriola Island BC Canada.

Henceforth,our hope and desire is, to share, this passion, this ability, this effortless interaction of wind, man, and vessel, to teach, compliment, gratify, and satisfy, and above all provide a day of TrueSailing"
Truesailing to all, Michael E Zane

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.

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.