Sunday, September 21
By the time Walt and I climbed into Coracle with a shopping bag and a wine bag at about 9:30 am, the gentle rain that had lulled us to sleep on Saturday night had been chased over the hills by shimmering light-shafts shot by a beaming sun-warrior. Our trip from Braesail to the dinghy dock was much smoother and drier than Saturday’s journey had been, and the dock had a number of spaces available. We clambered out of Coracle, and as Walt was bending over to tie the dinghy to the dock’s rail, his smartphone slipped out of his shirt’s breast pocket and headed for the water! Fortunately, he was able to snag it before it dived into “the drink,” and my instant panic dissolved! WHEW!!
It wasn’t long before we were hiking across Ganges’ town center and up a hill to All-Saints-by-the-Sea Anglican Church. The lovely building was well-filled with worshipers, music was provided by various combinations of organ, piano, trumpet, and bass viol, the singing was hearty, the sermon was good, the people were very friendly and welcoming, and we were surprised and pleased to see several people from Emmanuel Episcopal Church on Orcas Island, where Walt has served as supply clergy several times over the years (they were part of a “Hands Across the Water” program that encourages island congregations to visit one another in friendship and unity despite distance and international tensions).
After an excellent worship experience and good conversations with parishioners, Walt and I walked quite a distance on up the hill and then quite steeply down again, past tangles of blackberries and old apple trees bordering pastures and farms, to visit Salt Spring Wild Cider House. We stopped at a large grocery store on the way to snack on sausage rolls and to give my neuropathic feet a rest, and to put some food into our stomachs prior to our anticipated cider tasting. At the cider house and restaurant, we sampled a “flight” of 10 fine craft ciders, all of which were made from the wonderful heritage apples grown on the Saltspring Island, and we bought lunch as well to eat outdoors at a table overlooking an orchard on a gorgeous Autumnal Equinox afternoon!
We selected three of the unusual and refreshing ciders to purchase, and decided to travel back up the hill and some distance further to the Kutatás Winery by taxi. While waiting for the cab that Walt had called (it was taking a very long time to arrive!), two gentlemen who remembered seeing us at church in the morning happened to be leaving the cidery, and they stopped their truck and asked if we would like a ride to somewhere. We said we would, and they drove us the relatively short distance to our destination, for which service we thanked them most heartily!
We spent most of the rest of the afternoon relaxing at another outdoor table overlooking a vineyard shielded from birds by gauzy netting, and tasting five wonderful wines made from island grapes. We chose to buy a white, a red, and an especially delightful rosé, and then trudged with our heavy purchases down the hill and back to the grocery store where we’d picked up the sausage rolls. After making a few small purchases there, we rode a local public transit bus back to the docks where the patient Coracle awaited us, carefully loaded our ciders and wines on board, and motored back to Braesail after a marvelous “day out!”
We spent a tranquil evening doing German exercises, deleting unwanted email, and reading about Gulf Island anchorages and hot springs in Western Canada, and I wrote this post as bedtime approached. Braesail and her crew will be on the move again tomorrow after a superb weekend on Saltspring Island—what a terrific time we had!
Braesail - A grand yacht in the Salish Sea 