MY Serenity

10/10/2026

Home at her covered slip for the winter. Let it rain.

09/29/2026

Finally had an Orca sighting. Swam ten feet from our boat on the Seattle Yacht Club Friday harbor dock. Scared Bailey 🤣. Two large ones and a calf.

09/28/2026

Full moon over the Seattle Yacht Club Friday Harbor outstation.

09/28/2026

Back in the US after an easy crossing from Victoria to the Seattle Yacht Club Friday Harbor outstation to squeeze a little more out of our fall cruising in this beautiful location. Bailey very happy with a yummy bone on a sunny deck. We ride into town for the best fish-chips dinner in the PNW at The Bait Shop

09/26/2026

Lazy Saturday morning watching the sunrise over the Empress hotel in Victoria, BC while mom and dad drink lattes planning a sunny day of activities.

09/26/2026

Serenity arrived in beautiful Victoria, BC yesterday. Shocked the marina is so empty. I love winter cruising ;-)

09/22/2026

Watching the sunset from the SNSYC reciprocal dock. Thank you for sharing this wonderful spot with us and the rest of the Seattle Yacht Club

09/19/2026

The tour continues… 12 days at Ganges Marina aboard MY Serenity on Salt Spring Island in the Canadian Gulf Islands… check! 🇨🇦

This ended up being one of our favorite stops of the trip.

Ganges was a great marina and an even better little town. The food was one of the biggest surprises — from small cafés and casual spots to better-known restaurants, nothing disappointed us.

We rented a car for a day and explored the island, stopping at roadside farm stands along the way. We drove down to the south-end ferry terminal, had a fantastic lunch, and discovered an unexpectedly great little market with an amazing selection of food, w**e and provisions.

We spent plenty of time on the water too. Our crab pots produced 50+ Red Rock crab that all went back, but only three keeper Dungeness — enough, fortunately, for one incredible crab pasta dinner.

Another highlight was taking the tender around the east/southeast side of the island, tying up at a public dinghy dock and walking up to a little café for lunch. Simple cruising days like that are hard to beat.

Salt Spring Coffee became my office for several mornings, and Salt Spring Wild C***r was another favorite — beautiful setting, excellent c***r and a great dinner.

We also ran into quite a few fellow Seattle Yacht Club members along the way, which made the island feel surprisingly familiar.

The only real challenge was spotty cell service and Wi-Fi. Everything else? Pretty hard not to love.

Great food. Farm stands. Crabbing. Tender rides. C***r. Coffee. Friendly people. Island roads. And 12 days aboard Serenity we won’t forget.

Salt Spring Island, we’ll be back.

09/13/2026

Finally Found Keeper Dungeness Crab in Ganges Harbour | Salt Spring Island

After three crab-pot drops around Ganges Harbour produced mostly small Red Rock crab and undersized Dungeness, we decided to try one more spot.

This fourth location looked much more promising — eelgrass, some structure on the bottom, and a few other crab pots nearby. I took the tender out to pull the pots and this time it paid off: a couple of big keeper Dungeness crab along with plenty of Red Rock crab.

We brought the keepers back to Serenity and kept them cool under a saltwater-soaked towel until dinner. That evening, we steamed the crab aboard for about 20 minutes, then Susan and I picked all the meat while she worked on the sauce and pasta.

The result was fresh Dungeness crab pasta made right on the boat — about as good as cruising food gets.

And apparently Bailey agrees. We discovered that our golden retriever is a very big fan of Dungeness crab after she managed to score a few bites of her own.

Another great day cruising, crabbing, and cooking aboard Serenity in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia.



September 11, 2026

After three crab-pot drops around Ganges Harbour produced mostly sm...

09/07/2026

Susan catches her first salmon aboard Serenity!

We left the Seattle Yacht Club outstation at Henry Island and headed south through Mosquito Pass, putting our new downriggers to work for the first time. About 10–15 minutes after getting the gear set, Susan hooked up with her very first salmon at around 12:20 PM.

The fish hit a needlefish spoon behind a flasher, and in this video you’ll see the hookup, bringing the fish aboard, cleaning the catch, and then our cruise north along the west coast of the San Juan Islands toward Ganges on Salt Spring Island.

A pretty memorable way to break in the new downriggers—and a great start to another day cruising, fishing, and exploring the Pacific Northwest aboard Serenity.

If you enjoy Pacific Northwest boating, cruising the San Juan and Gulf Islands, salmon fishing, crabbing, and life aboard a classic Ocean Alexander, follow along with the Serenity Log.

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