Ladysmith, BC

We are putting some tweaks on our cruise plan for the Gulf Islands trip we'll be taking in a few weeks with friends I used to work in television in Hawaii who have recently moved here (the husband and I were two of the cameramen on Elvis Presley's big concert in Hawaii near the end of his life.* We were VERY young then....).* We did this with them last year so want to go to different places.* Over the last few years we have run into people who have talked favorably about Ladysmith.* Looked at it on the web but Im curiious if any PNW boaters have been there recently and if they found it good, bad, or indifferent.* We pretty much know the other places we want to take them but we're curious if Ladysmith is worth a visit or not.

Hi Marin

We have stayed many times at Ladysmith but given a choice we would sooner stay at Chemainus, 5nm to the southeast. It has super docks, great attractions, restaurants, stores, golf and a great live theater. All within easy walking distance, check out there website.

http://www.chemainus.com/

Hi Marin,

We were there last year.* Ladysmith is going through some big waterfront changes, check out the latest in Waggoner to get a feel for what's happening.*

Not knowing exactly what you are looking for, you should know that it's a different kind of place than Chemainus (which we also enjoy).* It's definitely*worth a trip.

As a kid in the 50's-60's, and later in the 70's,*Ladysmith was memorable because they had a great steam locomotive museum (it's gone now, or maybe just moved) and we pretty much swarmed over the engines.* My other early memory was having to go to the hospital there in the 70's after*putting an oyster knife through my hand over at Tent I.*

Thanks for the input. We've been to Chemainus and that's one of the places we're planning on going. We'll stay at Telegraph Harbor (support the local marinas when possible) and take the ferry from Thetis to Chemainus. We'd not considered staying in Chemainus itself, though. When we were there in 99 or whenever there didn't seem to be much in the way of decent visitor docks.

Anyway, we'll think some more about Ladysmith. Too bad the steam engine museum is gone.... I'm a train fan. Anyway, off to London and Oslo for work in a few minutes here so we'll pick up the intinerary question when we get back.

We stayed at Chemainus in '09 and there is very limited space.* Call ahead.* But, the harbor master is a pro at cruiser tetris and we had a lovely stay.* We could not have gone to the dinner theater given the ferry schedule at the time.

*

cheers,

Harlan Boorsma (you will never forget the man) is the harbormaster at Chemainus. He does take reservations so you can be assured of a spot, even though I realize you're back in CA Kevin. If a boat doesn't have reservations you may or may not get a spot at the dock. It is much nicer than it was even 5 years ago when the place was rundown and filled with persons of undesireable ambiance.

We where in ladysmith this summer. We stayed at the Ladysmith Yacht Club slip at the Ladysmith marina. This is the 3rd and last marina on your port side as you enter the harbour and probably the biggest. We where there for 2 days and found the town interesting but nothing special. They have a trolley that takes you almost anywhere you might want to go in Ladysmith. Would recommend you get on it and stay on it for the whole route which takes almost 2 hours. You WILL see Ladysmith.

We didn't go to the maritime museum because the bus only goes by every 2 hours and we where running out of time. You could stay at the marina at the foot of the museum if you wanted to see it.

Ron

JMHO but I can't think of a single good reason to go back to Ladysmith.* Dinner theatre in Chemainus was neither particularly good dinner nor theatre, again IMHO.* I may be prejudiced because we're moored there (but I don't think I am) but for my money Cowichan Bay has a lot more to offer than Ladysmith & Chemainus combined.*

The docks at Chemanius are newer concrete docks with full power and water. Washrooms and garbage dumpster are on the pier. The water is of good quality, and boat washing is allowed.

Reservations are a must, as there are only about 12-15 transient slips. They also have a short time (up to 4 hours) rate for shoppers.

Harmon will meet you and assist you in getting into the slips, he is a top notch harbormaster. All the boats of 'undesireable ambiance' have been moved to Crofton, which Harmon also manages.

Just back from the UK and Norway--- thanks for the comments on Ladysmith and Chemainus. From the comments I'm thinking that our original plan of staying at Telegraph Harbor and taking the ferry over to Chemainus is what we'll do. We like Telegraph Harbor, our friends will enjoy the ferry ride to town and back and we don't have any interest in the dinner theatre.

My own main interest in visiting Ladysmith was to look up a very interesting fellow I met on the BC ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo a few months ago who lives on his sailboat in Ladysmith (boat name is "Shipping News.") But he's a long-haul trucker so may not even be there when we are. So I think we'll do the ferry-across-to-Chemainus thing. Thanks again.