associated photos at: http://www.pbase.com/gould/telegraph_harbour


A Treatise Regarding Thetis

When we Yankees visit our Canadian friends, they rather often and most
graciously look the other way as we (to quote our most prominent
politician) "mispronounciate" a few things. During our 2006 visit to
Thetis Island in the Canadian Gulf Islands, I made specific inquiries
among local residents regarding the correct vowel sounds one should use
when pronouncing the name. ("Thetis", that is- even I won't usually
screw up "island" badly enough to provoke an international incident.) I
can now report, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that Thetis
doesn't rhyme with "lettuce". Nor does it sound anything like "ate us".
An easy way to remember the correct pronunciation, as well as a fact
important to anyone planning to visit the island, would be to memorize
the phase "What a treat is Thetis!" And indeed it is.

Thetis Island is one of the larger landmasses in the Gulf Islands, and
is located immediately NW of Saltspring Island. Thetis is the least
populated Gulf Island that receives regular ferry service, and is home
to an eclectic population of folks eccentric enough to choose a life
well insulated from some of the pressures and conveniences commonly
associated with mainland cities or towns. Like the Pender Islands to
the SE of Saltspring, Thetis and its immediate neighbor Kuper Island
(pronounced "Cue-per," by the way), were sliced apart by a manmade
channel. In 1905, a project dug a trench across the mudflats of Clam
Bay on the eastern side of the island and through a very narrow neck of
land to connect to Telegraph Harbor. A bridge connected the two islands
immediately behind the present location of the Telegraph Harbor Marina,
but the bridge was removed in 1946. Kuper Island is a First Nation
Reserve, and visitors are not welcome unless specifically invited.

Deep draft sailing vessels or large, cruising powerboats seldom use the
"boat passage" between Thetis and Kuper Islands. It is said that
with a detailed local knowledge regarding the latest shoaling it is
technically possible to take a big boat through "The Gut" at high
water- but it is probably not advisable. Small skiffs and inflatables
transit the pass with regularity, but we have no plans to ever run even
the 40-inch draft of "Indulgence" through that gauntlet.

It is possible to anchor in Clam Bay, and boats commonly drop hook on
the west side of the island near the ferry terminal at Preedy Harbour.
The vast majority of visiting boaters will overnight in Telegraph
Harbour, where there is decent anchorage as well as two very popular
marinas. The approach to Telegraph Harbour from Stuart Channel isn't
extremely hazardous, but neither is it completely straightforward. It
would be possible to come to ruin on False Reef, Escape Reef, or North
Reef to the west and south of Thetis and Kuper, but all are clearly
marked on Canadian Hydrographic charts. (Chart #3442 is a good choice
for Stuart Channel, and Chart #3477 provides sufficient detail for
Telegraph and Preedy Harbours). Deep draft vessels will want to stay
outside of the Scott- Dayman-Hudson Islands chain at low water, and
everybody will want to go around the outside of Tent Island, (just
south of Kuper)- either far enough around to also clear North Reef or
taking a carefully chosen course between Tent Island and the reef. Once
beyond Foster Point on Thetis, Telegraph Harbour shoals very quickly.
At low water, stay close to the breakwater pilings for Thetis Island
Marina to be sure of adequate depth in the channel.

Thetis Island Marina is the first marina encountered when entering
Telegraph Harbour. The marina features a fuel dock with gasoline and
diesel, and several floats of side tie moorage with 15 or 30-amp power
available. The staff is friendly and eager to please. A covered picnic
shelter at the head of the gangway appears able to seat dozens of
people, and would be an asset to any yacht club or rendezvous group
planning a cruise to Thetis. Visitors to Thetis Island often choose
this specific marina because the island's pub, liquor store, seaplane
terminal, and post office are located here. A general store sells
convenience groceries and souvenirs, with nearly new showers,
restrooms, and a laundry room located at the head of the dock.

The other marina at Thetis Island, located farther up the bay is
Telegraph Harbour Marina. With both facilities bearing geographic
names, it is possible to confuse the identities of the marinas. I
stumbled upon the device of remembering that one has to get to Thetis
Island before arriving at Telegraph Harbour, so the first marina is
easily remembered at Thetis Island Marina and the second as Telegraph
Harbour.

Telegraph Harbour Marina may be the more resort-like of the two
facilities. There are spacious grassy uplands, a playground,
shuffleboard courts, and other outdoors recreational attractions. Yacht
clubs and other groups can reserve a pavilion.
"Burgees by the Bay" at Telegraph Harbour Marina is a convenience store
with a unique decorating scheme- the upper reaches of the open rafters
are lined with colorful yacht club and cruising group burgees.
"Burgees" dishes up some delicious ice cream along with a limited menu
of prepared food at Telegraph Harbour Marina. There is no pub or liquor
store at Telegraph Harbour Marina, but steady parade of dinghies across
the bay insures that the Telegraph Harbour Marina guests don't get
overly thirsty and nobody berthed at Thetis Island Marina need suffer
from "ice cream withdrawal" syndrome.

Thetis has always been a wonderful spot to visit for coffee and a
donut. Gene and Nan Beals run the Pot of Gold Coffee Company from an
outbuilding behind their home on Pilkey Point Road. The Beals long ago
relocated to Thetis Island from San Francisco, with a very
old-fashioned coffee-roasting machine ("Gertrude") in tow. The Beals
now roast highly select raw beans from several continents, and create
varieties of gourmet grounds that are sold by mail to happily addicted
Pot of Gold aficionados throughout the world. Fair warning: once you
have sampled Pot of Gold coffee you may find yourself forever after
comparing all other coffees to this epitome of caffeinated beverages,
and it's easily possible that you won't ever find any better coffee
anywhere. It has been said that the small quantities roasted by Pot of
Gold allows the firm to bid on only the most perfect beans available
from plantations- beans that are simply not available in the tonnage
required by huge chains consisting of thousands of locations.

The day we visited Thetis, we arrived mid-afternoon at Pot of Gold
Coffee to find two signs on the front gate that are indicative of the
intensity of commerce on Thetis Island. The first read, "We've gone to
town this morning, but will be back sometime this afternoon." The
second read "This week's roasting is sold out, please call to ask about
next week." Darn! (Telegraph Harbour Marina is an authorized brewer of
Pot of Gold Coffee, so if Gertrude's weekly production is entirely gone
there is no need to miss out entirely).

Blue Heron Donuts has relocated since our last visit, and is now
occupying a private home very close to Telegraph Harbour Marina. The
donuts are fabulously popular among Pacific NW boaters, but be early or
expect to be disappointed. The sandwich sign at Blue Heron Donuts
announces business hours of "Open: 8AM. Closed: When sold out."

Even though Thetis is extremely rural, we never fail to find
interesting diversions here.
The asphalt country two-lanes that wander casually around Thetis are
ideal hiking paths. Unless the ferry has just arrived (or drivers are
heading for the dock to catch a boat) a car or a truck seems to roll
slowly by perhaps once every several minutes. The only noises to be
heard in most places are the birds, the wind, and the waves. Voices and
engine noises seem to float a very long way on the surface of the
natural stillness, but few people seem to be in a hurry here.

As we walked along the north end of the harbour, we noticed a notebook
secured in a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag lying alongside a leather
case on a roadside bench above the beach. Our first thought was that
somebody must have been walking down along the shore and had left some
belongings on the seat. When we didn't see anybody on the beach, our
curiosity was aroused and we decided to investigate. We discovered a
pair of binoculars in the leather case. We also discovered a message
explaining that the notebook had been placed there by a neighboring
property owner to allow passers-by an opportunity to record thoughts
and observations. The notebook had been used quite frequently, and was
filled with everything from casual two-word observations ("How
beautiful!") to pages of exquisite prose and poetry. We read some of
the entries, placed the binoculars back into their case, zipped up the
sandwich bag, and left richer for the experience.

We were excited to discover that Howling Wolf Farm has expanded its
roadside retail presence remarkably since out last visit to Thetis.
Howling Wolf once had a tiny wooden shelter across the street from Pot
of Gold Coffee, and we had previously purchased some canned goods and
fresh vegetables there. The tiny wooden stand is gone, but Howling Wolf
has built an entire building a hundred yards away in a clearing
adjoining the road. The diminutive roadside stand has become a
self-service store, with shelves piled high with fresh, crisp fruits
and vegetables, scrumptious farm-baked pies and pastries, as well as a
refrigerator and freezer chock full of chicken, lamb, pork and other
meats that have been raised on Howling Wolf Farm. The store is
unattended, and all sales are on the "honor system". We selected a
freshly baked strawberry-rhubarb pie priced at $9.50, dropped a $10
bill into the cash box, and helped ourselves to a great, fat, sweet
onion (two for a dollar) in change.

One of the highlights of our visit to Thetis was a stop at the Thetis
Island Vineyards.
Visitors can hike up the gravel driveway from the road, or follow a
"Winery Trail" through the underbrush and arrive at the vineyard by
a more interesting route. We would recommend the trail- it's an
interpretive trail with a number of signs identifying the native
vegetation and relating how First Nations and the early European
settlers used the various plants for foods, beverages, medicines, dyes,
and other purposes.

The trail terminates where the upper end of the driveway penetrates the
fence line, and we walked across a grassy yard equipped with a
trampoline and other playground equipment provided for visiting kids.
An exceptionally friendly llama poked its head through a fence to
demand our attention, and then smiled a silent llama smile in response
to a vigorous neck rub. At he top of the vineyard hill, long parallel
rows of fragrant green vines are suspended from a network of posts and
string. A bed and breakfast cottage is perched at the upper end of the
field, where guests can enjoy a combination of Thetis Island
tranquility and astonishing scenery. Admission to the vineyard is $3,
or $6 with wine-tasting privileges. Adult visitors will definitely want
to take the $6 option, as the locally grown and produced wine is more
than worthy of a sip. We sampled two or three varieties, and all were
very good or better. The blackberry port was commendable, and the
blueberry port was incredible! We bought two bottles of wine, and I
frankly can't remember what Jan's choice might have been- I was too
preoccupied clutching my bottle of blueberry port (and grinning from
ear to ear) to pay attention.

We enjoyed dinner at the Thetis Island Marina, munching on tasty pub
grub. We watched the stealthy advance of nocturnal darkness, spreading
first among the forest shadows and then cautiously but relentlessly
venturing over a gravel beach to turn the harbour black as ink. A full
moon rose to trace a shimmering white and silver path across the
ripples. I smiled a silent llama smile and remembered a magical day of
howling wolves, public binoculars, fat onions, strawberry pie,
underbrush trails, and blackberry port. I'll never
"mispronounciate" the name again, as I only need to remember
"what a treat is Thetis."