A few lines about one of the popular cruising destinations in thie
region.....

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Ganges


My wife's favorite destination in the Gulf Islands is Ganges, on
Saltspring Island. We plan our summer cruises to include a night or two
in Ganges Harbour. If I aspire to
"most favored husband" status I will assure that our scheduled
visit to Ganges allows Jan to spend a few hours, (and at least a few
dollars), at the Ganges Saturday Market. Ganges is a free-spirited and
eclectic community, with a unique history that continues to exert an
obvious influence on the character of the town.

Among the earliest settlers on Saltspring Island were ex-slaves fleeing
the California gold fields. During the 1850's, it was a common
practice for American planters living in southern states to dispatch
slave labor to work gold claims in California. Perhaps to help ensure
that the slaves wouldn't simply run for the hills upon arrival in
California, slave holders would often agree that once a slave had
recovered many thousands of dollars worth of gold on behalf of his
absentee owner the slave would summarily be granted his official
freedom. Some of the slave owners were known to renege on this
agreement, but it was honored frequently enough that a large community
of freed slaves began forming in California. Concerned white residents
of California began passing some racially discriminatory laws, (for
example, a black person was prohibited by law from testifying in court
against a white person), and many of the recently emancipated blacks
thought it might be prudent to move on before conditions became even
more oppressive.

Slavery had been outlawed in Britain, including all British
territories, colonies, and protectorates, in the early 1830's. As a
result, Canada was thereafter considered the "promised land" by
many freed and escaped American slaves. Governor James Douglas,
(thought by many historians to be of mixed-race heritage himself), felt
that encouraging ex-slaves to settle on Vancouver Island and other
islands nearby would establish a population willing to forcibly resist
any territorial incursions by Americans. Nine families of freed blacks
in California wrote a letter to Governor Douglas, and he invited them
to relocate to British Columbia's Saltspring Island.

Just a year after the abolition of slavery throughout the British
Empire, the Hudson Bay Company opened a "trading post" in the
Sandwich Island settlement of Honolulu. Hawaiians were allowed to buy
trade goods, liquor, and trinkets on credit- and many quickly found
themselves unable to clear their debts. The trading post became the
primary recruiting post for "Kanaka" laborers sent to Hudson Bay
Company forts, farms, and sawmills in North America. In exchange for
three years of labor, Kanakas would receive a small amount of cash,
assorted merchandise, and their debts at the trading post would be
expunged. Many of the displaced Hawaiians remained in the Pacific
Northwest when their terms of indenture were fulfilled, and within a
few generations most had intermarried with European or First Nations
populations. Probably the oldest building on Saltspring Island is the
Hudson Bay Company post at Ganges, (now incorporated into the Hastings
House hotel and restaurant), and Kanaka laborers and their descendents
have made notable contributions to the unique and diverse culture of
Saltspring Island.

Young men fleeing a somewhat different sort of "indenture" were
relatively recent arrivals on Saltspring. The island developed a
reputation for tolerance of a "hippie" lifestyle during the
1960's, and became a popular destination for Americans dodging the
grasp of the Selective Service System. While it is certain that the
majority of immigrants to Saltspring were hardworking farmers,
fishermen, and loggers of European heritage, the prevailing influence
of groups which have not always been able to take personal freedom for
granted have created a culture on Saltspring that seems even more
adamantly independent than that on other free-spirited islands nearby.
This independence asserts itself in some unusual ways, and among recent
examples was the issuing of "Saltspring dollars", (only negotiable
on the island and on par with official Canadian currency).

Approaching and Arriving in Ganges:

The town of Ganges is at the head of Ganges Harbour, with public
marinas located near 48.61.45 N and 123.29.80 W. Additional moorage is
usually available to the west of the long dock at the edge of the
commercial district, but the fishing fleet has priority in this
location. There is excellent anchorage well out into the bay, and
during the peak summer months vessels arriving at Ganges will find it
necessary to keep an active watch while threading through large numbers
anchored boats. Considerate skippers will be mindful not to leave
disruptive wakes. The preferred course through the harbour will be to
the south of the Chain Islands. It is possible to pick carefully
through the rocks separating the individual islands in the "chain,"
but a completely unnecessary risk. Ganges Shoal (marked with a buoy
about ¼ nm SW of Second Sister Island) and a pervasive mudbank close
to the southern shoreline represent the main risks for grounding, and
there is more than sufficient room to give these hazards a wide berth.
Boaters with an appropriate chart should find the approach to Ganges
easy as well as uneventful.

Public Marinas at Ganges include the Ganges Marina, (viewed directly
ahead when approaching up the harbour) and the Saltspring Marina,
(viewed off the starboard quarter when approaching the head of the
harbour).

Saltspring Marina requires a longer walk to town, but has a pub onsite.
Beware a notoriously hungry rock (it eats boats) off the Saltspring
Marina breakwater. It is clearly marked with a large yellow buoy and
easily avoided, but still manages to refer a steady clientele of
careless or uninformed mariners to local boatyards.

Ganges Marina is a few hundred footsteps closer to the majority of
shops and restaurants in Ganges. During the busiest summer cruising
months it may necessary to contact the staff of either marina by VHF
radio and stand by until a slip is assigned. We have waited for as long
as 20-30 minutes some years, but have always been accommodated.

Once asho

Expect to encounter a collage of cultures where Woodstock meets Country
Grocers meets Greenwich Village Coffeehouse meets Little House on the
Prairie. In addition to being the center of tourism on Saltspring
Island, Ganges is the primary commercial area for island residents.
This is the sort of town where a new-age shop peddling essential oils
and therapeutic aromatics shares a storefront with a filling station
featuring entirely different oils and aromas- and it isn't unusual in
the local context. One can purchase anything from the most fundamental
necessities to exquisitely fashioned handicrafts or world caliber works
of original art. The laidback but culturally sophisticated lifestyle on
Saltspring attracts a variety of exceptionally talented people. On any
given day, one might even rub an accidental elbow with Randy Bachman of
"The Guess Who" and "Bachman-Turner Overdrive", one of the more
internationally recognized residents of Saltspring Island. Scores of
sculptors, writers, photographers, musicians, painters, and potters
enrich and diversify the creative community on Saltspring.

Our perennially favorite haunts include the Tree House Cafe, Mouat's
General Store, the gelato shop across the street from Centennial Park,
the fish market at the head of the Ganges Marina gangway and the craft
store in the old church directly across the street.
Book lovers will find several well-stocked shops. Baked goods, teas and
coffee, and snacks of all varieties seem to be within a 30-second walk
regardless of where one is standing at any given moment. Galleries and
stores with arts and crafts ranging from some that can be purchased for
pocket change up to awesome offerings that would require most of us to
seek a second mortgage line nearly every street in the compact town. A
well-stocked full service grocery as well as a licensed beverage store
makes Ganges an ideal stopover when ready to reprovision.

The Saturday Market:

If you have only one day to spend in Ganges, Saturday might be the best
choice.
Beginning each year on Easter weekend, (or April 1, whichever is
earlier), and ending the last Saturday in October, the Ganges Saturday
Market convenes at Centennial Park. Official hours are from "about
8:30 to about 3:30", with the caveat that snow, thunderstorms, gale
force winds, or an extreme deluge may result in some vendors leaving
early. Most sellers are prepared to endure a typical Gulf Island rain
squall or steady drizzle.

The general rule governing the Saltspring Saturday Market is vendors
must personally grow, bake, or locally make anything offered for sale.
Saltspring abounds with organic farmsteads, and from midsummer on there
are tables heaped with amazing herbs, fruits, and vegetables of all
descriptions. (Something to bear in mind if reprovisioning at the
grocer's on a Friday). Wool and mutton are popular farm commodities
on Saltspring, and several artisans offer knitted hats, scarves, and
other items created from locally spun yarns. Musicians of all
descriptions take apparently orderly turns entertaining at various
locations within the market, with hats and instrument cases left open
to catch any stray coins or bills that appreciative listeners might
care to drop. Pastries, cookies, locally produced cheeses, candies and
specialty snacks cooked up hot on the spot assure that nobody will walk
away hungry.

Jan stores her quilts in a handmade oak chest we bought a few years ago
at the Ganges Saturday Market, and in 2006 we added a splendid
hand-knitted "runner" that now protects the galley sole aboard
"Indulgence". We have artwork hanging in various rooms of our home
created by Saltspring painters, dishes in the cupboard thrown by
Saltspring potters, and we've hauled home chutneys, cheeses, and bits
of handcrafted jewelry from nearly every visit. We'll undoubtedly do
the Ganges Saturday Market again in 2007. There's no telling just
exactly what we'll decide we can't live without, but neither is
there any doubt that we will have an absolutely incredible time.

*******
Sidebar:

Saltspring or Salt Spring?

Hudson Bay Company records indicate that the original name of the
island was "Salt Spring," spelled as two separate words. In the
early 1900's, the Canadian Geographic Board officially declared that
the spelling would be "Saltspring", a single, compound word. Both
spellings are accepted by Canada Post, and the two-word version seems
to be more currently in vogue. The compound spelling, "Saltspring"
appears on the Canadian Hydrographic charts, and as we are a boating
publication it seems appropriate to use the spelling that agrees with
official charts.



Sidebar 2:

Isn't Ganges a River in India?

The town of Ganges was named after the vessel HMS Ganges, normally
considered the last surviving sailing ship of the British Navy. The
vessel destined to become the town's namesake was the second to be
named "Ganges". She was built in India of Malabar teak and launched
in 1821. A proud three-master with 84 guns, she had seen service around
the globe before she became the flagship for the Royal Navy's Pacific
Squadron and patrolled the local waters between 1857 and 1861. Fulford
Harbour on Saltspring Island is named for the Captain of HMS Ganges,
one John Fulford.

By the turn of the 20th Century, HMS Ganges had been converted to a
training vessel for young men aspiring to a career in the British Navy.
(The author's maternal grandfather, who served as a British naval
officer in the First World War, learned to sail on HMS Ganges). She
later served as a hospital ship, and at the venerable age of 108 was
broken up in 1929. The name transferred to the British Navy's
training school at Shotley, and is endeared to many a British sailor
who never set foot aboard the original ship.