Tidings of Joy: Puttering Around Pender Harbour

Have you ever read about a place, picturing it in your mind long before ever getting there? Pender Harbour was that place for me. All winter while weathered in at Elliott Bay Marina Jeff worked on getting his captains licence and I read about British Columbia making a long list of potential places to go. Pender Harbour to me sounded like a no brainer and a must stop for us. The cruise up from Secret Cove was short only 11.5 miles with nonstop rain. As we cruised in we looked at all the different bays that make up Pender Harbour eventually making our way to Garden Bay and anchoring. We found a scow that was tied up to a makeshift floating dock and another cruiser that looked neglected and abandoned. Nevertheless we dropped the hook in front of the park with a gorgeous treelined view. As the rain continued to dump I contemplated a nice afternoon cozied up on the couch reading and enjoying the rain. But having a limited amount of time in the Harbour Jeff convinced me that we had things to do and places to explore. So we geared up - waterproof bibs, foul weather coat, Xtra-Tuf's and we set out for Grasshopper Pub one of the only restaurants we found open in the area. The guidebooks say call them for a ride when you arrived because the hill is super steep from the dingy dock. I wouldn't say that they laughed in our face when Jeff asked them but something close to. They said something like not this time of year and that the hill wasn't that bad. Well for two fat out of shape boaters that wasn't exactly the case. But somehow we managed to drag our fat asses up the hill and found the pub. I am sure we were the only boaters who dingied to this establishment because when we walked in in full weather gear soaked and dripping the entire restaurant stopped what they were doing and watched as we approached the hostess stand.

Cruising into Pender Harbour

Anchored in Garden Bay with View of Grasshopper Pub & Steep Hill

Dingy Dock

Tidings of Joy in Garden Bay

We Made It

Tidings of Joy from Pub

Grasshopper Pub

After a very mediocre lunch we once again geared up and walked down the steep hill back to the dingy and for a little cruise up gunboat passage. Gunboat is right around the corner from Garden Bay where we were anchored. It's a beautiful treelined passage which leads into an inner bay which is full of beautiful homes and a has a very secluded feel from the rest of Pender Harbour. Apparently there were no pictures taken while we cruised in the rain so I have none to share.

That's where our rain soaked dingy ride ended and we made our way back to the boat, had some more drinks, played music and enjoyed our first night in Pender Harbour.

The next day the sun came out. ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Nothing like a day or two of rain to make you appreciate the sun. We took the short (like I could swim faster to the dock then the time it took to get into the dingy and drive it over) ride over to the garden bay dingy dock to take the loop walk around the park. The walk was short and easy and perfect for a day after libations. Lunch on the boat was swift and once again we were off in the dink. This time to John Henry Marina where we were told to visit by some friends who know this area. They told us it's not to be missed. When we arrived we scratched our heads as to why. We found a place on the dock to tie up not knowing if it was okay or not but did anyway. The property I'm assuming because the time of the year was empty like you could hear a pin drop. We didn't see any other humans and felt like we were trespassing. Eventually we made it to a building that said "Office & Store" and we went in. The two workers looked a little surprised but were friendly and welcoming. We perused the shelves and bought some sweets. Afterwards we walked more uphill onto a winding road that lead us to a closed restaurant. We decided that we had probably seen it all and made our way back to the dingy. Glad it was still there we took a slow long cruise around the bay and looked at all the houses. We kept remarking to each other how much Pender felt like a lake. Most of the houses were only used in the summer and it was quiet and something about it just make us think of being on a lake in the summer. Back at the boat we had a quiet evening.

Dingy Dock at Garden Bay

Garden Bay Loop Walk

Anchored in Garden Bay

John Henry Marina

Evening Garden Bay

The third and final day at Pender Harbour and we were heading into the big city of Madeira Park via a cruise through Garren Bay to check it out. We were told this was the only town in Pender Harbour with a grocery store, restaurants, coffee shop and hardwere store. This all was true we just didn't know they would all be together in one strip center. Nonetheless we got to stretch our legs and after figuring out there is no park at Madeira Park we stopped looking for it. Apparently there is a park that is way out of town and too far for us to get to and back in one day. Jeff decided on a burger place he wanted to eat at for lunch - a food tuck that faced a soccer field which unfortunately did not have any vegan options except for french fries. As we waited for this truck to open at noon we walked around the neighborhood and discovered a wetlands with a raised walkway over it for us to traverse. After seeing the strip-mall, the wetlands and the neighborhood we had finally exhausted all of our options at Madeira Park and it was time for Jeff's burger place. He had fish cheeks and fries. While he waited the 30 minutes for them to make it I ran to the coffee shop for some Joe. After we picked up some fresh foods from the IGA and made our way back to the mothership. We raised the dink in preparations for tomorrows departure and had a relaxing afternoon and evening on the boat.