Ahoy Matey!

Welcome to the second issue of Gary's and Toni's Excellent Island Adventures. This adventure took place in October, shortly after Thanksgiving. We headed out to a pub that comes highly recommended in Nanaimo. Now, pubs are pretty common in Nanaimo, and many of them come highly recommended. And some pub visits no doubt lean toward the adventurous side of things, but a visit to this particular pub is always an adventure.

The Dinghy Dock Pub

Nanaimo's harbour features three main jewels of islands. They are, in descending order of size, Gabriola Island - one of the larger Gulf Islands; Newcastle Island - a 750-acre Provincial Marine Park; and Protection Island - a kind of island suburb of Nanaimo, with boats, bikes and golf carts instead of cars. Protection Island boasts beautiful beaches, spectacular views, lots of greenspace and privacy for its denizens, and Canada's only floating pub, the Dinghy Dock Pub (http://www.dinghydockpub.com).

The Dinghy Dock Pub is accessed via the Protection Connection, a little 34-passenger ferry that makes the ten-minute trip between downtown Nanaimo and the pub hourly from 7a.m. to 11p.m. On this day, we shared the converted-lifeboat ferry with a pleasant mixture of several retired couples going for lunch, a pair of surveyors off to do a job, two parcel-laden locals discussing a new baby on the island, and a family going over to visit their grandfather. Tooting around the harbour (no reflection on the Pub's food!) in calm waters feels good at any time, but there is a special piquancy when the month is October and one grew up on the St. Lawrence River in Ontario (where pleasurable boating was limited pretty much to July and August).

Looking out to the west from the patio of the pub, we saw the sun come out over the city after a shower. The brilliant crimsons of the Japanese maples in Maffeo Sutton Park stood out against the misty mountains in the distance, and silver waves rippled in the harbour. Tugs and barges passed by, seaplanes were busily landing and taking off, and a flight of Canada geese headed south right next to us. Inside, the cozy pub was awash in nautical paraphernalia, from marine blue booth seating, to highly polished woodwork, captain's chairs at the bar and port-hole pub mirrors. The walls were a veritable guest-book, papered with autographed bills from countries around the world - Costa Rica, Lybia, Guyana, New Zealand, Poland to name a few.

Karen, who has worked there forever, made us feel welcome and at home. Service was prompt enough to return on the next ferry if you wanted to, but who wants to rush over such a meal? We chose a blackened salmon burger and prawns and chips in a basket from a mouth-watering array of items on the menu. Quite yummy! Although we don't usually do dessert, we felt we were obligated to do our research properly, and decided on blackberry pie and 24 Karat Cake. The carrot cake was exceptional! (Sorry, Mum.)

Following lunch, we went for a waddle around the island. It definitely had an other-world flavour to it - a sort of Hobbiton with golf carts! Islanders stopped to ask if we needed help and to recommend a route that would allow us to hit the high spots and make it back for the next ferry. Although we didn't make it to Long John Silver Bay, we hit Smugglers Lake, Cutlass Lookout, Treasure Trail, and Pirates Lane.

We'll have to revisit the Dinghy Dock Pub around Christmas so we can see the city lights across the harbour, and we'll have to go when it's sunny and warm and sit outside on the patio, and we'll have to take friends over when they visit, and . . .

As you can see, we have a lot to do. Gotta go now. Take care until next month.

Toni and Gary