MacGregorSailors.com

Duane and fellow MYVBC members....thanks for all your efforts. Please let me know if there is any work that I can do. You are pouring a lot of effort into this great trip.

Maybe some day you will all come down to the southern Cal area for a cruise to catalina and San Diego and south to mexico.

The MYC of BC is having their AGM this coming Friday at the incoming Commodore's home.
After we confirm our new officers for the upcoming season we will have two primary orders of business. The first will be the CanAm flotilla and the second will be our particapation in the Vancouver Boat Show coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Our incoming Cruise Director, Terry of Kermie, who has been participating in this discussion here and on our own website (www.mycbc.ca/members), will be our 'man' handling local arrangements I would think.

In terms of making bookings at the key marinas, we (Terry) can make some tentative inquiries but until we get some clear head counts final arrangements will likely have to wait.

We probably need to block out Ganges right now. Meaning right after our meeting Friday.

I have a reservations about Conover Cove as a primary destination. It is too tiny to accomodate a large group even if several boats move to princess bay just north. The island is a great place well worth a visit but most boats in a largish group like this are probably going to have to consider an alternative.

Montague is huge and can accomodate a group or nearly any size and any preference (anchoring, mooring bouy, park docks, or marina docks).

I proposed route B as an alternative to allow smaller groups of boats to explore more places not as a replacement. However it has now become THE primary route. That is OK but under these circumstances (ie large group) Montague should replace Conover as THE set destination of the night.

Ganges to Montague is a short hop so boats could easily do exploring of the islands and passes in the area before settling into the harbour for the evening.

Eric
Seaworthy 26X, MYCBC

Sounds fine to me if we want to mark Montague as the official stop, although I think personally we will skip that stop and try for Conover as it is a much more interesting place to explore. Or we could leave it at Conover and have Montague for overflow if it get's to crowded at Conover and Princess. With our boats it is less than 30 minutes to Montague from Conover. There also looked to be some other choices between the two along the islands NW of Montague when we passed by there last summer, depending of course on wind direction. I don't think we'll have difficulty finding a place for folks to anchor in that general area.

I would guess Terry could make arrangements in Ganges without too many specifics at this point. I'd suggest that he make a bulk reservation for 30 - 26' boats. When I did our group reservations the year before last that was good enough for the early call. As we got closer the marinas wanted more specifics such as exact counts, names, and boat names so they could do slip assignments. Blakely had everyone assigned to an exact slip ahead of time, Roche Harbor just wanted a good number and placed people in blocks as the arrived. Blakely wanted everyone to call them and make a credit card deposit, Roche just collected when we showed up. Be sure to have him request party facilities. Blakely had their party cabana which we used at no charge and Roche had their party barge which was also free including the big gas grills.

Looking at the marinas in Ganges I would priorotize them in this order, What are your recommendations?

1 - Ganges Marina
2 - Ganges Centenial Wharf (do they even do reservations at these govenment docks?)
3 - Salt Spring Marina

I also see the Harbor Authority Public dock and Kanaka Public Visitors Dock but these look limited in facilities.

I just sent an e- mail to Ganges Marina for an info request for reservations tentatively sheduled or July 23&24 or 29 & 30 and will await their reply. They are at:
http://www.gangesmarina.com/home.html
Duane, I did not see an e-mail address for you under yor profile so I could not cc you, sorry. I did cc eworthy and our incomming commodore.
I looked at the website for Satspring marina,
http://www.mobyspub.com/
No wonder it was third down the list for Duane, judging by the website it does not look as inviting, besides there is MoneyMakers Rock that many boats still manage to find every year despite that it is marked with a buoy. I hope to have reservations confirmed shortly.

Salt Spring Marina while larger, is the furthest walk from town. I do read that it has a really good bakery that might be worth a dinghy trip in the morning.

That one looks fine to me, but I'm probably going to launch on the 16th July and haul out the 6th Aug (or maybe the 7th) This will give me a few days to sail around a few other places I want to check out. I'm planing on lauching from Sunset, does anyone have any info on quirks about there?

I was talking to a friend of mine in S. Cal. who has a custom shirt business and he is going to make me some shirts for the event. He did the ones for me and my friends when we went to Florida in 2003. They are nice short sleeve polo's with a two button neck. I'm thinking of a logo that says "MACGREGOR CANAM" above, "2005" below and a sailboat in between. ( hopefully something that bears a resemblence to a Mac) and my boat name on the sleeve. I'm not trying to sell these and make anything but would anyone else be intrested in shirts? If so, email me and I'll get the info to you as far as colors and sizes available

How about a large MacGregor 26x/26m boat as the main graphic and the Can_AM 2005 logo at the centre of the maisail with perhaps an Anerican and Canadian flag side by side above or below the logo. This was my wifes suggestion, I wouldn't want to be seen as stealing anothers' idea.

I'm not sure what launch you mean by Sunset? Can you give me more details on where it is located. I've got a book with every launch in the sound and have used many of them.

Great idea on the shirts...I am in....wife's usually got the great ideas and a good color sense too!

I'm showing a public ramp by Sunset Beach between Shannon Pt. and Green Point, to the west of Ship Harbor. I take it this is part of Washington Park.

As to the sailboat idea, I'll look around their site and see if one is available. I tend to go with simple/stock items since they are less expensive.

Yes, the location you describe is Washington Park. It is the most frequently used launch for the San Juans. It is a OK launch, good down to about 2' of water. Tides below that it can't be used. It is exposed to the Strait and can be rough. Parking is reasonable, though a bit limited. The info I have says there are 100 trailer spots. I'm not sure what the rate is this year, last I checked it was $5 a day. It's a gravel lot, not secure, and not monitored to my knowledge. Sometimes people park in the adjoining neighborhoods.

Certainly using one of the sling launches in Anacortes you could get more secure parking. Likewise for where we launched 2 years ago for the rendezvous at Cornet Bay inside Deception Pass. While it is still a park, the launch and parking are right next to the trailer site the summer resident park host uses so it is watched a bit better.

Another choice I'm told is quite good is the county launch just under the twin bridges crossing the Swinomish channel on the road into Anacortes.

[see below sorry trying to post this pic

http://www.angelfire.com/hiphop2/letsdance/canam

here is my idea for a logo..

Duane,

I prefer the earlier week, and the route you have listed works good for me. Please note that I'm still not 100% certain I'll be on the trip. I'd say right now the probability is around 85%. Still a bit of wife convincing to do. She'll come around, and we will probably make the trip. She just needs a bit of time to get comfortable with the idea. I can tell, she really wants to go, but there are some concerns (She's a worrier). I just need to get her to tell me what she's worried about, and then find out how to reassure her.

--Mark

I'm also interested in the shirts. Please let me know when you get ready to make this. I'll probably order four, so please put me on the list.