Waking up in Reid Harbor was that of a dream. The sky was painted pink and yellow watercolors, something you would struggle to recreate even with years of experience. The calm waters greeted us as we pulled up our anchors with ease, and one by one we idled on to our most important step on this trip to truly begin our journey through Desolation Sound.

With that, today’s first leg was short-lived, but very effective in the way that our stop at Van Isle Marina was so successful! We searched for birds and marine life in the fog, but really our watch was dedicated to looking out for a clear passage for the fleet. We spent a few hours clearing customs, but we did so with very few hiccups given we had 10 boats and a varying number of crew aboard each.

To assist with a consistent flow, the crew of Deception, the lead boat, stayed on the dock once they cleared through to catch lines. We were able to focus on manual tasks allowing each skipper and their own crew to focus on clearing on through.

Our final float to Ganges was a bit of a wet one, yet it didn’t seem to wipe any smiles off our faces. We docked into the marina with grace and quickly settled in. The fleet is finding its groove in both traversing and living aboard their respective vessels and it has been a great sight to watch everyone keep the momentum in learning and growing accustomed to their new homes for the next two weeks.

The scenery in Ganges was breathtaking and the ability to provision before we head out into our next destinations was an important focal point of the night.

Once our to-do lists were taken care of, a handful of the crew sat down for a very cozy dinner in town, enjoying the fall weather in a new space.

Ganges gave us more of a taste of our classic PNW weather but in the grand scheme of things it wouldn’t be so breathtaking here if there wasn’t so much drizzle.

P.S. Is Desolation Sound on your bucket list? We can take you there! Reserve your spot on our 2022 Desolation Sound Flotilla today.