I Feel Like We Are Going On Vacation!
I feel like I am on the verge of going on vacation even though I haven’t been to work for almost a month now. The check sail went well, nearly perfect! The furling line for the new mainsail kept tangling. An easy fix Quinn and Dylan assured us. They would just run to the shop to grab a shackle or block or some piece of hardware to remedy the issue while we were filling the diesel tanks. We figured we needed about 130 gallons to fill the tanks so it should take at least 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is plenty of time! The riggers hurried off, Jeff went to get a hotdog he was craving, and I put together some sandwiches for Adrienne, Bill, and me while Bill started filling tanks. 15 minutes later and only 63 gallons in, the main tank was full. Interesting, because it is a 180 gallon tank which we thought only had about 35 gallons in it (that’s all the tank cleaning guys were able to get out when they cleaned the main tank)……always something interesting. We will figure that out later.
Dylan and Quinn were not back yet and Jeff was still looking for his hotdog. To use more time so that we did not need to leave the fuel dock, we filled the 2nd of the three tanks with 35 gallons. Still nobody is back. We have only used about 5 gallons out of the third tank so why bother. I slowly, slowly approached the gal at the pay window hoping someone would show up soon. As I handed the credit card over, Quinn and Dylan appeared thank goodness! I was explaining that we would need a couple of minutes more at the dock to repair a small issue she said no problem. The fix really did take only 5 minutes. That was a first! Jeff returned empty handed, the hotdog stand was closed. Well, it was 3:00 after all, maybe not too surprising. Salami sandwich for Jeff and we were off! Off to the islands then to Seattle for the next 2 weeks! No parade of workers to worry about, no testing of stuff, yahoooo! My dad liked to sing “we’re on vacation now, we’re on vacation now, we’re on vacation now, la la la laaaaa la la….
Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes to Swifts Bay on Lopez Island: We motored about 2 hours over to the anchorage at Swifts bay. Popped open a couple of beers and relaxed. We dropped the crab pot off the back of the boat and 3 hours later tried to pull it up but it was stuck, tangled around the rudder. Oh boy, we won’t be able to go anywhere with that trap wrapped up around the boat. With 4 brains working, we finally worked it out. Lesson learned, you must set the crab trap away from the boat. No crabs caught, chicken for dinner. Oh, well, maybe next time!
Swifts Bay to Rosario Resort: One of our favorite places in the San Juan Islands. We stayed 2 nights on a mooring ball. It is located on Orcas Island and was built by a famous shipwright from California. He arrived to the U.S. with 10 dollars and built a multimillion dollar business. He bought and built the resort and used his boat builders to do it, so it has a very nautical style. There are historic photos telling his story throughout the main house where the bar and restaurant are. All was closed due to COVID. There is also our favorite hike to the lake where we have seen otters previously, and we enjoyed it again with our friends. Surprisingly, we saw an otter right at the resort near the sound! Adrienne suggested renting a car for the next day and exploring the island. Great idea! We had a great time, after some yoga on the foredeck we bought some unusual vegetables at the farmer’s market, saw every bay on the island, went to the top Mount Constitution, the tallest peak in the San Juan Islands, hiked to waterfalls, and even had ice cream
Rosario Resort to Cypress Island: We had difficulty finding anchorage here. The islands are much more crowded than usual because at least half of these boats would have gone to the islands in Canada. Our intention was to anchor in Eagle Harbor, but it was very full. We looked down the entire side of the island and back up again, and just when we started thinking where could we go instead, a boat left a mooring ball at Pelican Beach and in we went. Yay! This state park has a nice hike to Eagle Cliffs which has a wonderful overlook across the Islands.
Cypress Island to Echo Bay on Sucia Island: Great wind for sailing this day! Piped up to 25 miles per hour with some gusts so we brought the sails down and motored in to the Bay. A pretty anchorage! We found a nice open spot on the edge. Turns out we were a bit lucky- read Adrienne’s account of it on their blog here: www.svwindtherapy.com
Sucia Island to Stuart Island: We woke up to large rocks seemingly growing up out of the sea as the tide went out. Up anchor and on to Prevost Harbor at Stuart Island before we get swallowed up by those monster rocks! There was no wind so we motored over. It was crazy busy! Motor yachts and sail boats with current and wind opposing making everybody turn in different directions. The third time was the charm to drop the anchor and even then it was pretty tight. We did get a nice spot and we went for the hike up to Turn Point looking out to Canada and watching the big ships making their turns to go north to British Columbia or south to the Pacific Ocean. We even got Bill a new hat at the self-pay souvenir stand to replace his old one from 12 years ago!
Stuart Island to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island: We tried to call ahead to get a reservation for a slip in at the dock. We were told there are no reservations and instructed to call at 8am to get on the waiting list. We did not realize we needed to be in the outer harbor at the time of the call. Up anchor at 8am and haul butt for the two hour trip to get on the waiting list. We sailed and motored around turn point, it was really fun to look at the light house from sea level after walking around it the day before. We called when we arrived to get our name on the list, anchored in the outer harbor at about 10am and waited. We started to recognize the names of other boats being called. Oh, Sacagawea! They said our name! How do I use this radio thing again! Up anchor and in we went. I (Kristin) finally got to dock Sacagawea for the first time. Yay! Roche is a cute little town and it is great to be able to go into town whenever without getting everyone in the dinghy at the same time. They have a flag lowering ceremony in the evening, gardens to walk around, a pool, and a Bocce Ball court when it isn’t COVID. We bought seafood off the dock and had a feast!
Roche Harbor to Watmough Bay : We motored through Mosquito Pass and along the west shore of San Juan Island looking for Orca Whales, skunked again. Half a dozen trips to the Islands and no Orca sightings… We were looking for an anchorage at a convenient spot to set off to Deception Pass the next day and we found Watmough Bay. Well protected, access to a park, beautiful cliffs on one side. Nice! We will revisit this spot.
Watmough Bay to Hope Island: Deception Pass can be dangerous as the currents can run up to about 8 knots with whirlpools and eddies if the tide is coming or going. It is no problem to go through at slack tide right between tides. Timing is important. On the other side is Hope Island and the beginning of North Puget Sound. We anchored off the north shore and went for a nice hike around most of the island on a singletrack trail which devolved into near-bushwhacking (Adrienne’s favorite!).
Hope Island to Langley on Whidbey Island: Officially started going south toward Seattle. We sailed most of the day. Love it! It is so quiet and beautiful. Langley had a bunch of private mooring balls that we didn’t expect but there was room for us. We set anchor and enjoyed a spectacular sunset!
Langley to Hidden Cove on Bainbridge Island: Bainbridge Island is right across the water from Seattle and it feels like we are in the suburbs here. Hidden Cove is at the northern end of the island and really seems hidden! We went for a walk and found famous Frog Rock! Watching the kids swim in the harbor and jump off the daymark into the water over and over almost got us to swim, but then we stuck our toes in and remembered we are not kids anymore- it was cold!
Hidden Cove to Bell Harbor Marina, downtown Seattle: So exciting sailing into a big city! We had to motor across Puget Sound because there was no wind. We watched as the skyline came into view. There is the space needle and the Ferris Wheel! We had a reservation for Bell Harbor for 2 nights. We explored Seattle right off the boat, which was a ghost town between COVID and the protests. Strange times, ugh! Singing classic rock tunes with Jeff at the top of our lungs in the near-empty marina was fun though. We did get breakfast at the Biscuit Bitch and some seafood at the Old Crab Pot, both with limited outdoor seating only. We even ran into a good friend at the port! Then we helped Adrienne and Jeff get to the train for the airport with their bags. I can’t believe it has been 2 weeks already!
Wahoo! Love to read of your adventures! How exciting! Hugs!
Thanks for another great post! And all of the pics so we can live vicariously through your experiences. I did a bike tour of the San Juan’s years ago and rode to the top of Mt Constitution. So fun!
We took the easy way in the car, but we did do a bike tour of Lopez Island, which will he in a future post…
Glad to hear you guys are having some fun adventuring after all the hard work you put into it. I’m going to work with Anna to figure out a way for us to join you. Probably no kids 🙂
Thanks for the update, brings back great memories of the San Juans…. Please keep us posted on your adventures.
We will keep them coming Pat!
OMG!!!!!…..LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF YOUR TRIP…….SO WISH WE WERE WITH YOU…….KEEP IT UP….STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY………WONDERING IF THE RECORD HEAT IS AFFECTING YOU……CAN YOU SEE THE SMOKE FROM THE WILD FIRES……..???……HAD DINNER WITH KAREN LAST FRIDAY ….SHE IS STILL WONDERFUL…..SO NICE BEING TOGETHER AT MARY AND BRIANS…….IF I SEND TRUMP ABOARD YOUR BOAT WILL YOU PROMISE TO DROWN HIS RACIST ASS……..?……BIG SAFE HUGS…….STANLEY AND JERRY……..
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Wish you could join us too Stanley! We are looking forward to seeing you when we get out to your area. Heat not so much, but the smoke from all the wildfires has made it here in a big way this past week. Reminds us of being in Montana this time of year… Glad you and Karen are able to get together, and while we would probably run up the Jolly Roger and put out a plank for certain people (LOL!), we are trying to keep this page apolitical and just about adventuring and what comes with it. 🙂 Hugs back to y’all and we expect you to sing along with the theme of the next post…
We had such a great time with you guys on this trip. Reading this blog brought back memories that had been hidden behind other memories. So many of them! And now we get to show you our neck of the woods. Different clothing this time, though. No long sleeves. No long pants. Just lots of hats and sunscreen! Love you guys!!!
We are so excited to do some cat sailing with y’all and enjoy the heat!! 🙂