Please don’t go here – we want it all to ourselves!
Mark is a very talented designer and builder of boats, and he made this exquisite, comfortable, efficient, beautifully put-together floating retreat that put our vacation (birthday plus anniversary) over the top. He generously met us there late at night when we finally drove in from our ferry ride over from Vancouver, and is a most pleasant and thorough host! He’s also the most reliable person, responding to emails and texts right away and suggesting local things to see like an evening market.
Everything is easy to reach, use and put away in the kitchen – you can cook a whole meal there, plus there’s a grill outside (which we used). The bed is luxurious and even has pull-out side tables. The living room can seat four for meals; the front bow of the boat can seat two for morning coffee; which we enjoyed every morning. The roof of the boat has two lounge chairs for getting a 360-degree view of the whole harbor. And there is literally storage everywhere with invisible pull-out drawers and a very roomy closet. The bathroom is small but still feels large with a roomy shower space, sink and toilet.
The boat is also at the very end of the harbor docks, so remember that when you take a lot of luggage as we did, but for the walk you get an unobstructed view of the bay without other boats in your way. It is wonderfully quiet, other than the clanking of masts and the occasional loud seabird. I always travel with my small Bluetooth speaker, but for the very first time anywhere Mark is actually providing his guests with a great sounding Harmon Kardon speaker to further improve the amazing attention to detail. Did I mention there are windows (with excellent shades you can pull up or down) on every side of the boat as well so it gets tons of light and views across the water? There’s even a low window right by the bed so when you lie down and look out it’s like you’re floating on the water itself. We were greeted by a great blue heron the first morning, and bid goodnight to by a seal popping his head up on our last night.
There are restaurants and the wonderful Victoria Distillers right at the entrance to the harbor as well (try the Distillery Gin flight with the Empress 1908), and a grocery store and bakery (they have the local Nanaimo pastry) if you want to do make food yourself. There is also easy access to a beautiful morning run or walk along the coastline of Sidney which has the feel of an old slightly sleepy European summer town.
Would love to return.