After all, this is the longest day of the year! We need to be someplace where you get the most bang for your buck in the sunset department. We got underway at 1:30 and headed out to James Island. It's one of the closer islands to Anacortes, but it requires crossing Rosario Strait. Well here, let's just look a the map again
See the #1 on the far right? That's Anacortes. Follow that line to the left and you'll see Decatur Island. The little island east of Decatur that looks like a dog bone is James Island. It took us two and a half hours to motor over because we were fighting the last of the current. But nobody was complaining.
Midshipman hard at work.
It stayed pretty overcast until we arrived at James Is. and then the skies cleared as we were rounding the top of the island
There was room for us at the small dock. That makes for easy dogwalking!
This 44' dock is on the west side of the island. It was sunny, protected from wind and WARM.
We pulled in wearing hoodies and wind shirts and the folks in the other boat were in bathing suits. This little island is part of the Washington State Marine Park system. It has this little dock on the west side, four mooring buoys on the east side, several campsites with fire rings and picnic tables, a covered picnic area and nice vault toilets. Besides the two boats on the dock there was a kayak camper set up under the covered picnic spot. He left early the next morning while Si and I were taking our walk.
But back to Summer Solstice. We all got into cooler clothes and started enjoying our surroundings.
Dave started exploring in the dinghy.
Penny got caught up with some texts. Check out the glasseseseses.
Then she got out on the stand up paddleboard.
Not really. That was the woman from the boat next to us.
Simon and I took a walk.
It's a short walk across the isthmus to the east side of the island.
From there you get a beautiful view out across Rosario Strait. That high island to the left is Cypress Island. That's the island we checked out on Wednesday.
Captain Dave is happy for another uneventful trip and perfect landing. Well and who wouldn't be happy with this weather?
Here's a few more views of this special spot.
This was our first stop when we came here in 2005 and started formulating this whole life change.
So it was only fitting that we return for our first overnight trip.
And it was all the more special that we had such a good friend with us.
The colors got richer and more golden as the sun got lower in the sky.
It was a perfect spot to spend the longest day of the year.
We grilled a steak and enjoyed it with green salad and artisan bread.
Add a nice bottle of red wine and we were feeling pretty grateful for our good fortune.
Dave and I were feeling especially grateful that Benny had given up on some of the Summer Solstice celebration ideas she had researched the night before. In particular the dancing naked around the bonfire or skinny dipping.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
The next morning we woke to another perfect day. Everyone slept well, and the raccoons didn't bother us.
Not so for our dock neighbors. They had left a bag of garbage in their cockpit and the raccoons, who are notorious for this, boarded their boat and redecorated their cockpit. And not in a good way.
Simon and I saw the pawprints in the dew on the metal ramp when we went for our walk. And the "deposit" one of them left at the top.
I thought you'd rather see a picture of the sun rising over the island.
We warmed up the cabin by making up a big pot of coffee and baking some cinnamon biscuits. Back on the island we met a really nice couple who were on their maiden voyage in their new-to-them boat, a Catalina 30. These folks used to live in Roseburg and now live in Yakima. They are on a similar path to ours.
We figured we'd head out between noon and 1pm to catch a favorable current this time. Around 11:30 the circus began. First a trawler, about 40', pulled in looking for a spot on the dock or the mooring that used to be there, but is no more. So they dropped their anchor. Notice I didn't say "set" their anchor. This spot is known for being a difficult place to anchor because it's very deep and has a rock bottom. All the guide books advise not to bother. We learned first hand in 2005 that this is true. It was calm though so I'm sure they thought they were holding. I'm still not sure if they realized they were dragging. In the meantime a smaller sailboat, maybe 26' - 28', came into the cove looking for dockspace or a mooring. They asked when we'd be leaving. When we told them it would be an hour to hour and a half, they too decided to drop a hook. Oh well.
That was when our dock neighbors decided to leave the scene. As they left another small sailboat came in heading for the spot on the dock.
I decided Simon needed a walk so we watched the fun from a seat on a log on shore. All three boats were aiming for the newly vacated spot. The two sailboats prevailed and tied up in line. And then children started spilling out everywhere. There were fathers barking, mothers screaming, kids running barefoot all over the place.
It was pandemonium.
I told Simon it looked like it was time to go. We headed down to the boat where Benny and Dave said the same thing. We backed out and as we were leaving we watched the big trawler racing a Boston Whaler for our spot.
Have fun folks!
Lesson learned: take advantage of mid week cruising.
We had blue skies and sunshine for our return trip. Sunscreen had to be applied! By catching the helpful current we cut an hour off of our trip. Once again Captain Dave docked us in style.
So we headed over to The Brown for a Happy Hour celebration/cheap lunner.
Besides Benny had to go back again before heading home.
Back at the marina we took Benny over to meet our dock neighbors, Josh and Michelle. We shared a bottle of Caldera Mogli which they appreciated. We got to tour their beautiful Gulf 32 sailboat. They have really done a lot of nice things to this boat and it's by far the nicest example of this cool design.
Benny, ever the diligent midshipman, informed us last night was some kind of "super moon" and sure enough we were treated to a doozy
It capped off a wonderful visit with a truly great friend.
Thanks for everything Benny! We miss you already!
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