This has been a cruise rich in memories, one that makes nostalgia almost a daily partner. That’s because we’re saying farewell and good luck to some of the finest people -- the dedicated proprietors of a couple of small, popular marinas that cater to cruisers following the Inside Passage through the Broughton archipelago in British Columbia.
Tom and Ann Taylor are celebrating their 25th season at Greenway Sound Marina on Broughton Island. After the economic disaster of 2008 (diesel fuel was $5.35+ in B.C. and boaters stayed home), they returned this year with optimism. They planned to reopen their small restaurant that was closed last year and have hired a pair of chefs to prepare lunch and dinner, as Ann did for years before health issues sidelined her. They’ll again have dock hands on staff to help boaters with lines. It should be just like the good years when cruisers took up every inch of the 2,200 feet of side-tie docks and the restaurant filled several sittings every evening – sometimes with guests who flew in to enjoy Ann’s cooking. They acknowledge it also will be their last year at Greenway.
(I learned later in the season that the Taylors’ restaurant plans collapsed when the galley staff asked for wages they could not pay. Another bit of bad luck for Tom and Ann, who with good cheer have endured the feast/famine routine of the resort marina business and who often return to Greenway in late spring to discover that winter storms had damaged buildings and floats. They repaired and rebuilt, often with the help of visiting boaters, and greeted guests with warmth and full service.)
Bill and Jean Barber, who’ve been operating Lagoon Cove Marina on East Cracroft Island for nearly 20 years want to retire (it will be his second retirement; the first was from the advertising business) and have hired a Vancouver, B.C., broker to find a buyer. This place is known for Bill’s congeniality, his tall tales about bears, for his amazing ability to squeeze yet another boat into a tight moorage and for his daily harvest of prawns that are served every day at 5 o’clock at a BYOB affair for boaters.
But, it may their last season. Bill is in his early 70s and Jean has persuaded him that it’s time to retire once more on his own terms.
I can’t imagine either place without them.
But as they prepare to leave, I am captivated by people who think catering to boaters in the wilds of B.C. will be fun and – who knows – possibly profitable. Meet George and Gail Cambridge, Saskatchewan residents who this year opened a small destination marina at the head of Port Harvey in East Cracroft Island. It’s tucked in behind Range Island next to an estuary that frequently is visited by bears – both black and brown – as well as by eagles. Lagoon Cove Marina is just over a range of hills from Port Harvey, but it’s about 14 miles by boat from one to the other.
The Cambridges bought an old fisheries barge, hauled it to the head of the harbor and remodeled its building to provide space for a grocery store, a bakery, a pub and a laundry. They have one long dock for guests and are planning a second. Their home is above the beach and there are trails that wind through old growth forest. Just remember that bears live there. George will lend pepper spray to aspiring hikers.
The Cambridges obviously know about the value of location. Their fledging marina is just off Johnstone Strait, which can be inhospitable to boaters. Their marina is the perfect spot to wait for better weather.
Ellen and I took Quadra into Greenway Sound Marina at the end of May, before the Taylors’ scheduled opening. I’ve known them for most of the 25 years, I see Tom at the Seattle Boat Show each January, where he helps manage events, and – not the least – they also live in Anacortes. Tom joins a group of duffer-boaters in town for lunch occasionally during the winter. Their welcome was warm as we handed off mooring lines.
The marina is closed in the winter and Tom disconnects electrical wiring from dock power pedestals for storage inside for the winter. Ross, another friend and volunteer, was helping install them on the east float, where we were moored. The Taylors’ hallmark red carpet was littered with mussel shells – thanks to untidy river otters and birds – so Ellen and I grabbed a couple of brooms and swept it clean.
Tom and Ann have been trying to sell the marina for a couple of years, but no one has come looking for a quarter-century-old marina in an area that has lost some of its early luster because fishing has faded and the costs of cruising have soared. Lagoon Cove Marina has shore facilities and a home above the marina, but Greenway Sound Marina is strictly an operation on floats.
We also stopped at Lagoon Cove Marina, where we found a half dozen boats at the dock. Bill was up the hill by his home, on his knees digging dandelions from Jean’s garden. She was at home in Portland, Oregon, for a few days, and I suspect she left Bill a “to-do” list. He told us of his plans to sell the marina – and perhaps to buy a boat and go cruising. Later, he carried a huge pan of prawns to the afternoon party on the dock.
Neither marina is supported by public systems. They generate electricity with a bank of generators and power is expensive - $15 a day at Lagoon Cove and $20 at Greenway Sound. Water comes from small lakes and streams above each marina and last winter falling trees caused extensive damage to the pipe line serving Greenway Sound Marina.
Lagoon Cove is open all year. Bill and Jean go home to Portland or relax in Mexico while a caretaker couple watches and cares for the place and sells fuel to loggers, fishermen and fish farm operators. Greenway Sound is closed in the winter, and the Taylors spend the winter in Anacortes, where Tom began writing an anecdote-rich book about development and operation off their marina. Prawn fishermen use the docks in the spring and, this year, helped repair the damaged water line. For two years, winter storms have caused extensive damage to marina mooring floats.
These folks prove that doing what you love is not always easy. Nor is it the way to become independently wealthy.
Tom and Ann, Bill and Jean: Good luck in your next adventures and thank you for years of great hospitality.