Take 2: Tod Inlet & The Butchart Gardens

I've had little to zero service so am catching up with past posts.

7.19 - 7.21

Tod Inlet & The Butchart Gardens

ToG cleared customs at Poets Cove (Bedwell Harbor/South Pender Island) Tuesday morning with no trouble. There was just one boat there when we arrived…but a line of four or so as we left. With a large area for docking and three phones, this is a good place to clear. (As opposed to Port Sidney, with one small dock and one phone.)

We rounded the north end of the Saanich Peninsula, entering waters we haven’t visited before. The shoreline north of Brentwood Bay is very affluent – one mansion after another, with elaborate docks and boathouses.

We didn’t quite know what to expect as we approached Tod Inlet and it was fun to enter the narrow channel and see the protected cove with anchored boats.

Looking into the inlet:

Looking out the channel toward Brentwood Bay:

Gowlland Tod Provincial Park is on the west side of the cove…a very popular beach. We’ve seen a lot of small boats come in to hang out for day – people swimming, paddle boarding, etc. Boaters from a local yacht club volunteer to tie their boats up at a small floating dock off the shore to offer information.

This is their boat, with the beach in the background:

We took a paddle around the cove and then had a fine meal of Chicago-style dogs:

One of our main goals for visiting Tod Inlet was to visit the Butchart Gardens. Nick has never been, and I’ve visited just once, decades ago. (From Seattle on the old Princess Marguerite.) The garden has its own boaters’ entrance just to the left before entering Tod Inlet, referred to as the “back door.” There are overnight mooring balls for boats up to 40 feet (stern tie required) and a good-sized dinghy dock. There is a ticket booth inside the gate but Covid protocols are in place now and visitors must use the intercom to call a staff member to open the gate and sell tickets. And the Saturday fireworks shows are cancelled until next year.

The answer to my question, “Does it get any better than this?” from one of the gardeners was something like, “Your timing is perfect – this is the peak of the summer show!”  The whole place was stunning. It was a beautiful day and we spent about three hours (along with a lot of other people) wandering around. I didn’t take many photos – it was overwhelming! Because of the tardy (or nonexistent) spring everything is a little late and the roses are all still blooming.

Signs along the channel:

Butchart dock and back door entrance:

The photo at the beginning of this post is from the Japanese Garden looking back into the inlet.

The Italian Garden:

Spectacular! Maybe we’ll visit again – the garden is lit up at night and they have concerts.

This boat is moored near the Butchart dock – interesting. I found an article online describing the activist who operates Seaquarium's Shame. 

After Butchart, we dinghied over to Brentwood Bay and had lunch at Seahorses Café. Nice glasses:

Nick made cheesy crab dip and crusty bread on the grill for dinner – yum!

There are a couple more restaurants but not much else in Brentwood Bay other than a lot of boats and the ferry to Mill Bay.

Tod Inlet is a very nice anchorage - protected and scenic. Wildlife includes deer, eagles, seals, otters, bat sea stars, and various birds. There were around 30 boats at any given time, and it seemed a bit crowded, but we heard there were 71 over the weekend. That might prove challenging!

We departed Tod Inlet and arrived at Port Sidney Marina to clean the boat and power up before more nights on the hook in Montague Harbor. We walked up to the Thursday evening market and ate mediocre food from trucks.