Out in the islands

I apologize for not posting for a few days, but we've been out cruising in the islands.  I could say that we just didn't have the ability to post because we were in remote places, but in truth the cell signals have been at least as good as Anacortes.  And sometimes much better.  But gee, it's been hard to sit inside and look at a computer with such lovely scenery all around.

We left Anacortes on Tuesday at about 11:15 and headed over to Spencer Spit on Lopez Island. Here, let's look at the map.

Spencer Spit is that little point on Lopez Island that is just down from the upper right hand corner, pointing toward the lower part of Blakely Island.  It took us a couple of hours to get there from Anacortes.

We dropped our anchor in about 14 feet of water there.  This is part of the Washington State Parks system and has several campsites on shore.  It's part of the Cascadia Marine Trail. Which is a trail system that was developed for non-motorized, beachable watercraft users to travel and camp throughout the islands.  Pretty cool deal.  We loved the views there and walking on the island.

There's a lagoon in the center of the triangular spit.  It's kind of more like a marsh area.

Simon being a beach bum.

We were enjoying our stay there, but it got a tad rolly the next day from the traffic out in the channel.  So we pulled up the anchor and motored up to Blind Bay on Shaw Island.  If you look at the map again you'll see Shaw Island has a big notch on it's north shore.  That's Blind Bay.  And right in the middle of the opening of the bay is Blind Island, which doesn't really show up on the map.  Blind Island is also part of the Cascadia Marine Trail and a Washington State Park.  It has several campsites

as well as a vault toilet.  It also has mooring buoys, which is where we camped.

What a pretty boat.

These buoys are $12/night.  We would have preferred to anchor here, but it was a little deeper and we haven't installed our windlass yet.  Translated:  The anchor weighs 35lbs and the chain weighs 1.1lbs/ft.  This was 37 feet deep = 75.7lbs to be hauled up by hand.  Not doing that was worth the $12.  This little island is sweet!  You can walk up to the top and look up and down Harney Channel.  Orcas Island is on the other side of the channel and a ferry runs back and forth between the two islands all day it seems.  But we didn't suffer from any roll off of those wakes.  Probably because this ferry doesn't get up much speed between the two points.  

All this beauty and fresh air awakened my cooking mojo!  I made us a parmesan crusted cod dinner with green salad and bread for dinner

As you know, our space on the boat is limited.  That means everything on board should be able to do at least two things.  The more uses a thing has, the better chance it has of staying on board (I remind Dave of this daily).  Case in point, I needed to crush the crackers to mix with the grated cheese for the fish.  Obviously a rolling pin takes up a lot of space for a single purpose tool.  Hence we improvise.

Two uses for one bottle of wine.

The mornings have been foggy here lately.  

This is looking from out boat out into Harney Channel.

Not a problem as I needed to run a payroll for a client Thursday morning anyway.  We were ready to leave at noon and the fog had burned off.  We left Blind Bay as we had entered it and headed east in Harney Channel as we wanted to check out an anchorage on the southeast side of Shaw Island called Indian Cove.  So we traveled down the east side of Shaw to Upright Channel and pulled into Indian Cove.  We found it to be a tad shallow closer to shore and there's a few rocky spots, but otherwise it looks like a good spot for us some time when we come back this way.  We picked our way through the crab trap floats and back out into Upright Channel and pointed our bow across San Juan Channel to Friday Harbor.  And that's where we are now.  We treated ourselves to a couple of nights in the marina.  Here we can refill the water tanks, empty the holding tank and buy more hamburger for Simon.  He's been on a mild burger and rice diet since he had the lower intestinal "event" a couple of weeks ago and is thriving on it.  Of course I spend a lot of time cooking rice and burger, but I'm glad to do it to see him perky again.  

So, Friday Harbor...

This is a happenin' place!  We have never been here during the high season before.  We called from Blind Bay for a reservation for two nights and they could only guarantee us one night in a slip and then they told us they may have to move us.  Wha????  They told us to check in again in the morning and they would see what was available.  Fortunately they are able to leave us in this spot for one more night.  Whew.  And a lovely spot it is.  We have a nice couple in a motor yacht next to us.  They were headed out in their dinghy for a cocktail cruise and we asked them where we could buy ice.  The next thing we knew they had brought us back a bag of ice and wouldn't take any money for it.  

If you haven't been to Friday Harbor, it's the largest town in the islands and the county seat of San Juan County, which is comprised of most of the islands.  On our little map Friday Harbor is the black dot on San Juan Island.  You can take a Washington State Ferry from Anacortes out to Friday Harbor and then have your car to drive around the island.  It's a beautiful drive that we did last spring.  Again, the interior of the island is agricultural.  There are a couple of wineries along the way.  But this time we're here on our own boat and it's a great spot for that as well. It's got good restaurants, art and all kinds of services for boaters.  There's Kings Market just a few blocks up the main drag which is a well stocked grocery store.  And prices were better than I expected.  They even had a very patient assistant in the wine department explaining to a woman that there is no locally produced Pinot Noir, she should buy an Oregon one. Multiple times.  sigh

We docked, got plugged in and settled and then went up the dock with Si.  Poor guy couldn't make it all the way up the dock as it's at least a quarter mile.  But no worries, he's apparently not the only one who couldn't wait as they have doggy clean up bags along the way on the docks.  We found a place to eat between the marina and the ferry dock where Simon could sit with us.

Si chillin at the Blue Water Bar & Grill after a cool drink.

He had his own water dish under the table.

And a perfect breeze.

Kobe beef sliders and Irish Nachos! And Mack and Jack.

Of course.

Did I mention these folks start Happy Hour at 2 o'clock?

We had a relaxing evening back on the boat and then a very restful, quiet night's sleep.  This morning I took Si for a walk up in the lovely little park at the top of the marina.

We had a nice stroll around the ferry parking area where a whole crowd of folks were waiting for the 7:30 ferry.  We even found another little park called Sunken Park.  The coffee shops were all full of ferry waiting folks.  This town reminds me a bit of Ashland.  With boats.  

Well those water tanks aren't going to fill themselves, so I guess I better get after it.  

Maybe I'll take Simon for a walk first....

Shipwreck Days

Saturday was Shipwreck Day.  Apparently 30 years ago a bunch of commercial fishermen brought a bunch of their old tackle ashore and sold it to people who turned it into lovely yard art.  It was such a hit that it has become a beloved Anacortes tradition.  Nowadays the Fidaldo Island Rotary Club runs the show.  They get the permits, close down the main drag, assign booths, keep the fire department happy and charge space rent. I overheard someone at the Brown asking a woman with a day-glo vest festooned with Rotary credits about how much they make off of the gig and she said usually about $18,000.  But it's not just a fund raiser for them.  I read that many service clubs search for "treasures" all year long to sell in their clubs booth to raise funds for their respective causes.  Pretty cool.

Besides the philanthropic types, everybody and their dog seems to set up a booth.  The main street in Old Town is closed for TEN BLOCKS.

So Dave and I felt we should experience this event.  Keep in mind we live in a boat with approximately 200 square feet.  Maybe.  I'm no good at geometry.  If we bring something on board we better have a place picked out for it ahead of time.  Otherwise something else has to go.  We had no plans to actually shop.  If we were to brave ten blocks of yard sale, we needed sustenance.  So we started at the Brown for lunch.  But first we coached ourselves into accepting reality.  Not only was it Shipwreck Day, but it was Farmers Market.  And let's not forget the invasion of the Crabanese.  We told ourselves we may not find a shady parking spot for Simon.  And even if we did, we likely would not find a place to sit at the Brown.  However we found a lovely shady spot for Simon to nap in the pick-up, with the windows down.  And then we walked into the Brown and had barstools waiting for us.  Praise be.

After we placed our order and were engrossed in watching the British Open, a guy sat down next to me.  I heard him tell somebody he'd lived in Anacortes all his life and Shipwreck Day just keeps getting crazier.  So I asked him what was the population of Anacortes.  He said he believed it was between 10,000 and 12,000.  I told him I had heard 18,000 and he said that was the population of the entire Fidalgo Island.  I'm pretty sure all of them were on the street shopping through each others stuff.  You can't really tell from the pictures, but the street was packed.

Dave and I saw about one half of one of the blocks.  That was enough.  But there was some cool stuff!  Vintage clothing, antiques, as well as the regular used books and as-seen-on-tv-used-once-then-stuck-in-the-back-of-a-cabinet stuff.  Besides we had to get back to Simon who was sound asleep enjoying his shade, breezy nap spot.

Back at the marina the Crabanese were in full swing.  The crab cookers were steaming away and many happy folks filling up freezers.  Of course the local folks were shaking their heads and muttering quite a bit.  We're enjoying watching the show at this point but I'm sure at some point we'll be head waggers as well.

I hope all of your are enjoying the joys of summer wherever you find yourselves during this warm wonderful time of year.

Camp Sante

No, that's not a typo.  Our boat is still at Cap Sante, but this place has been taken over!  I could have also titled this post "Crab Sante".  

But back to CaMp Sante 

Okay, so it's probably only about 30 RV's and another ten or so tents.  But considering we normally see about four campers here, this feels like an invasion!  What the heck?

It's the Crabanese!

Or as our neighbor calls them "the crab people".  Crab season opened on Monday, the 15th.  But this is the first weekend of the season.  And the regulations only allow crabbing on Thursday through Monday.  Hence the invasion.  We started seeing the big trailer lot (as in boat trailers normally) fill up and wondered whether they were here for the crabbing or "Shipwreck Days", which is city-wide yard sale.  But between conversations with friends on the docks and a walk through the encampment we figure they're here for the crab.  Within the camping area there are several groups that seem to be here together.  They have awnings and tables and crab cookers set up.  I have a feeling we'll be seeing some production lines for crab processing this weekend.  And they'll probably put out enough steam to create a fog bank.  But it looks like everybody is having fun and behaving themselves so that's great!  

Meanwhile there's Shipwreck Days, which as far as I can tell is actually one day.  The main street in historic downtown is closed off as well as a block on each side of the cross streets for about 10 blocks and it becomes a huge yard sale. We'll check it out and give you a report.  

We'll also let you know how this invasion of the Crabanese pans out.  Or would that be "pots out"?  

In the meantime, we're enjoying the normal stuff that happens here in Anacortes.  On Friday nights in the summer there are the free concerts at Mariners Memorial Park.  We can hear them from the boat while we sip a glass of wine and eat Milano cookies.  Saturday there is the Farmers Market just on the other side of the Crabanese encampment.  

The other day we went to the library to check out the wifi.  I had a webinar I wanted to watch for continuing professional education and there isn't any wifi in the marina right now while they are upgrading the system.  And sure enough the library has a great signal.  And it's a really nice library that was full of people!  It took me a bit to find an open desk where I could sit.  It was story hour and that room was packed with kids they had given buckets to and they were all drumming up quite a racket!  Unfortunately as I was about to leave I saw that they opened about an hour after my webinar would be finished.  No worries, Safeway's Starbucks came to the rescue.  With the bonus of a Mexi-mocha and getting to wave at several familiar faces as they finished their shopping.  

So stay tuned friends for the report on Shipwreck Day(s) and the continuing saga of the Crabanese invasion.

  

Cover Job

Dave and I have been engaged in a tailoring job for a few days.  Our mainsail cover needed to be adjusted.  We have lazy jacks but our sail cover hadn't been adapted for them.  For the non-sailors:  lazy jacks are these cool lines that attach to the mast and then kind of "web" down to the boom so that when you drop your mainsail they drop in between and sit on top of the boom, ready to be tidied up and covered up.

"How lazy can sailors be that they invent all of this rigging to save them some work?" you might ask.

Well, in truth without this system you can drop your mainsail and have it laying all over your deck, maybe even falling into the water.  But back to the sail on the deck.  Dacron is a great material for sails, it handles the tremendous loads that we ask of it and requires little maintenance in return.  However if you've ever stepped on a sail on the deck of a boat you know it can resemble an ice skating rink.  You really don't want to ever have to step on a sail.  Its not safe.  Hence the virtues of the lazy jack system.

So here's a picture of our mainsail cover before

 See the lines that come down under the boom and how the navy sail cover is tucked into them?

Yeah, that's a pain.

A definite deterrent to getting that sail out and using it.

So we adapted it, copying the many sail covers that were built correctly.  In fact we have an excellent example right next to us at the marina.  This is what it looks like now

Much better.

In other news - As you may remember Simon was under the weather after we returned from Eagle Harbor.  We want to update you all that he is back to his old self.  

The guys enjoying the airshow at the marina.

A regular cast member of the airshow is Great Blue Heron.  This one was feeling pretty friendly last evening.

That inflatable dinghy now has a white streak down the middle of it.

I still like seeing them around, up close and personal.

The key word here being "see" them.  Simon rooted me out of bed at 2am last night to go up the dock.  Given the bout of lower-abdominal distress he had last week, I didn't question the request.  As we were walking up the dock we spooked one of these big bad boys who took off right in front of us.  And of course their take-off is always accompanied with a pre-historic squawking noise.  That'll pretty well eliminate any lower-intestinal issues you might have.

Of course while up there trying to take care of business in an efficient manner so I can get back to bed, we bumped into the night security guard who needed to visit for a bit.  Don't get me wrong, I so appreciate what great security the port provides.  But at 2 am I generally don't feel like chewing the fat.  Eventually we made it back down the dock where I spied another heron at the other end of the dock.  Fortunately we didn't get close enough to catch it's attention and Si and I made it back to bed in less than 20 minutes.

Life on the docks...

Oh Crab!

Yes, today was the opening of crabbing season here.  We really didn't know what to expect.  We've experienced opening day of trout season at Howard Prairie.  That entailed a whole bunch of fishermen going out at daybreak (or before) in sub-freezing temperatures.  We watched this from a warm boat with hot coffee in hand.

Then there's the opening day of deer season in Utah.  Dave grew up with it.  He was used to it.  The schools closed.  It was like a state holiday. Me, well I first experienced it as a girl from the San Francisco bay area who had never handled a gun. It was on the same level with the major holidays in the retail stores.  Kinda freaked me out the first time.  I drove back to California until it was over.

The opening day of crab season was very civilized.  But there were certainly more boats headed out this morning, all sporting a pile of crab traps.  Who wouldn't????  I love Dungeness crab!  I'll take it over lobster any day.  We probably won't go down that road this season.  But its in the future for sure.

Instead we were working on our mainsail cover.  I would post pictures, but we have issues....

The marina is changing the wifi system - "updating".  Yes, in the middle of the busy season.  They have posted notice - in very obscure positions - that there will be no wifi until AUGUST 1ST!  Fortunately we have a cellular hotspot, but it doesn't "pack the same whallup" as the wifi from the marina.  It will be a long two weeks.....

So there will be fewer pictures for a couple of weeks.  I'll try to be more descriptive with my writing...but I just hope you'll all hang in there.  A few of the dock neighbors have advised us to visit the library for their wifi.  Stay tuned.

Adventures on land

After our wonderful visit to Eagle Harbor we were glad we got back when we did.  The next day we had heavy winds out of the south that, combined with temperatures in the mid 60's, made it a tad cool.  Not to mention the challenges the wind created for the sailors here.  Even the Wednesday night racers, who seem to be possessed at times, all turned around and tucked their boats away saying it was just too much.

Our mascot, Simon the Doggi Lama, has also been facing some challenges with his already limited vision. So for the past couple of days we've been enjoying seeing more of our surroundings on land.  On Wednesday we drove out to Bayview State Park which is across Padilla Bay from Fidalgo Island.  Padilla Bay is a big shallow bay, less than a fathom deep (6 feet) for the most part.  So since the tides here average 9 feet, it spends a good part of the time as a mud flat.

"High Tide Use Only"

Seems to state the obvious...

From there we drove down to Camano Island.  Like Fidalgo Island where we are, Camano is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel.  It seems like a nice spot to live.  We took a back road back to Anacortes, stopping in Conway at the Conway Eatery and Pub.  A dock neighbor told us to give it a try as it has good food.  And it did!  It was a good old tavern type of place with a lot of regulars.  We like places like that.  We sat at the bar and visited with a local guy who gave us some more useful local knowledge.  The drive back to Anacortes was lovely traveling through the farmlands of Skagit Valley.  Because our focus is the water, I sometimes lose track of the fact that this is primarily an agricultural area.  Lots of corn, potatoes and berries being farmed here on beautiful smaller family farms.

Yesterday morning I had a nice visit with a dock neighbor who also has a "sight-challenged" dog about Simon's size.  She grew up here but they now spend their winters in St. Louis, MO and their summers here on their boat.  They are just the nicest people and have been very helpful with their experience and local knowledge.  She was telling me about Whistle Lake which is just a few miles from the marina.  It's part of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands along with another small lake or two.  It's set among some tall timber with a nice wide trail as well as many smaller marked trails.  One of which goes around the lake.  Simon was content to hike into the lake and back out.

One of the many marked side trails.

Whistle Lake is a popular swimming hole for the younger, heartier crowd.

The wide, kind trail up to the lake.

This place gets used!  When we arrived the small parking area was pretty full.  As we were hiking in, probably half a mile or so, we passed a bunch of young folks who had been swimming who were on their way out.  Meanwhile we got passed by a few groups of picnic basket toting families on their way in.  It's nice to see a place like this that is appreciated and so well cared for.  We saw just one water bottle beside the trail.  Nice spot.

Well, it's time for me to get on with today's excitement - we're going to the fifth wheel to pick up the sewing machine for this weekend's project.  We're making some alterations to our mainsail cover.  Stay tuned, I'm sure it'll keep you on the edge of your seats!

Eagle Harbor

After we cruised past Eagle Harbor with our midshipman Benny, we were looking forward to going back and spending some time there.  We got our chance on Monday.  We headed out at about 12:30.

As you can see we had our sail cover off with every intention of sailing.

Unfortunately there was no wind.  But there was lots of sunshine and warm temperatures and we have a great motor!

We got to Eagle Harbor in about two hours.  We hooked up to one of the free moorings there with about 37 feet of water under us.  Our boat draws 5'7" (meaning that's how far we hang down under the surface of the water) and there were a few moorings there that would have put us aground.  This one was right next to the steep cliff.  

Nice spot!

This is the view of the beach at the inside of the harbor.  It's a pebble beach, unless it's low tide.  Then it's a mud and pebble beach.

We brought the dinghy up and loaded the three of us up and rowed ashore to give Simon a potty break.  Speaking of potties, up in the trees above that little beach is a cool composting potty.  It looks like your run of the mill vault toilets, but there's a bucket of wood shavings and a scoop.  After use you put a scoop of wood shavings in and close the lid.  It actually smelled nice and woodsy in there!  

Eagle Harbor is on the northeast side of Cypress Island.  It's one of the steeper islands and as a result it has a few lakes and a system of trails to get to them.  We opted not to force the mature pup to hike that much on this trip.  

When we cruised by a few weeks ago we spotted several bald eagles in the trees on the steep, heavily wood  slopes here.  We even saw a couple of them fighting over some thing on the beach.  On this visit we saw no eagles at all.  Weird.  We speculated that they came to the island to pair up and then all go their separate ways to nest.  Kind of like a speed dating location.  Oh well.  It was still beautiful.

Here's Simon resting after his romp on shore.

Dinner was some pulled pork sliders and salad washed down with some Mack & Jack.

Mount Baker viewed through the Cone Islands.

One of the joys of being out is the freedom of hanging from a mooring or anchor  instead of being tied to a dock.  It allows the boat to move around with the currents and wind. So your view changes all the time.  You also feel the rock and roll from the movement of boats out in the channel that eventually reach into the harbor.  We felt quite a bit of rolling Monday night considering there is not much traffic in Bellingham Channel, especially at night.  Fortunately it was gentle rolling that mostly just rocks you to sleep.

The next morning Simon slept in, which gave us a chance to make coffee and get it in out travel cups before having to load him up in the dinghy to row to shore.  That's when we encountered the mud that has to be crossed to get to shore on that pretty little beach.  Just about lost a foot in that mud.  Plan B!  We pushed the dinghy back off the mud and rowed over to a nice gravel landing spot popular with kayakers.  

Yes, that is fog.  There was a bit of a marine layer in Bellingham Channel.

It burned off by noon.

After a couple of trips ashore we decided we would take off and look at a couple of other anchoring areas on Cypress Island before heading back to Anacortes.  The wind was going to change on Wednesday and would be coming from the south.  That makes docking in our slip very dicey.  So we opted to head back a day earlier than we had planned to keep things fun for all.  Again no wind, just a sunny still day.  We motored up the east coast of Cypress and checked out Surprising Cove

It looks like it's pretty exposed to current, but it's supposed to be Surprising-ly quiet in there.

We'll have to check it out sometime.

We also checked out Pelican Beach further north.  It has several free moorings also, but is very exposed to the current.  It does have a nice beach with campsites.  We then turned east and traveled across the top of Guemes Island and looked at the anchorages on the north and south sides of Saddlebag Island, a popular spot because it's so close to Anacortes.  

As we were entering the channel into the marina a bald eagle was sitting on the rock on top of Cap Sante and called out, welcoming us home.  It was very appropriate after our eagle-less visit to Eagle Harbor.

Anchors Aweigh!

It looks like we are going out sailing tomorrow.  We've completed all projects deemed essential or at least the ones that we think about in the wee hours of the morning.  The crowds have brought their boats back and gone home.  The weather will be beautiful.  We have no good excuse not to go out and do what we came here for!  So tomorrow about 11:30 we'll leave the dock and catch the currents to help us along our way to go explore Cypress Island.  There are a couple of anchorages we want to check out.  Also this island is supposed to have some great hiking.  You  may recall we cruised past it when we were out exploring with Midshipman Benny Prennan.  One spot we'll be checking out is Eagle Harbor, which we've seen for ourselves is aptly named.  We lost count of the bald eagles as we cruised past.

Speaking of eagles, this morning as Simon and I were walking in Rotary Park we heard a crow making a ruckus (not unusual in the neighborhood).  But then I heard an eagle and looked up just in time to see it take flight just thirty feet away.  Being chased by the crow the whole time.  We have two that hang out in the tree line of Rotary Park, which is our view from the cockpit (Benny refers to this as her favorite tv channel).  They are constantly being harassed by gulls and crows and everything else that flies.

I'm not sure if I mentioned before, but we found a groomer for Simon here in town that we really like.  Anyways here's the before

And the after

She did a nice job and is just a nice lady. As I've mentioned before, Anacortes is quite a dog town.  For that matter the other day I saw a couple with a cat in their shopping cart in the produce department at Safeway.  That was a first.  However dogs are everywhere.  And since we've had warmer temps recently we started seeing signs like this one, found outside the Ace Hardware store

Since we'll be out exploring for a couple days, don't be concerned if you don't hear from us.  We'll post a full trip report when we get back.  Then again, we might just find we're internet capable!  In that case you'll get up-to-the-minute reporting!

July 4th

The 4th of July celebration in Anacortes was pretty decent!  We missed the parade.  We were upside down in the engine compartment flushing engine coolant.  Because that's how we celebrate.  But around 5pm the "Rock The Dock" concert began.  It was at Mariner's Memorial Park, about half a mile away.  But we could still hear it.  Especially when "Cherry, Cherry" the Neil Diamond tribute band started playing.  It sounded okay from here.  Not sure I would have moved in any closer.  About 10:15 the fireworks started and they were good!  We could sit on our stern perch seats and watch everything from the comfort of home.  With our fuzzy socks and blankets on our legs.  But that's late for us, so once it was over it wasn't long before we were curled up in our cozy bed.

Which means we missed the real excitement.

This morning we learned that one of our neighbors up the dock got hit around 11:30pm.  Apparently a guy in a speedboat was motoring up the fairway (the "back alley" behind our row of boats), running his motor full out.  He couldn't get his boat to really move and didn't have steerage (the ability to steer the boat which requires forward momentum).  Our neighbors were returning from having driven over closer to the fireworks display and were just boarding their boat when this guy careens into them, hitting their outboard motor.  He had been anchored out in the bay to watch the fireworks and it seems he forgot to pull up his anchor when he headed back to the marina.  So he dragged it about half a mile into the marina.  Hence his inability to gain speed or steerage.  He bounced off a couple of boats.  Clad only in his underpants.  I guess he got to spend the evening at the police station.  Fortunately our Missouri neighbors sustained no damage.

Meanwhile here are a few observations

 

Every Monday morning a couple of teams of women come down and take out a couple of these pretty rowboats.

This lovely little wooden boat is right across the dock from us.  We haven't met the owner yet, but the light was hitting her just right this evening.

I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful summer season!