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Shane Taylor Hello Julia,
Just wanted to thank you again for the kindness and generosity (and humour) you showed us on our stop in Winter Harbour.
Many blessings,
Shane and Mihwa -
Doug. Fairbourn Hi Don&Julia. This is Doug Fairbourn me 2 other old guys an a grandson came up from Port Renfrew to visit a loved it. I think Pat has booked again. Julia when we were there you took me up to show me 2 lots to lease, if they are still available could you please send me all the information you can on them. I would really appreciate it. Thank you very much I look forward to seeing you two this summer. Doug.
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Marg Szamosfalvi We recently had the pleasure of staying at Winter Harbour Marina and RV Park. Julia and Don were wonderful hosts! They work hard to make your stay enjoyable and are a pleasure to connect with. Thank you for your hospitality and kindness. We won’t forget you or the beauty of Winter Hatbour and Northern Vancouver Island. Highly recommend!
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Diane We had the pleasure of staying at Winter Harbour Marina recently for a brief stay.
We found the managers, Julia and Don extremely accommodating, welcoming and very informative of the area.
We absolutely loved our Winter Harbour experience.
It’s such a charming & quaint boardwalk community, local trails with some amazing old growth trees and beautiful west coast beaches near by.
We are both looking forward to returning to Winter Harbour. -
Larry Merriman Hello and welcome, Julia and Don
I’ve been fishing Winter Harbour for over 15 years now, coming in from Campbell River. Looking forward to meeting you soon, maybe later this week.
Cheers!
Larry Merriman -
Jim Rawlins Very happy you have chosen to manage Winter Harbour Marina. Looking forward to meeting you both. This will be my third year fishing at Winter Harbour.
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Julia McCoid Oh, thank you, Jim.
We are looking forward to meeting you, too.
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Lisa, John, Julie & Bruce Dacre A wonderful tribute for a kind and caring man. Like you said, the walk, the talk. All memorable. Making sure we had radios to go kayaking. He was respected and is missed
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Gary Olshaski A very nice tribute to a well deserving man, Mike and Patti were always welcoming hosts and there to help when it was ever needed and it was at times, but Mike never failed to deliver. Mike will be missed RIP.
Have enjoyed Winter Harbour for fishing and hunting and hopefully return this year.
Wishing Don and Julia all the best on their new adventure and management of WHM. -
Otto Schulte A wonderful tribute to Mike. We will miss Mike. He seemed to be always around when you needed him. He always treated us very special and we became friends. My boys and I have been coming to Winter Harbour since 2019 when we first stayed with Wayne Bazen. Then I found out my racing buddy Hank owns WHM! So we have stayed at WHM ever since, getting to know the area. We use to fish out of Gold River, Kyuquot, Galiano and Campbell River, but those places have either become packed with boats or the fishing has simply gotten poor. We love Winter Harbour because the fishing pressure is so low, the salmon highway is so close compared to down island and the fishing has been spectacular. It’s paradise. We look forward to Don and Julia managing WHM. Thank you for taking over the helm to continue on the legacy of WHM in this unique part of the world. We are grateful.
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Julia McCoid Thank you, Otto, for such a heartwarming comment to Mike’s Tribute.
You also validated why we and most of the Marina’s guests, keep coming back, year after year, for fishing and enjoying the beautiful surroundings of Winter Harbour.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to reflect on the the post and for your kind welcome
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Mike Alexander My 3 sons and I had the best fishing trip ever, even though it was only the first week in July. Limited out on coho, 2 less chinook than our limits, 4 hali and more bottom fish. We stayed in the small cabin which was perfectly set up for fishing. Patty and Mike were fantastic hosts. It couldn’t have been better! Very highly recommended.
We recently did some early winter camping at Winter Harbour Nov. 27-30, 2023 in our tiny adventure trailer. It was awesome. Everyone thought we were crazy to go there that time of year but it was amazing. We were the only ones there (everyone is missing out). It is a unique area, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get up here. Can’t say enough nice things about Nick who is looking after the marina and facilities. The General store is well stocked and was a wonderful surprise. We are definitely coming back soon! Cheers, Roman and Sarah.
We booked a two night stay in the nearby outpost camp ground and we weren’t even staying at the RV park but we thoroughly recommend it. We wanted to get out onto the water on kayaks and Don and Julia (managers of Winter Harbour marina and RV park) very kindly rented their personal kayaks to us.
Don and Julia went out of their way to make us feel welcomed in Winter Harbour and we had a lovely dinner with them, sharing stories and having lots of laughs. They are the perfect hosts and will take good care of you in this beautiful location. We will always remember their kindness.
We recommend Winter Harbour , your stay could not go wrong with Don and Julia looking after you!
We just spent eight wonderful days here enjoying the beauty, the nature, the fishing, and the fine company of all the splendid folks up this way. Don and Julia were especially amazing, always there to help out, and made us feel like old friends. We cant recommend this place enough. It was fantastic!
Julia,
Thanks to you and Don for looking after us so generously during our Winter Harbour visit. From local knowledge to fishing help and more you extended yourselves and we really appreciate it. Consider: your friend volunteered to take our tire to Port Hardy for repair, another lent his vacuum bagger, you gave us vacuum bags, Don provided a free, substantive fishing lesson. You and yours could not have been more inclusive and pleasant.
I have just now uploaded a five star google review. Again, many thanks!
-Phil Lansing
We arrived at WHMon July 23/23
The two bedroom cabin was to be our home for 10 days. Julia and Don made us feel at home immediately and gave us lots of information on how and where to fish. We met many interesting people and everyone was always eager to share their fishing strategies and locations. The fishing was fabulous and our freezer filled quickly. Thank you Julia and Don for making our trip enjoyable and successful.
Participating in the VanIsle 360 race, the stopover in Winter Harbour was fabulous. Thank you and all of Winter Harbour for your generosity, hospitality and the great BBQ for all the racers.
June 2023 Van Ilse 360 Race sailing vessel.
Winter Harbour Marine provided clean and comfortable accommodation for 7 sailors with room for more. We had a large kitchen area and exceptionally large barbecue and outdoor sitting area on pier; all of which we used. The sailors moored the TP52 directly outside. Julia, Don and son CJ are the family operators who greeted us and pulled the lines in. They went out of their way to assure we had a provisions for a large salmon, ling cod and crab dinner for 11 which we bbq’d on the equipment provided.
The Winter Harbour family operators were very helpful to shore support and their assistance was greatly appreciated.
Another local business, the Outpost Store, provided us additional hardtop accomodation with separate wash house at their campsite atop a near small hill. It was likewise clean and comfortable.
Stephen Dobson
(at site for visit and shore support for TP52)
We stopped in Winter Harbour as part of this year’s Van Isle 360 Sailing Race. Hospitality was over the top; way above and beyond expectations. We arrived after dark, wet, tired and hungry, and were taken care of like family. Thanks again for a memorable experience!
Thank you Julia for your warm welcome at the docks in the middle of the night. We’ve had an incredible week of racing and our longest leg yet was to Winter Harbour. After a gruelling and puzzling day it was a pleasure to land in the beautiful hamlet of Winter Harbour. Your generosity in hosting us and sharing your space for the event was so appreciated. Can’t wait to return on a more relaxed timeline. Awesome spot.
Julia and Don were great hosts during our stay in June. The lodgings were clean with all bedding, cooking and bbq’ing supplies stocked. Freezers for ice and fish at each accommodation. Great moorage with easy and close access to accommodations. The 7 of us had a great fishing experience and have booked back for next year!
Author
Thank you, The Group of Seven, for your thoughtful comments. You are the group of seven famous for believing in friendship, having fun, and having a good time fishing!!! Thank you for planning to come back next year.
There is another Group of Seven
who are famous for believing that a distinct Canadian art could be developed through direct contact with nature. The Group of Seven is best known for its paintings inspired by the Canadian landscape and initiated the first major Canadian national art movement.
After a dusty 75 km drive from Port Hardy, arriving at Winter Harbour RV made the trip worthwhile! The new managers, Don and Julia, welcomed us like old friends, and are both working like mad to upgrade many of the facilities, buildings, etc. Their motto was “ Whatever we can do to make you happy”. We were so sad to leave but wish them much success with their retirement project!
Author
Thank you for your visit to Winter Harbour, awesome seniors!!!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
• JAM (52 ft J-160) had her best race leg from Pt Hardy to Winter Harbour. We eked over Nahwiti Bar in light wind and opposing tide by playing the fringes near the shoals to starboard, and carried that lead all the way to the finish in beautiful weather.
• Unfortunately, on our last gybe in to finish, one of our crew was beaned by the boom, concussed and bleeding.
• Paying attention to him diverted attention from navigation, so of course we hit a shoal right at the finish line, luckily only going a few knots in the wind shadow at the lighthouse
• The Navy support at Winter Harbour was wonderful. They had a medic who knew his stuff. He diagnosed the crew member’s concussions and told us what to do and symptoms to watch for.
• The fleet came together the following morning to help. Plane reservations were adjusted, and we got our injured crew home via Port Hardy, Vancouver and Seattle by 5 PM the next day. To make room, I think one passenger had to carry a tire on his lap for the flight to Port Hardy.
• I was able to rent a BC and dive tank from the harbourmaster the following day to inspect the keel. A few rough edges were filed down and we were good-to-go.
• The feast and the band on the lay day were the best of the whole regatta. The food was excellent, and I wish I could remember the name of the band to urge you to book them again.
• The race start for the leg to Ucluelet was among the worst sailing weather days I can remember. We beat all the way to the Brooks Peninsula in driving rain. Boat and crew were cold and wet inside and out.
• Thankfully the rain died out after midnight, but so did the wind, mostly.
• Wind built during the following day and switched to the north, and we rumbled into Ucluelet late afternoon next day under 2A spinnaker in the most glorious weather of the whole regatta. After mooring, we transferred to our rental cabin and watched remaining fleet finishing with the sunset in the background, beer in hand. Beautiful.