Customs by telephone, a restaurant worth crossing a border for, and the long road out to Tofino.
From the San Juans, Canada is an afternoon away. The border runs down the middle of Haro Strait, unmarked except on the chart, and the Gulf Islands on the other side feel like a quieter, slightly wilder version of home.
Customs, the boat way
Clearing in is less ceremony than you would think. At the customs dock there is a telephone with a single button. You pick it up, give your boat, your crew and your passports, and wait for a clearance number to write in the log. No one comes down the dock unless they want to.
Dinner on Galiano
Pilgrimme, on Galiano Island, is a restaurant worth crossing a border for, spending a day at sea for, and walking a mile down a dark road for. We did all three. The cooking is built on what the island and the water give that week, and you will want one of everything on the menu.
Out to the open coast
Vancouver Island is the long way round in every sense. Cross it to the west coast and the sheltered water ends: Tofino faces the open Pacific, with surf, old-growth forest and tide pools that empty out at low water to show the life underneath.
Words and photographs by Vendovi.
