TODD INLET - BUTCHART GARDENS

Sunrise, Nanaimo

Another early morning to catch the tide. We left Nanaimo at 5:30 so we could get to Dodd Narrows around the slack ebb at 6:39. It was kind of like a parade leaving the anchorage - several boats had the same idea and left around the same time. We got to Dodd Narrows close to 20 minutes early and some boats just hung out, waiting for slack, while others just charged on through. We charged on through and it was pretty underwhelming. We’ve had a lot more current in a lot more places on this trip.

On our trip up, heading north from the Gulf Islands, Dodd Narrows was the first passage where we had to time the tides, and we were quite proud of ourselves for having made it without mishap. Now it’s pretty much old hat. Later in the day, today, we had to go through Sansum Narrows, and we arrived just at the maximum current flow. Oh well, no sense waiting for slack tide. We went on through and, again, no big deal. Sure, there were some whirlpools, some upwellings and an overfall, but they’re all part of the game, now, and we’ve gotten used to handling them.

Since we left Nanaimo so early, we made it to Todd Inlet around noon. This inlet is the “back door” to Butchart Gardens and has a few moorings which can be used by Garden visitors for free. They are in a narrow cove, and you have to tie the stern of your boat to rings set into the rocks for that purpose to keep the boat from swinging into the channel. We have moored here before, but probably at least 25 years ago. I remember, vividly, that it was a place very few people knew about - isolated, quiet, out of the way - but that’s not what it is like now. Once we got to the inlet, I recognized it, but the bay outside of the cove is crowded with moored and anchored boats, there are two marinas there and the shores are covered with condominiums.

Before we got to the inlet, I had thought about the logistics of picking up the mooring ball and setting a stern line to shore. Let’s just say it didn’t quite work out as planned. We did get secured to the mooring ball and we did get a stern line to shore, but in the midst of all of this, the dinghy managed to wander away from the boat. As much as I yelled, and pleaded, for it to come back, it wouldn’t, so there was only one way to recover it. The water wasn’t actually quite as cold as I had anticipated, but it was cold...

The last time we were here, I remember going into the garden through this back door without paying. That is no longer possible, and the prices are pretty incredible - almost $80 for the two of us. It is a beautiful garden, but it has become a “Disneyland” - like tourist attraction with crowds of people, souvenir shops, galleries, ice cream stands, hot dog stands, coffee bars, restaurants and even live stage entertainment and fireworks shows at night. Not quite what I remember. The little cove we are in has routine bay tour boats going in and out, as well as large tour boats bringing passengers from Victoria, and they warn to keep the waterway and dock clear for floatplanes.

I feel like an old curmudgeon, “It didn’t used to be this way…”