CATEGORY: SAILING
PHOTO: BUCHART GARDENS

The Buchart Gardens are some of the most famous gardens on the North American Continent.  They are on Vancouver Island just north of Victoria and Sidney and at the southern end of Saanich Inlet.  The Saanich Inlet is a north-south inlet opening at the north end and protected from the Straight of Georgia by the Saanich Peninsula.  The gardens are right on the water, and they have a visitors dock.

Every time we returned from sailing in the Canadian Islands, I would ask Bob if we could visit Buchart Gardens.  He always said no, they were too far out of the way.  I think he told me once that there was no wind in the Saanich Inlet but, if so, I had forgotten.

One summer we were sailing with friends, Bob and Carol Carson.  They had their own boat.  It was pleasant to sail with them.  When we started back down the straight of Georgia, I inveigled what I thought was a clever manipulation.  I told the Carsons about wanting to go to Bucharts Gardens.  I thought that if they would like to go, maybe Bob would go along with the idea.  They said they would like to go so we brought it up and it was three to one in favor of going.

Imagine that?!!!!

We had to motor all the way.  Bob would hardly speak to me during the trip and for the whole rest of the day.  If there was one thing he hated to do, it was to turn on his motor.  He was such a good sailor that he could even sail the dog-leg into his slip in Port Townsend harbor.  But not even the best sailor can sail without wind.

Afterward I felt guilty.  The only reason that we could afford to spend our summers sailing was because it was free.  There was no expense for gas.  The wind took us where we wanted to go.  There was no expense for food. We ate lots of fish, and picked fruit from numerous fruit trees.  There was no expense for lodging.  We lived on the boat.

We saw all of Bucharts Gardens, and that was a lot to see.  I kept looking for little secret nooks and crannies under the shrubbery where, in fantasy, I might crawl in and spend the night.  Then I thought that the sprinklers were surely turned on at night, so I gave up that idea even in my imagination. We were able to find an anchorage near the Gardens dock to spend the night.  Then we had to motor all the way back out the next day.  Was it worth the time and the price of the gas?  I was so thrilled with the gardens that I didn’t even care if Bob was angry.

Fortunately, he was very seldom angry.  And when he was, he didn’t stay that way for long.