Holiday Spirit Celebration

Saturday December 5th was Sooke's Spirit Festival, celebrating the holiday spirit right here at home.

The day started with the Santa Claus parade, continued with the annual "Sail Past", with local boat owners lighting up their boats and cruising the Harbour, from Rotary Pier to Whiffin Spit and back. The day ended with a performance with the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra performing Bach's Oratorio at the Community Theatre.

Sooke Spirit indeed! Ho ho ho!

The photos below are the good ship "Reef Seeker" departing Salty Towers dock with a special guest of honour, making the rounds of Sooke Harbour.

November 2009 Salty Towers News

Hello to Friends of Salty Towers around the world!

It is November in Sooke, and that means storm watching season. We've seen some pretty interesting weather of late, no shortage of wind and rain, then sunny for a few minutes, then back to the storm again. It is certainly not boring weather...fun to put on your rubber boots and rain slicker and go for a walk on Whiffin Spit.

And with the winter storms comes the winter surf. The area around Sooke has some of the best waves in Canada, and there's a wetsuit-clad local crew chomping at the bit for when a new storm arrives. The picture above could have been taken from the Salty Towers dock, if you stood way up on your tiptoes and had a really good telephoto lens. :-)

The picture below is about 20 minutes up the road at Jordan River. Swells tend to last 1-3 days, and come once or twice per week on average from November to April. So...if you're looking for something different, it's going on in and around Sooke!

For fishing, we are into winter spring salmon fishing mode. Plenty of nice salmon are being caught out front of the Harbour mouth west towards Otter Point. This week has had some reports of fish well into the teens, up to 15 pounds. As is typical, they are usually caught right off the bottom in 130-150' depths, usually with hootchies -- something glow or purple haze are popular.

Here's a photo from October, with Mike Ross from Alberta with a nice coho.

There are an increasing number of boats anchoring up for halibut too, just off Sooke Bluffs....so that is an interesting possibility, bring home some nice white fish for the table, without having to go all the way to Swiftsure or Constance Bank.

It's a nice time to visit, but then again, when isn't it a good time around here? Come by for a visit!

Happy days,

Neil and Maggie

Salty Towers, October report

Hello to friends of Salty Towers from around the world!

All of a sudden it is October, another whirlwind summer gone by, with so many guests and new friends made. We are so happy to be able to share our little slice of paradise with you all.

But we have not written off summer yet, as the last few days have been pretty summer-like...sunny, warm, no wind. Perfect fishing weather! And the fishing has been pretty good, with excellent coho fishing and now early winter spring salmon. As well, some of the local anglers have been having a bit of luck with halibut, just outside the mouth of Sooke Harbour. Here's a photo of a guest feeding of Sooke Harbour's real locals, from Salty Towers' dock.

There's still plenty of fun to be had out here on Vancouver Island's west coast in Fall....we hope to see you soon.

Have a great day!

Neil and Maggie

Sooke Whale Watching

The whales have been putting on a pretty good show in Sooke lately. The two pictures here show a couple of Orca (killer) whales passing by while we were out fishing.




Sooke Coastal Explorations reports some fun whale watching expeditions. Today's report: "Today we had a blast on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We started out this morning rounding Whiffin Spit when a friend called me on the radio stating that a group of Orcas past by at 0830. We decided to head West and approx. 1015 we came across 6 Transient Killer Whales making a kill in front of the Sooke Bluffs. The animal was a large male Stellar Sea Lion. It was an incredible sight to see."

When you come visit at Salty Towers, a trip out with Sooke Coastal Explorations Whale Watching is a must! Their phone # is (250)642-2343 and their website is www.sookewhalewatching.com.

Have a great day!

Neil and Maggie

The Finer Things...Sooke Fine Arts

Amidst all the fishing and outdoor pursuits, Sooke also boast an appreciation the finer things in life, including a vibrant local art scene. For those who enjoy fine arts, in particular the unique styles of the Pacific North-West, there are two summer events not to be missed.

First is the Stinking Fish Studio Tour and Art Sale. A tour of 20 art studios in East Sooke and Metchosin, July 25th-August 5th, where you can find some spectacular home-grown treasures.

Second is the Sooke Fine Arts Show, July 25th-August 3rd.
"The 2009 Sooke Fine Arts Show provides the opportunity for both well-known and emerging artists from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands to showcase their work. Along with the 7,500 annual visitors who attend the art show, the show draws hundreds of art patrons from British Columbia, and throughout western Canada and the United States.

Sooke is steeped in artistic talent and natural beauty, making it the perfect host for the premier juried art show on Vancouver Island. 2009 provides an opportunity to enjoy the twenty-third year of the Sooke Fine Arts Show, and its’ third year under the sponsorship of the Sooke Fine Arts Society."

Come join us at Salty Towers for a wild west coast Vancouver Island adventure...and get a taste of local culture while you're here!

Maggie & Neil

***

PS...in case you're wondering, Why Stinking Fish?

How the Stinking Fish Studio Tour got its name!

In the 1840's, when explorer James Douglas asked the First Nations people of this region what they called the area now known as Metchosin, they answered
S-met-sho-sun, which literally means "stinking fish".

We have adopted this evocative and historic name for our annual juried studio tours.

Sooke also got its name from a fish. It was named for the local natives, the T'Sou-kes who took their name from a small fish, the "stickleback".

The T'Sou-kes reef-netted salmon around Becher Bay, and collected shellfish, berries and roots for winter months spent at Pedder Bay. Spanish Explorer Manuel Quimper was the first European to sail into the Sooke Inlet in 1790. Within 5 years the British and Spanish governments signed a treaty at Nootka by which all lands north of the Juan de Fuca Strait became British. 3 years later Vancouver Island was granted to the Hudson's Bay Company. Settlers began arriving in the Metchosin/Sooke area in the 1860's. Farmers, prospectors, miners, loggers and fisherman plied their trades. By the late 1800's the area had large sailing ships and dugout canoes running supplies to and from Fort Victoria as well as a steam-powered sawmill providing lumber for the community.

Sooke's Canada Day Celebration

Sooke has a Canada Day Celebration planned at the Sooke Flats.

The day features logging sports demos, dog show, kids activities, live music, and fireworks.

The annual Rotary Club Raft Race should be fun as usual...see your favourite Sooke-ites race across Sooke River and back, or at least not to fall into the river trying. [they are still looking for teams, so if you are interested in joining in, please contact the Rotary Club]

Come on out July 1st, starting at noon, and join in the fun!

June 8 Sooke Fishing Report

Nice salmon for the lad from Toronto. Colin just move to Vancouver and was spending the weekend with family in Sooke.

A few hours of fishing produced a bright 29 pound Chinook Salmon. This was Colin's biggest fish ever (his only fish ever). An hour later we were surrounded by a large number of porpoise, playing in the area, zooming past the boat in all directions. The day finished with an encounter with some river otters and fresh crab in the pots that we had dropped in the harbour.

A pretty darn good day on the water!