Tuesday: Fossil Bay, Sucia Island to Jones Island

Whoo-boy, it’s hot! We continue to be thankful for the nice weather, having experienced the opposite many times on the boat, but it has taken Allison and Warren a little by surprise. They’re used to the A/C of the Sacramento valley, not the heat wave of the Northwest.

Today was another pretty lazy day. We had a great breakfast, compliments of our new crew who had stopped in the Poulsbo bakery and Sakuma’s berry farm on their way north. We looked at the charts to plot a course and settled on Jones Island, a small state park that we haven’t been to in many years. Calvin found a place to relax and enjoy the cruise.

Jones Island is somewhat known for the resident deer population. Years ago, when it was still okay to feed them, they became very tame and would eat just about anything out of your hand. The Parks department tried to put an end to that practice, for the health of the deer, and the new generation is still visible but not quite as tame. Here’s one we saw a little off the beaten path:

The island is shaped a little like a figure “8” with small bays on the north and south sides and a short trail that connects them. It’s a very popular island for kayakers to stop and camp because the gravel beaches are easy to land on and there is plenty of room for camping.



We took the trail to the other side and back, but pretty much spent the rest of the day chatting and reading.

Monday: Anacortes to Fossil Bay, Sucia Island

The nice weather seems to have no end in sight, a condition we are happy to be part of.

This morning was a time to tidy up the boat, offload garbage, fill the fuel tanks, and head over to Samish Island to pick up Allison and Warren.

It’s only about an hour away and we arrived before they did, so Kristine picked some blackberries while we waited for a bit until they showed up. They had been at a reunion of Warren’s shirttail relatives down on Hood Canal, and now were ready for more family on Allison’s side. We shuttled them and their gear from shore in several dinghy trips, and then pulled anchor and headed for Sucia Island, one of our favorites and one both Allison and Michael always liked when they traveled with us as kids.

After a barbeque dinner topped off with fresh blackberry cobbler, we pulled out the cribbage board to teach Warren how to play and watch Allison win, as is the custom. It was another calm night at anchor with a fiery sunset that turned the whole sky orange.

Sunday: Parks Bay, Shaw Island to Anacortes

Last night’s storm had passed and it was a beautiful morning. We marveled at the good timing – it was much more pleasant to be inside at night during that storm than on the way somewhere having a terrible time. As the morning progressed, however, the fog started to build:

and build:

and build:

As I mentioned in a previous post, we don’t do fog, so we made some more coffee and pulled out our books and decided to wait it out. Today our destination was Anacortes, only a couple of hours away, so it was really no big deal – in fact, the currents would be more in our favor the longer we waited.

Anacortes is on the mainland and is the place that people go to catch the ferry for the San Juans or Sidney, BC. It has a huge marina and we don’t usually stop there, but we wanted to today because tomorrow we are planning on picking up Allison and her boyfriend Warren! They flew up from California last Wednesday and have been visiting with some of his family that lives in the NW, and now they are driving up to Samish Island where we will pick them up and take them with us for a few days. Warren’s never been in the islands, so we’re hoping it will be a treat for them both. Especially if this sunny weather holds.

The fog finally lifted about 12:30, after a few false hopes, and we cruised to Anacortes to wash the boat, buy some groceries and fuel, and mentally adjust to having two more people aboard.

Saturday: Shoal Bay, Lopez Island to Fisherman Bay, Lopez Island to Parks Bay, Shaw Island

Things looked to be back on track this morning. The crab trap had one keeper, not a record-setting haul but enough to build a dinner around. We used a can of cat food for bait, and Zoe was more interested in it than the crab, apparently.

The sun was out, our anchorage had been calm last night, and the engine repair had been successful.

We decided to take a two part cruise today, first around to Fisherman Bay on the other side of the island, then to a different place for anchoring overnight. We’ve gone into Fish Bay, as the locals call it, before but never stayed because the scenery is not terribly pretty. But the small village of Lopez is nearby and on Saturdays there is a farmers’ market, so we decided that we might as well go in and explore. The entrance to Fish Bay is narrow, S-shaped, and quite shallow. Since the tide would drop very low while we were there, we would have about five or six hours to kill before we would be able to leave again.

We got into the bay, anchored, and took the dingy ashore to one of the two big marinas. Lopez Island is pretty flat, unlike most of the other San Juans, and is a popular place for bicyclists because of that. People ride the ferry with their bikes or rent them on the island, and enjoy the rural feeling and nice scenery. Walking is easy, too, and it only took about thirty minutes to walk into “town.” Lopez is a very small village, about on the order of Eastsound that we visited earlier but we didn’t think it was quite as charming. We went to the farmers’ market that is set up in a big field, and while it was interesting it was a bit of a misnomer – there was only one food stall, the rest was arts and crafts and a bit of a let down after the eclectic goods we saw in Ganges. Here’s a shot of the layout:

We stopped in the grocery store for some ready-made sandwiches and salads and took them out to a driftwood log on the beach for lunch. Around the corner from where we ate there is a big wetlands area that is protected, but there is a small trail that goes out to a viewing platform in the middle of it. Here you can see some of the area with the bay in the background.





Then we stopped by the library for internet access and went back to the boat to wait for the tide to come back up high enough that we could transit the exit. While waiting, we talked to Michael some more about the aftermath of his accident – he is one lucky guy. Only cuts and bruises physically, and only about $80 in damages to his bike, glasses, and clothing. He was preparing to call the driver of the car to ask for a reimbursement.

Finally, about 3:00, we figured the conditions were right and set off for our overnight destination, Parks Bay on Shaw Island. It’s a beautiful place, one of the few in the San Juans that is surrounded by trees and no houses. That’s because it’s a biological preserve, owned by the University of Washington. You’re not allowed to go ashore, but anchoring is fine and it’s very pretty and quiet.

Kristine decided that today would do as the second half of her birthday celebration, so we had a crab dinner and opened presents. Around dinner time we noticed that the sky was suddenly getting very dark, and within a couple of hours it let loose with a dramatic lightening / thunder / rain storm. It’s unusual for a storm like that to come up so quickly around here, but boy did it go nuts. No wind, just straight down torrents of rain and flashes that lit up the whole bay – they must have been close. The rain subsided as we were going to bed, and the lightening and thunder seemed to be moving on, but we could still see and hear their effects as we went to sleep.

Friday: Bellingham to Shoal Bay, Lopez Island

Perhaps you can tell from the title of today’s post that things worked out better than yesterday. The rain had disappeared, the sun was out, and by 7:00 AM I was hanging upside down in the engine room removing the alternator; by 8:00 AM I was in a cab enroute to Whatcom Electric, by 8:30 AM I was being assured that there was “good news” – the alternator was, indeed, broken. (A rather perverse sense of humor, but he said that at least my diagnosis was correct and he wouldn’t have to send me back to the boat with a “sorry, it must be a different problem.”)

It felt good to stretch a little, and there was really nothing to do but wait, so I walked for an hour to get back to the marina. Kristine and I found a coffee shop where we could drink a $1.75 cup of coffee, free refills, for a couple of hours and use their wifi to catch up on email. That’s when we got a cell phone message from Michael that he had been hit by a car while riding his bicycle last night!

Jeeze. We called and talked for quite a while. He had been riding in the bike lane, a young couple in a car slowed down and turned into their driveway, right into him, no signal. Michael went head over heels on his brand new, two week old bike. Luckily, he escaped with only a few bumps and bruises and his bike came out virtually unscathed. But now he needs to deal with getting them to reimburse him for some expenses: broken glasses, torn clothing, etc. He said they seemed genuinely concerned and willing to help, gave him some water and $30 (all the cash they had on them), admitted it was their fault, and traded names and phone numbers. We’re hopeful the situation will be resolved over the next few days and very thankful that it turned out as well as it did.

By lunch time, the guy at Whatcom Electric called and said my alternator was shot, but for only two and a half “boat bucks” he could give me a completely rebuilt one that would essentially be like brand new, so I agreed and we headed back out to pick it up. This trip, we discovered that the marina offered a free shuttle service to guests (because the downtown area is so far away), so we asked a nice young fellow to drive us up, wait while I paid for the new one, and drive us back. He did so and even said those magic words when we got back: “We’re not allowed to take tips.”

Soon, the new alternator was reinstalled, tested, and it looked like we could be on our way. It was about 2:30, so we looked at the charts to see if we could get back into the San Juans somewhere for dinner, and settled on another bay we’d never anchored in called Shoal Bay. It would be about three hours and that seemed perfect, so off we went.

As I have said, I’m not much of a mechanic. When I make a repair like this I’m always a little nervous that I didn’t tighten something enough, or too much, or something. We took it slow for the first hour, just to be safe, but everything seemed to be running fine. About 6:00 we were dropping anchor, back in the San Juan Islands again.

Shoal Bay indents the north side of Lopez Island. At one end is the ferry terminal, we anchored at the other. We saw a few crap traps scattered around and decided to try our luck, since we were now back in the US where we are licensed to crab. We dropped a trap and will check it in the morning. The weather was very calm, and we felt relaxed again and ready to continue the trip.

Thursday: Sidney to Cadboro Bay – OOPS, I mean Bellingham, Washington

Happy Birthday to Kristine!

Another sunny start to the day boded well for the celebration. Kristine decided she wanted to spend the afternoon and night in Cadboro Bay, a nice spot we’ve been to before that’s near Victoria and home to the University of Victoria. We pulled away from the dock and as we were exiting the marina we again saw Loren and Erin, also leaving. We radioed an “adios” and turned south toward Cadboro Bay as they headed east.

Alas, the good luck we’ve been having was about to change. After 45 minutes or so, I noticed one of the gauges not registering properly and, from experience, surmised that our alternator must not be working properly. I’m not much of a mechanic, but I do know that if the alternator doesn’t work then the batteries won’t get charged when the engine is running. Since the batteries power everything on our boat, from the refrigerator to the water faucets and lights, to the ignition switch, we like to keep them well charged at all times. We have an electric charger that does the job when we are plugged into power at a dock, like last night, otherwise we rely on the alternator during each day of cruising. If we didn’t get the batteries charged back up in about two days, we would be stuck wherever we were.

This was not a good situation. We cruised along for a bit, discussing options and hoping that the situation would fix itself. Of course, it didn’t. We finally decided our best bet would be to detour back to the US a day early and see if we could get the alternator repaired in the San Juans, probably at Friday Harbor (the biggest city).

We made a left turn and headed for Roche Harbor, on the westernmost part San Juan Island, where we needed to clear customs before we could do anything else. Unlike previous visits, the customs agent was friendly and efficient and we were through in less than ten minutes. We pulled the boat ahead to a visitor dock, and I walked up to the resort to find a phone book.

To make a long story short, I found the following:

1. Nobody in the San Juans repairs alternators, they send them out to either Bellingham or Seattle (each a six-day turnaround)
2. Loren and Erin walking the dock.
   

We thought we’d seen the last of each other for this trip, but they had cleared customs here too and decided to stay the night. Upon hearing my plight, Loren said “I have a spare alternator aboard that you’re welcome to use.” What are the odds of that happening? To make another long story short:

1. By 4:30 we gave up trying to make his alternator fit on our engine
2. I called the repair place in Bellingham to see if they could fix ours in one day (Friday) if I got it to them in the morning, and they said yes
3. We cast off and headed for Bellingham

Bellingham is a medium sized town in northern Washington, on the mainland, home to Western Washington University and just a little south of the Canadian border. We’ve never been there by boat, but from the charts we estimated it would be about a five hour cruise – all the way through the San Juans, out the other side, across the Rosario Strait, and up Bellingham Bay. Nevertheless, it seemed like our best option.

We tried to make the most of our situation, even though this wasn’t the birthday Kristine had anticipated. The cruise was very scenic, and we tried to enjoy that part of it. By 8:30, when we were about an hour away from Bellingham, we realized that the sun would be going down soon and we also noticed a rather large rain cloud right over our destination. Neither of these was a particulary good sign. To make one more long story short:

1. The sun went down and it started raining just as we arrived at the marina
2. There was exactly one space left that we could fit into, but we had to dock in another part of the marina first and move a small boat by hand that was right in the middle of that one space before we could fit in (there was no one outside to help, probably because of the rain, and the boat's owner was nowhere to be seen)
3. We tied off, had a bite to eat, and went to bed.

Kristine decided that she would celebrate her birthday a little differently this year. The morning had been lovely, with a long shower, sunshine, a walk through Sidney, etc., so that counted. She would celebrate the second part of the day, from noon on, sometime in the next few days when our status became a little more settled.

Wednesday: Selby Cove, Prevost Island to Sidney

We’re about due for another night at a dock so we can enjoy some long showers and, more importantly, do some laundry. Our destination today was the town of Sidney, just a couple of hours away.

As I updated the map I’m keeping of our route, I noticed that it’s getting a little confusing with all the backtracking and crisscrossing. Sidney stands out a little more on its own. It’s a good sized town, familiar to many Washingtonians because it’s the terminus for the ferry that goes from Anacortes, through the San Juans, and into Canada. It’s not such a popular city itself, but it’s a short drive or bus ride into Victoria from here and that’s the main draw. However, for boaters it is a draw in itself because it has a very nice marina and lots of little shops to peruse on the main downtown street.

We cruised uneventfully, another beautiful morning, but as we got closer and to a vantage point from which we could see the San Juans again, we saw a thick blanket of fog shrouding them. For reasons we don’t understand, we’ve never had fog in the Gulf Islands but the San Juans often develop fog this time of year and today was a fine example of that. We’re not sure if it will stick around or affect the rest of our trip, since we’ll be heading back to the US in a couple of days; we will just have to take it a day at a time. We don’t do fog in the Elsa, after one attempt many years ago that turned out fine but aged us several years in the process.

Sidney’s a charming town that enjoys its flowers – there are gardens and baskets everywhere. Maybe they are extending the theme of the famous Buchardt Gardens, a tourist attraction for people from all over the world that is about 20 minutes from here. Whatever the reason, a bright sun shining on the flowers makes this a very colorful city. Even the marina gets into the act; each slip has a hanging basket fore and aft, as do all the walkways.

We walked through town and along the aptly named “East View Drive” where there is a nice view of the water and San Juans to the east. (The fog had burned off by the time we took this picture.)

Then it was back to the marina for laundry time, where we coincidentally ran into Loren and Erin again – it turned out they had come here and taken a slip two piers over from us. They are starting their return trip, planning to be back in Seattle in about four days. A barbeque and after dinner walk through town to the grocery store wound down the day.

Tuesday: “Unnamed Bay” on De Courcy Island to Selby Cove, Prevost Island

After a calm, restful night out of the wind, we woke to another clear, sunny morning. We can’t believe our luck with the weather this trip, especially compared to one we took last August that felt like November most of the time.

As we were eating breakfast, we noticed we had company: a family of four river otters was making its way along the shoreline, each member gulping down small fish as they swam along. They were only about thirty feet from us, so it was pretty fun to watch. On the other side of the bay, this guy was still looking for his breakfast.

We didn’t have a planned destination for today, so we got out the charts and discussed some alternatives. We settled on one, but then about ten minutes later we changed our minds and picked a small bay on Prevost Island. We haven’t been there in many years, and we wouldn’t have to fight some strong currents, going against us, to get to our other choice.

You know the feeling you get when something goes terribly wrong very quickly? The rapid pulse, the lump in the stomach, the dilating pupils, the sweaty palms? Then you probably know that when something almost goes terribly wrong very quickly that you feel the same way, but for just an instant and then you feel relief and quickly forget about it. We had the latter experience, fortunately, just after we pulled our anchor and started heading out for our newly decided upon destination. We were leaving a bay on the south end of De Courcy Island, and just to the south of us is another island with a small bay on its north shore. We decided to go over and take a peak – we had actually stayed overnight there once a long time ago, but wanted to revisit it for just a minute. We went in, very slowly, being mindful of the reefs that line both sides. The tide was low, so the reefs were easy to see; in a high tide, they pretty much disappear. After our visit, we noticed on the chart that there was a shortcut exit between a couple of the nastier looking reefs, so we figured we’d take it. Before we could say “holy crap,” we realized that the tide wasn’t quite low enough to expose another part of the reef – we could see under it the surface just about punch a hole in our keel. Reefs are pretty unfair that way. We made a quick, sharp turn to starboard (not enough time to just slam it into reverse) and hoped we would clear the danger. Boats don’t steer like cars, from the front, but rather from the back where the rudder is, so sometimes you think you’re making a sharp turn when actually your stern is still heading merrily along, even swinging wider the way you don’t want it to go. The gods were smiling on us, because we missed hitting the reef by that much and continued on our way without incident. Somebody told us that having bananas on a boat was bad luck, but we have had bananas the whole trip and had great weather and, now, missed a reef. We’re keeping the bananas.

As we quickly forgot about the incident, we headed south into the sun and pulled into Selby Cove about three hours later. Prevost looks a little like your right hand does if you hold it in front of you, thumb up, palm side in. There are five fingers of land poking out to the northwest which create four long, skinny bays that are popular anchorages. Selby Cove is the one between your forefinger and middle finger. We pulled in to find only one other boat. There was a beautiful little “niche” indenting a section of shoreline, complete with its own shell beach, and decided to make that our home for the night.

In Canada, more so than in the states, boaters at anchor often run an additional line from the stern of the boat to shore. This has the effect of holding the boat in one position, instead of allowing it to swing freely around in a circle on the whim of the tide and wind. It’s done mainly to allow more boats to stay in a crowded anchorage than would otherwise be able. We decided to use a stern line tonight not because of crowds, but so that we could keep our beautiful view of the niche and also get some shade in this very hot, still afternoon. Here’s what the setup looks like from our shady stern, followed by our view when we wanted to warm up.

The rest of the day we took it easy, tromping around on shore for a while and running the dinghy around the bay. Here’s Craig, with Elsa in the background.

Monday: Newcastle Island, near Nanaimo to “Unnamed Bay” on De Courcy Island

Today we will be starting to head south again, and to do that we will need to go back through Dodd Narrows. Slack was predicted for about 9 am or 4 pm; we opted for the 4 pm transit time. The wind had picked up overnight and was blowing pretty hard, even in our bay, but the anchor was holding fine so we decided to leave the boat there and take the dinghy across the channel to Nanaimo. We’d never done that before and wondered if (a) our little, unreliable outboard motor would hold out and (b) we would get swamped from the waves being kicked up by the wind, but tried it anyway and had a pretty easy crossing that only took about ten minutes.

We explored downtown Nanaimo and, although we have been here many times before, we found an area we had never been to: the historic district where the city actually began to take shape. After some wandering, it was time to check email, charge the laptop battery, get some groceries, and head to our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch.

Going back to the boat by dinghy was not quite as easy as coming across, because now the wind was against us. The waves were bigger and we got wetter, but we still made it and got back just about as it was time to leave for Dodd Narrows.

When a northwest wind blows, as it was today, it funnels down the Georgia Strait (the big body of water between Vancouver Island and the mainland) and into the little channel that connects the Nanaimo area with Dodd Narrows. It was pretty choppy, although we’ve seen worse. In less than an hour we were through the Narrows and less than another hour at our next anchorage.

We opted for a little bay that is unnamed on the charts, but it on the south end of De Courcy Island and offered nice protection from the wind that was still blowing. We came here last year during a similar northerly windstorm and shared it with one other boat. Today, several people had the same idea as us – by nightfall there were six others, but everyone still had plenty of room to swing. Here's a picture looking toward shore, the other boats were all anchored out farther than us.

This bay is part of a marine park, so we went ashore and hiked some of the trails. A couple of them lead to a bigger, more popular bay called “Pirate’s Cove,” but the wind isn’t as kind to boaters in there and tonight it was almost deserted.

On the beach, a kayaker was just pulling in and we got to talking. He was on a solo, three week trip from Port Hardy, way the heck on the north tip of Vancouver Island, to Seattle. (It turns out he lives just a few miles from us!) I don’t know how many miles that is, but look it up on a map and you will be astounded. I can attest to the fact that some of the water he has had to go through is ROUGH! Anyway, he was an interesting guy and found some fellow kayakers on the beach with whom to share dinner and stories. We went back to being our lazy selves, eating dinner in our soft chairs and watching the sun go down. We admired his drive, but are enjoying ourselves just the same.

Sunday: Telegraph Harbour, Thetis Island to Newcastle Island, near Nanaimo

The tide was very low when we woke (the picture from yesterday’s post was taken this morning from the boat), but we still had enough water under us to float so we were fine. We went back ashore to chat some more with Loren and Erin, then took a walk to a very small farmers’ market and around some of the island’s roads. Today we are heading to our northernmost point on the trip, near the town of Nanaimo, but to get there we have to wait to go through a pass not unlike Deception Pass in Washington, except much narrower and with potentially stronger currents. The predicted slack water at Dodd Narrows is at 3:17 pm, and it's about a two hour cruise, so we had some time to kill.

The Chris Craft rendezvous broke up about noon, and we snapped this picture of the Potentate leaving.

A little while later, we pulled the anchor and headed out ourselves. We got to Dodd Narrows a little early, but the current appeared manageable and other boats were going through, so we did too. Here’s what it looks like upon approach:

About forty minutes later we were lowering the anchor in a bay just off Newcastle Island. The island is a huge, beautiful park just across the water from downtown Nanaimo, the biggest city we’ve seen since we left Seattle. It’s a jewel. It’s also popular, especially on weekends, and the anchorage can get pretty crowded. Today was no exception, but we found a spot well enough away from other boats.

Here’s a picture of part of the shoreline of this island, and also one of a critter we startled and forced to climb a tree.

Back to the boat for some dinner and a chance to watch the sun set on Nanaimo.

Saturday: Ganges, Saltspring Island to Telegraph Harbour, Thetis Island

We awoke to another beautiful, sunny day. Reports were that yesterday was 90 degrees and we would be topping that in the days to come. This is definitely better than the first day of our trip, where we had to keep adding layers of clothing to keep warm!

With a plentiful supply of water because of being tied up to a dock, we were able to take nice, long showers for the first time in a while. We were due. We’re normally pretty stingy with water but we obey different rules when all we have to do to get more is run a hose.

With our fresh, clean outlook we went into town to explore the Saturday market. It’s a mixture of farmers and artisans and interesting to wander around. Here are a couple of pictures to give you a flavor:

For lunch we tried a new Mexican café, right at the head of our dock, and it was very good. Afterwards we went back to the dock, topped off the water tank one last time, and headed for our next destination: Telegraph Harbour on Thetis Island. Our friends Loren and Erin have a 52 foot wooden Chris Craft, and would be there attending a Chris Craft rendezvous.

We arrived after a three hour cruise, happily nothing like the USS Minnow’s three hour cruise on “Gilligan’s Island,” dropped anchor and went ashore. There were a number of Chris Crafts, some old and wooden and some newer and fiberglass, but all nice. We had a good time trading sea stories with Loren and Erin and her parents, who are traveling with them. We left after a while so that they could attend their group’s festivities and we could go back for a barbeque.

This bay is actually formed where two islands come together, and there is a very narrow cut between them. At least it’s narrow at low tide. Here are a couple of pictures to show you what a difference a tidal change makes: The cut at high tide, and the same view at low tide.

This trip, the water completely dried out during low tide, something we'd never seen before. It was a LOW tide.

Friday: Beaumont Park, South Pender Island to Ganges, Saltspring Island

If you haven’t noticed, there’s a link on the right side of the page, in red, where you can check and see the route we’ve taken so far. I’m updating it with each posting.

Today, our destination was a two hour cruise to the town of Ganges on Saltspring Island. As you can see from the map, Saltspring is by far the largest of the Gulf Islands. We have been to Ganges many times before and enjoy it each time. We are enroute to Thetis Island, a little farther north, where we will try to meet up with our friends Loren and Erin who will be there this weekend, so this seemed like a good stopover point.

We woke to a beautiful, sunny morning – no fog! We decided to get going early so that we could snag a place at the government dock in Ganges when people started leaving for other destinations. We pulled the anchor about 8:30 and had a great cruise in calm water until we approached Ganges.

About a mile or so from town we thought we saw Loren and Erin’s boat coming out, and when we hailed them on the marine radio it turned out we were right. They had been in Ganges last night and were just leaving. We confirmed plans to meet them tomorrow and continued in to dock.

We haven’t docked since we left Seattle, and it’s about time for us. We love to anchor, but at docks you get amenities like electricity, fresh water, and easy access to shore/town. In Canada, there are privately run, commercial docks and government docks; they are similar, but the government docks are cheaper and we prefer them. They don’t take reservations and can fill up early, so we were glad to pull in and find plenty of room. The government dock here is right in the middle of town and we like it.

Ganges is a small town by most standards, but a big one by Gulf Island standards. It’s very colorful and is visited by lots of tourists who travel through these islands by ferry. There are a lot of artists on this island, and they sell their wares in several shops around town. They also put on an open-air marked on Saturday mornings throughout the summer, which we will roam through tomorrow. Here are a couple of pictures of the town near the waterfront.

Not much else to add today, so I'll leave it at that.

Thursday: Blind Bay, Shaw Island to Beaumont Park, South Pender Island

We woke this morning to the sound of fog horns from the inter-island ferries, and looked outside to see … nothing. White out. Fortunately, we were in no hurry and slowly but surely the fog began to lift. Here’s a picture of a ferry coming into Shaw, after the fog had lifted a bit.

Once we could see enough to get to our crab trap, out we went. Sorry to say our banner catch of last year was not repeated, but we got two keepers – enough for dinner – and so Kristine didn’t have to put up with me pouting all day.

We hung around most of the morning, watching the fog lift, and finally about 10:30 decided it was time to go.

Our destination today was Beaumont Park, just across the Canadian border. It’s a beautiful national park and a place we haven’t been to in several years. There was no wind as we headed across Boundary Pass and into Bedwell Harbor on South Pender Island, where there is a very fancy resort hotel and also the customs dock, where we pulled up to take care of the formalities. Canadian customs is much different and easier that US customs: you tie up at the dock, pick up a phone that dials in automatically, talk to a friendly agent who asks a few questions, gives you a clearance number, and wishes you a nice trip.

Once that was done, we motored about 5 minutes away to Beaumont and dropped the anchor. Here’s a picture from the shore; you can see the resort on the far left and between the points in the middle you are looking back toward the US.





We went ashore and explored the beach a little, then started on a hike to the top of “Mount Norman.” The trail sign said it was a little over three kilometers, but what it didn’t say is that Mount Norman is 890 feet high, seemingly straight up, a fact we looked up when we got back down. It took us about an hour and some huffing and puffing, but we were rewarded with some good exercise and a fantastic view of the surrounding area. Hard to capture in a picture, but this may give you an idea.




Once back to the boat, we prepared for the main event of the day, our first fresh crab dinner of 2009. I cleaned and cooked the crab while Kristine made some “Canadian tomato” salad. (At the customs dock, we were informed that we weren’t allowed to bring tomatoes into Canada, and were to dispose of them in a box on the dock where other people had left their unauthorized produce. Kristine made a deposit, unwillingly, but luckily for us she found a few “Canadian tomatoes” on board by dinner time.) It was a very hot evening, but we found a little shade in which to sit and consume crab, tomatoes, bread, and wine while listening to a CD of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock playing a live concert on two pianos. I defy anyone to dream up a better evening than that.

Wednesday: Eastsound (Orcas Island) to Blind Bay (Shaw Island)

After a calm afternoon and anchor in East Sound, the wind did actually pick up during the night and made it feel more like the cruising books said it would. Nothing threatening, but enough for the waves to make some noise slapping against the hull of the boat as we were trying to sleep. In the morning, Kristine got up before me and reported that the whole bay was fogged in – she couldn’t even see the shore. The wind was still blowing, too, somewhat of an oddity since wind and fog don’t usually go together. By the time I got up, the fog was lifting although still visible around the edges.

We ate and went back into town. Our trip today would not be a long one, and we knew the library opened at 10:00 so we could go there, check email and update yesterday’s blog, head back to the boat and leave around noon or so. We hoped the fog would be gone by then. We wandered around some more, talking with a guy working at one of the parks who was a transplant 25 years ago from San Luis Obispo, California. He really likes island life. He treaded on thin ice a little with me when he tried to tell us how boring it had been in California, with the temperature about 70 degrees three hundred and some days a year, but I was in a charitable mood and forgave him.

The fog lifted, we finished our errands, and went back to the boat where we ate some lunch, pulled the anchor, and started heading south down East Sound. On the marine radio, we heard some people in another part of the San Juans talking about the heavy fog they were still experiencing. I gathered that one of the boats was lost and couldn’t navigate, but someone else was nearby and offered to get to them and let them follow close behind to get to where they were going. Most of the time, boaters are nice like that. It was odd to listen to, though, because where we were was clear and sunny.

We got to the end of East Sound, turned right into Harney Channel, and made the short hop to Blind Bay on Shaw Island. It’s funny – we’ve been here many times, and yet each time is different enough that it can be difficult to tell where you are. All the islands and waterways look pretty much alike. We have charts out at all times, and yet today Kristine and I disagreed on our exact location and which direction we should be heading. As other boating couples know, the best bet is to slow down until you both agree. After checking things out, she was right (no surprise), and we followed her course to head in the correct direction.

We pulled into Blind Bay, on the north side of Shaw Island, about 2:00 and dropped the anchor. As I mentioned yesterday, this was where we had really good luck crabbing last year and wanted to come back for the opening day of crabbing season this year. We set our trap (along with about 50 other people in our “secret hot spot”) and went ashore to take a little walk.

Shaw Island is one of the smaller islands, but it’s right in the center of the group. It’s very rural – there is ferry access and a number of people live here, but the only commercial establishment is a very small grocery store at the ferry terminal. You would have to be pretty much of a hermit to live here. It’s very scenic, though, as you can see from these pictures of the road we walked down and the view of Mt. Baker.

Later in the day, as we were hanging out and reading on the boat, we saw this great sight: the inter-island ferry was landing with a small, Homeland Security boat following it in and back out again. You can see the boat in this photo, but what you can’t see is that it is loaded with big rifles, just in case a terrorist decides to carry out an attack against our country.

Memo to Homeland Security Director: If you’re looking to save some money, it’s highly unlikely that a terrorist is going to plot a hostile action on an island that only has one grocery store and probably more livestock that people. Perhaps these guards could be deployed in a slightly more risky location.

Tuesday: Cornet Bay to Eastsound

We woke this morning to patches of blue sky, so right away we were feeling better than yesterday. Our plan was to go through Deception Pass and enter into the San Juan Islands, stopping at Eastsound.

Deception Pass is a narrow passage through which a lot of water goes. Because there are two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours or so, the water going through the pass goes “in” twice and “out” twice daily too. The speed varies, but it can get going over 8 knots, or about 9 ½ miles per hour before it changes direction and starts flowing the other way. And it doesn’t just go in a straight line, like a river; it swirls and bubbles and boils its way along. Boaters don’t want to be caught in it. Fortunately, the times each day when it changes direction are very accurately predicted and published in a number of tide guides and with a little planning you can be there when the water is “slack” and easy to transit.

Today, there was a slack predicted at 9:03 AM, perfect timing for us. We woke, showered, ate breakfast, performed the normal engine checks, and pulled the anchor at 8:30. We joined a parade of other boats who had come from other places but all wanted to be at Deception Pass at 9:03, and made a nice, safe, uneventful passage.

About an hour later we were across the Rosario Strait and entering into the San Juan Islands.

One of the neat things about boating around here is that no matter how many times we go, there are always places we have never been to before. Today we decided to go to one of those – the small town of Eastsound on Orcas Island. Orcas is the biggest of the islands and its south side is indented by three bays: East Sound (on the east), West Sound (in the middle), and Deer Harbor (on the west). That is also their order of size, with East Sound being the longest at about 6 nautical miles. The town of almost the same name (one word instead of two) is the biggest on the island but that’s not saying much. It’s touristy and charming, but also the main place where people who live on the island go.

We arrived about noon, dropped anchor, ate some lunch, and took the dinghy into shore to explore the town. It was sunny and warm and we had a good time exploring. We stopped at the library to access the internet and post yesterday’s blog, then went back to the boat to relax and barbeque some dinner. Another walk around at sunset and we were back for a good night’s sleep.

One of the reasons we’ve never been here before is because most of the local guide books say that the winds can really funnel down the six mile stretch and make the water pretty choppy for anchoring and sleeping. Today, however, we decided to chance it and we were glad we did. The little bit of wind that was present during the day completely died down by dinner time and we also had the whole bay to ourselves.



Tomorrow is the opening day of crabbing season, and we are ready. There are a number of places to get delicious Dungeness crab in these islands, and we are going back to a place we had great luck at last year, Blind Bay. We may even put the trap down here in East Sound while we have breakfast, and see if we can catch a few before we leave. Nothing wrong with stocking up, after all.

Monday: Seattle to Cornet Bay

We knew it was time to take a boat trip when, yesterday, it rained in Seattle for the first time since May. We packed our stuff and took a few trips to the boat, and after dinner a friend drove us there and dropped us off to spend the night so we could get an early start (thanks, Judy).

I apologize in advance for this first post, which will undoubtedly be about as boring as our cruise was. When we head to the San Juan Islands, the first day is typically long because we have to go so far in a slow boat, and it’s not really very scenic so there’s not usually much to talk about. Things will get better, and so will the blog.

The weather forecast was for another slightly miserable day, but turning sunnier and warmer as the week went on. We got up pretty early and left the dock at 8:00. It was windy, but not raining so we felt lucky. We were the only boat in the locks that connect Lake Washington with the salt water of Puget Sound and we got through them by 9:00, then pointed the boat north and officially started the trip. Our destination today was Cornet Bay, which is just “inside” Deception Pass. (More on that later.)

After about an hour, as we were passing Edmonds, we noticed that the clouds were descending so low that we were getting “misted” and we couldn’t see very far in front of our boat. It wasn’t like a dense fog, where you can’t see more than about fifty feet in front of you, but it was enough that we couldn’t get our bearings by sight alone. With the help of our hand-held GPS, though, we were able to steer a straight course with confidence that we were headed in the right direction. After weeks of 70 and 80 degree weather we were slightly unaccustomed to the cool mist and the need to keep adding layers to try to stay warm. Unlike many northwest boaters, we are too macho to go inside where there is a heater – we much prefer to sit up on the flybridge, uncovered, and freeze on our summer vacations. This picture of the Edmonds / Kingston ferry will give you an idea of the visibility we had in the distance.

Eventually, we emerged from the mist and could see the shoreline again, which made for much easier navigation. We chose to go a little slower than normal to ease our pain at the fuel pump, traveling most of the day at about 7 knots. We plodded along uneventfully until we arrived at Cornet Bay around 4:30, put down the anchor, and called it a day. It’s a nice state park with a small dock, but we prefer to anchor and enjoy the view off the stern of the boat.

We were cold and slightly damp, but a glass of wine and a Jimmy Buffet CD hit the spot and we started planning tomorrow’s more interesting itinerary through Deception Pass and into the San Juans.