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.