Today our plan called for running north about two hours to drop Allison and Warren off at Samish Island, so they could return to Seattle, then turn south and begin our own trip back home to join them tomorrow. The plan was executed, just on a different schedule than we had anticipated.
We awoke to more crab in the trap and fog in Hunter Bay. The crab was good news, the fog not so good. A and W wanted to get to Samish Island by about noon so they could drive and ferry to Bremerton by late afternoon to see some more of Warren’s relatives. Since we couldn’t see across the bay, we weren’t going anywhere very soon. After a few hours, though, the fog started to lift and by 10:00 we were on our way. We calculated we could still get to Samish Island by 12:00, or soon thereafter, so no worries. No worries, that is, until we transited Lopez Pass and entered Rosario Strait where we couldn’t see across to the other side because of heavier fog. Rosario Strait is a major shipping channel that runs roughly north and south, and you don’t want to be caught out there unable to see the tanker before it hits you.
We started across, hoping that the fog would lift as we went, but before we were halfway across it got so thick we couldn’t see anything. Time for plan B. There is a small island just north of where we were, James Island, that has a small bay overlooking the strait so we headed for that. There were three other boats there, but room for us to anchor and wait. Wait we did. The sky was a beautiful blue above us, but the blanket of fog at sea level was thick and white. Occasionally it would look like it was lifting, but then it settled back in again.
We awoke to more crab in the trap and fog in Hunter Bay. The crab was good news, the fog not so good. A and W wanted to get to Samish Island by about noon so they could drive and ferry to Bremerton by late afternoon to see some more of Warren’s relatives. Since we couldn’t see across the bay, we weren’t going anywhere very soon. After a few hours, though, the fog started to lift and by 10:00 we were on our way. We calculated we could still get to Samish Island by 12:00, or soon thereafter, so no worries. No worries, that is, until we transited Lopez Pass and entered Rosario Strait where we couldn’t see across to the other side because of heavier fog. Rosario Strait is a major shipping channel that runs roughly north and south, and you don’t want to be caught out there unable to see the tanker before it hits you.
We started across, hoping that the fog would lift as we went, but before we were halfway across it got so thick we couldn’t see anything. Time for plan B. There is a small island just north of where we were, James Island, that has a small bay overlooking the strait so we headed for that. There were three other boats there, but room for us to anchor and wait. Wait we did. The sky was a beautiful blue above us, but the blanket of fog at sea level was thick and white. Occasionally it would look like it was lifting, but then it settled back in again.
Finally, at 2:00 on the dot, it lifted almost instantly and we were on our way. We would find out later that even the ferries in this area had stopped running for three hours and they usually run through anything. We felt bad about holding up A and W, but our decision to wait was validated by that.
From then on it was a smooth trip back to Samish and we dropped them off about 4:15. They would get to the relatives later than hoped for, but as it turned out they were still in time to lose some money in a poker party. We started our journey south, waiting to pick a destination until we could see how the currents and remaining sunlight would affect us. We went south through the Swinomish Channel, home to the small town of La Conner
and the Rainbow Bridge (I never understood that name, since it is painted orange)
and thought about stopping but decided to press on. We finally arrived at Penn Cove, home of the famous Penn Cove Mussels and the small town of Coupeville, about 8:45 and set the anchor literally as the red sun was disappearing on the horizon.
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