Captain Steve wrote:...here is my idea for a logo..
I like it, but I would make one change. I would reverse the colors on the "A gathering of MacGregor Sailboats". A bar of a solid color, like red or black, with the lettering being white. The solid bar puts an underline on the logo, and gives it a more "Complete" appearance.
I'm assuming you are planning to put these on white shirts. If you are planning a different shirt color, you might make sure your logo works on that color shirt.
See a post above for Polo shirts. Was thinking of a manly Tan with pastel colors available for the first mate/owners. The text color is easily changed to contrast with the background of the shirt.
Here's three plans each with a different flavor. They all have the Ganges and Stuart stops in common. The places in between vary. Places before and after are added for American boats leaving from Anacortes. Choose the most appealing to you, or mix and match as you see fit.
At most of the marinas you can expect power and water, usually fuel, and of course a dock. Some even add a pool. Many also have shopping and restaurants. Some have port-a-potty dumps, in others you will need to dump in the restrooms. In most Canadian waters you can dump over the side (yech) if you have to. Montague is the only no discharge zone in this area. There is no dumping in any US waters, but there are free shoreside dumps at almost every marina. Grey water from the sink can be discharged anywhere.
Parks may have docks, but often they are small and full. Being prepared to anchor is a must. They will not have power or water down at the boats. Most have water available on shore, some will have restrooms and maybe even showers. Many parks also have mooring bouys if you get there soon enough. Most have no garbage service. For boats our size, rafting up to 3 boats is allowed at both docks and on mooring bouys.
Loop A - 108.34 Nm A reversed and slightly revised version of the original route.
This route has the most marina stops and hence the most comforts and costs. Some would say this is the civilized tour, good for those who prefer shopping to exploring.
Thurs, July 21 - Arrive Anacortes (Rig and launch) Marina
Fri, July 22 - Leave Washington Park, Arrive Deer Harbor Marina (14.8 Nm) Jones Island could be an alternative if you want a park
Sat, July 23 - Leave Deer Harbor, Arrive Ganges Marina (25.9 Nm) (Canadian Customs at Bedwell) Party Night
Sun, July 24 - Layover Marina
Mon, July 25 - Leave Ganges, Arrive Montague Harbor Park (6.44 Nm) Otter Bay could be an alternative if you want a marina
Tue, July 26 - Leave Montague, Arrive Fulford Harbor Marina (12.4 Nm)
Wed, July 27 - Leave Fulford Harbor, Arrive Sidney Marina (7.72 Nm)
Thurs, July 28 - Leave Sidney, Arrive Roche Harbor Marina (10.1 Nm) (US Customs at Roche Harbor) Garison Bay could be an alternative if you don't want the high end marina and would prefer a park
Fri, July 29 - Leave Roche Harbor, Arrive Stuart Park (3.36 Nm)
Sat, July 30 - Layover Park Party Night
Sun, July 31 - Leave Stuart, Arrive Friday Harbor Marina (11 Nm)
Mon, Aug 01 - Leave Friday Harbor, Arrive Blakely Island Marina (8.9 Nm) Spencer Spit could be an alternative if you want a park
Tue, Aug 02 - Leave Blakely Island, Arrive Washington Park (Haul out and de-rig) (7.72 Nm)
Loop B - 145.61 Nm The counter clockwise around Saltspring loop based on EWorthy's route.
A fairly balanced mix of parks and marinas. A couple of longer 25 mile days.
Thurs, July 21 - Arrive Anacortes (Rig and launch) Marina
Fri, July 22 - Leave Washington Park, Arrive Deer Harbor Marina (14.8 Nm) Jones Island could be an alternative if you want a park
Sat, July 23 - Leave Deer Harbor, Arrive Ganges Marina (25.9 Nm) (Canadian Customs at Bedwell) Party Night
Sun, July 24 - Layover Marina
Mon, July 25 - Leave Ganges, Arrive Conover Cove Park (10.8 Nm) Montague could be an alternative
Tue, July 26 - Leave Conover, Arrive Telegraph Harbor Marina (8.05 Nm)
Wed, July 27 - Leave Telegraph Harbor, Arrive Maple Bay Marina (11.2 Nm) Genoa Bay could be an alternative
Thurs, July 28 - Leave Maple Bay, Arrive Tod Inlet Park (16.8 Nm)
Fri, July 29 - Leave Tod, Arrive Stuart Park (25.7 Nm) (US Customs at Roche Harbor)
Sat, July 30 - Layover Park Party Night
Sun, July 31 - Leave Stuart, Arrive Garrison Bay Park(English Camp) (5.46 Nm) Or Roche Harbor if you want a marina
Mon, Aug 01 - Leave Garrison Bay, Arrive Friday Harbor Marina (11.9 Nm)
Tue, Aug 02 - Leave Friday Harbor Arrive Washington Park (Haul out and de-rig) (15 Nm)
Loop C - 116.41 Nm The outer islands loop. I put this in because this is likely what we will do.
More parks, more primitive, more beauty. Great for those who would rather explore than shop. Plenty of places to wear the kids out.
Thurs, July 21 - Arrive Anacortes (Rig and launch) Marina
Fri, July 22 - Leave Washington Park, Arrive Jones Island Park (15.1 Nm) Deer Harbor if you want a marina.
Sat, July 23 - Leave Jones Island, Arrive Ganges Marina (23.8 Nm) (Canadian Customs at Bedwell) Party Night
Sun, July 24 - Layover Marina
Mon, July 25 - Leave Ganges, Arrive Conover Cove Park (10.8 Nm)
Tue, July 26 - Leave Conover, Arrive Montague Harbor Park (6.6 Nm)
Wed, July 27 - Leave Montague Harbor, Arrive Winter Bay Park (10.5 Nm)
Thurs, July 28 - Leave Winter Bay, Arrive Port Browning Marina (5.16 Nm) Poets Cove could be an alternative at Bedwell Harbor if you want a marina with a great pool
Fri, July 29 - Leave Port Browning, Arrive Stuart Park (16.3 Nm) (US Customs at Roche Harbor)
Sat, July 30 - Layover Park Party Night
Sun, July 31 - Leave Stuart, Arrive Friday Harbor Marina (11 Nm)
Mon, Aug 01 - Leave Friday Harbor, Arrive Spencer Spit Park (8.59 Nm) Blakely Island could be an alternative if you want a marina
Tue, Aug 02 - Leave Spencer Spit, Arrive Washington Park (Haul out and de-rig) (6.76 Nm)
There you go.
Duane's passage, current and cruising guide comments still to come along with the suggested equipment list for those not used to cruising in the Northwest waters.
My shirts are going to be royal blue. Various colors are available. I figure having a sailboat as part of the design will keep people from asking "What's a Macgregor?"
All of the float plans look good to me. I'm going to detour to Friday Harbor and clear US Customs there and pick up the gf coming on the ferry Friday night and head up to Stuart/Ried Harbor on Saturday morning. A night in a real bed and a hot shower sounds mighty fine too We're thinking of bringing a pasta salad for the potluck on Saturday.
Sounds like a great trip. We have been going there for the last seven years and and staying as long as two months on our Mac. We sling in at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes. For parking you can use the long term parking at the marine for $3.00 per day or what we do is use Circus Storage (360-299-9168) south of town. She charges $1.00 per foot per month with a $30.00 Min. We leave our trailer there and use the free long term parking at the marina for our tow vehicle. If you want to leave your whole rig in storage there is a bus back to town. We plan to be up there for the month of June this year.
Hey Jklightner, I checked your designs out and as much as they look like a sailboat they are not quite a Macgregor. Is there some way of getting something that more closely resembles a Mac 26X/26M?
The Macgregor home page has a drawings page but the main boat has other other drawings superimposed over it. Perhaps it is in layers and the overlapping layers could be removed revealing the drawing you want underneath It would require a decent grahics software package to do though. Just a thought.
Ok Folks, I have sent e-mail to both marinas on Saltspring Island and even though both are able to accommodate us on the weekend of July 23 it appears that Ganges is better suited. Both have limmited shore facilities for BB-Q or picnics but Ganges does have a picnic dock and if we like we can use the floating breakwater for our gathering. The breakwater is 500 feet long and I believe 25 feet wide, we could easily over take it. (only caveat is if some 100' pleasure boat shows, they get assigned the breakwater)There is a large Thriftys grocery store and a fish market within walking distance as well as many other amenities. They have a few extra BB-Q's for use and picnic tables that could be moved up to the breakwater. They have laundry and showers 4-minutes per loonie, shore power and pumpout at the gov't dock. They also allow BB-Qing on your boat which the other marina does not and we can consume alcohol on the docks. So far so good, here's the catch, you have to make your own reservation with your own Visa Card even though they are reserving a large number of slips. (250-537-5242)
The earlier the better, I already gave them mine. We really need to get reservations in early if we wish to block a substantial number of slips. If you snooze you loose. Waiting for July is going to be worse than waiting for Christmas morning for me. Looking forward. http://www.gangesmarina.com/
Edit
One more thing, when I phoned I discovered much to my amazement that all other weekends in July were already booked by other clubs and July 23 was all that remained, we got lucky planning the loop in reverse. We are now committed to that weekend if we want Ganges Marina.
If there are any other stops that require reservations it would be best if it were made known and reservations put in place.
I phoned the Ganges Marina back to give them a name for us to register under for the 10% discount as "CanAm 05 Macgregor Flotilla" There are many services available for those who require them, too many to list here, Check their website. http://www.gangesmarina.com
Edit I believe we have a layover at this destination so you may wish to reserve two nights July 23/24
Last edited by Terry on Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
Just got off the phone with Jim, the manager at Ganges Marina. They( his wife helps run the operation) are looking forward to seeing our group. We will be at the party dock and have use of alot of the facilities there.
Actually no, I would expect we would stop in both Bedwell going north where Canadian customs provides dedicated phones for clearing customs on the side of the customs building. And we would stop at Roche Harbor to clear back in on the way to Stuart. All the mileages listed for each loop include an actual stop at Roche on the way to Stuart.
This is particularly important for a few reasons. First, one of the things US customs is the most picky about is meats, particularly beef. You can bring in none bought in Canada. Plus they also are looking for fruits. Because of this the cooler will be pretty bare and Roche has one of the best stores in the islands only surpassed by Friday Harbor. Second, most likely we will need services like fuel, water and a potty dump and this is all easy to get at Roche. We've been there a number of times and know where everything is. And lastly it's one of the better places to spend an hour or two back in the good ole US before heading for a park for two nights anchored out with 3 kids. I'm sure they will want ice cream, etc.
The elusive PIN number. Sure wish I had an answer. Last year clearing in at Roche there was a big sign on the wall behind the customs agents saying "Don't ask about a PIN number, we have no information of this at this time, we can't give you one, don't ask." So I didn't. Near as I can tell if you had one from before, they still work for clearing back into the US. But we didn't and I haven't been able to figure out how to get one yet. Let me know if you find a way to get one ahead of time.
Do you have one from before? If so, it looks like you can just call in by cell before you arrive, answer the questions, and if they don't decide they want to inspect you you will be released and can proceed directly wherever you want without visiting a customs dock.
Even without one I expect we will have an easier time from now on. It appears that last year everybody switched to some new 'Homeland Security' database, and if it was your first time clearing in the agent had a lot of typing to do. Now that we are in that database, from what I could tell from others around me who also were already in it, there should be much less info to enter as our registration number will pull up all the pertinent details.
This appears to be the same going into Canada. The first thing the guy on the phone wanted when we entered was our registration number. He didn't get a hit with it so asked if this was our first time bringing this boat into Canada. I said 'yes' and he sighed, and started the task of collecting and entering all our information. Then just to make it more fun we were almost to the end and he paused, swore under his breath, asked me to hold on while he re-booted his computer and then typed silently for quite a while as he re-entered everything a second time. Sounds like he was bitten by a 'blue screen of death'.
We're thinking of bringing a pasta salad for the potluck on Saturday.
