A rain shadow can come in handy in November. Despite Vancouver's soggy autumn weather to date, rain forest dwellers know the wet season traditionally starts now. How best to get through it? Look no further than the Gulf Islands, where the Vancouver Island mountains strip moisture from incoming storm systems and cast a dry spell over places such as Salt Spring Island. It receives only half the precipitation that falls on Vancouver. Then factor in the Gulf Islands' sunshine quotient, which is equal to the Okanagan's. Clearly, this microclimate offers the quickest and driest alternative to the Lower Mainland.

Here's some advice: keep your eye on the weather forecast while devising a getaway plan. When skies show even half a chance of clearing, be prepared to hop a ferry at a moment's notice. For example, catch the nonstop noon sailing to Salt Spring on Saturdays that reaches the island in 90 minutes. Why Salt Spring? At a time when many island businesses are shutting down until next spring, the largest of the southern Gulf Islands offers the widest choice of off-season accommodations and services, plus the chance to tour artists' and craft studios and taste local food and wines.

Start with seafood. Fisherman Gary Le Marchant has been a fixture on the town dock at Ganges, Salt Spring's commercial hub, for decades. His boat, the Welbury Bay Too, is hard to miss. It's the one with the large sign reading "Crab" hanging above the wheelhouse. "I've sold crab here for 30 years," he proudly told the Georgia Straight as he held up a jumbo Dungeness for inspection. "I don't have to go looking for business. Everybody knows where to find me. Customers line up on the wharf and I'm happy to be here year-round." Freshly caught and cleaned off the boat, crab doesn't come better than this.

One of the biggest hits this past summer for guests staying at Hastings House–a historic country inn that overlooks Ganges Harbour–has been a day on the water with Le Marchant, learning the intricacies of crabbing, such as picking them up safely and determining the crustacean's sex (only the males are kept for the table). Jerry Parks, who is the coproprietor of Hastings House along with partner Bonny O'Connor, told the Straight: "If there's one person who can tell you the ins and outs of the island, it's Gary. Anything you want to know, just ask him."

The same could be said about a number of long-time islanders with edible wares and other goodies for sale, including David Wood and Chris Arnett. Along with his wife, Nancy, cheesemaker Wood produces eight flavours of soft goat cheese, three types of feta, two Camembert styles, a marcella, and his personal favourite, a hard montaña made from sheep's milk (and aged six months) at their Salt Spring Island Cheese Co., near Fulford Harbour, south of Ganges.

On the northeastern side of the hilly island, Arnett and his wife, Barb, have been selling whimsical wooden creations from their Salt Spring Island Folk Art studio for 20 years. In addition to colourful handicrafts, Arnett is also the author of The Terror of the Coast: Land Alienation and Colonial War on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands 1849-1863 (Talonbooks, 1999), which offers a refreshing First Nations perspective, particularly in light of current treaty negotiations.

Residents will tell you how much Salt Spring has changed over the past two decades. Up until the mid-1980s, this once-sleepy little island didn't offer much more than scenic beauty. Today, in addition to two wineries and an equal complement of cheesemakers, there are enough restaurants, art galleries, and places to rest your head to rival Washington state's San Juan Island, which long ago set the standard for island tourism in the Pacific Northwest. In many respects, the two islands have comparable natural charm. Back roads with a minimum of traffic lead past farm fields to beaches and regional and provincial parks.

Unlike some islands in the southern Gulf chain, there's more to see and do on Salt Spring than you can comfortably fit into a short visit. Don't get too ambitious and you'll do fine when you trade your umbrella for a shadow.

Links: Depending on whether you catch a nonstop or a multistop sailing, Salt Spring Island is a 90-minute to three-hour ferry ride from B.C. Ferries' Tsawwassen terminal, 38 kilometres south of Vancouver. For detailed sailing times, fares, and reservations, visit www.bcferries.com/ or call 1-888-223-3779. (There is no charge for reservations on Southern Gulf Island routes; if you have the chance, reserve in advance, particularly on the Sunday afternoon sailing from Salt Spring to Tsawwassen.)

To contact Gary Le Marchant, call 250-537-6280 or 250-537-9673, or track him down on the Centennial Wharf Thursdays to Sundays during the day, and other days after 4 p.m.

The Salt Spring Island Cheese Co.'s tasting room and shop is open daily, and visitors are welcome to take a self-guided tour of the property year-round. Contact Weston Creek Farm, 285 Reynolds Road, 250-653-2300. Salt Spring Island Folk Art is located at 460 Walker's Hook Road; call 250-537-8946.

Hastings House is located several minutes' walk from downtown Ganges and is open until mid-November. Call 250-537-2362 or 1-800-661-9255 or visit www.hastingshouse.com/ . Private chalets complete with mineral tubs and kitchens are available year-round at Salt Springs Spa Resort. Call 250-537-4111 or 1-800-665-0039 or visit www.saltspringspa.com/ .

Island Escapades offers tours, lessons, and rentals (including bikes) from their location in Ganges Harbour, 163 Fulford-Ganges Road; call 250-537-2553 or 1-888-529-2567 or visit www.islandescapades.com/ . Sea Otter Kayaking at the Salt Spring Marina in Ganges also offers tours and rentals, and will deliver kayaks anywhere on the island. Call 250-653-4222, or visit www.saltspring.com/kayaking/