Friday Harbor

We're anchored in popular Friday Harbor - with an internet connection on the boat! Nice. It's dark out and I'm watching the ferry go by, lit up like a moving parking garage at Christmas - and about to hit us with a fearsome wake. Actually, they slow down pretty good in the harbor.

     It's almost Labor day, and this is supposed to be the busiest spot in the islands. So far, I think the sketchy weather is keeping many people away. It's been quite windy and rainy, off and on over the last week, with more predicted.  

                                                                                                                                                                              Right now it's calm and only a bit cloudy, which is nice. Hopefully it won't blow like heck, as the water here is too deep for us to get a reassuring amount of scope out with the anchor. It's no fun waking up at 4 am to move the boat!

  Anyway, we'll be here for  a couple more nights, most likely. Next week we'll head back to Bellingham, yet again, for a day or so - just to check our mail and return some library books. Then I think we'll be aiming for Canadian waters.

          

Errata

Just some pics of Ruth when we bought her. She looks a bit different, now. Love that 1970's blue plaid upholstery!

Still Alive!

The boat didn't sink . . . and we're still a couple! All good news, indeed. Our trip started out a bit poorly, though, as the weather did not cooperate. Strong winds and big waves made for a short trip out of Blaine, and then back, this time to anchor in the bay, rather than tie up and pay at the marina. The next day dawned calm and beautiful, and we were off to Sucia Island, the northernmost of the San Juan Islands. 

Sucia is mostly a state park, with about half a dozen decent anchorages scattered along its circumference. It's also an extremely popular boating destination, and - in our bay alone - I counted over 75 other boats anchored around us. There wasn't much room for any boat to swing around on the anchor, and that was a constant worry, though not a real problem. We rowed the dinghy to shore a few times, and went for some nice hikes, and we semi-circumnavigated the whole island in our kayaks, as well. There were many seals, and numerous purple starfish in the water, and, also, Rebecca's camera is now a permanent bottom dweller there, too.  We still have mine, though. 

 Good thing, cause its kind of scenic here, sometimes!

                         

A couple of days later we up-anchored and headed for civilization: Roche Harbor, on San Juan Island. Again, it was calm and sunny on our passage, and, again, we had to motor, rather than sail. We did time it so as to catch some favorable currents, however, and we mostly were traveling at double our normal speed. Roche Harbor is a privately owned, touristy marina (and floatplane port), and quite popular with the wealthy yacht owning crowd. I'm pretty sure Rebecca and I were the only non-employees there who had ever shopped at Walmart . . . .

There was some good hiking and an amazing sculpture "garden" but we didn't feel the need to stay more than one night.

Then we were off to a slightly less busy harbor on Stuart Island, just across the strait from Canada. There's no marina, city, or even electricity on Stuart, though there are a few hundred residents.    Floating in the harbor was a little barge that housed a photographer's gallery. He was a "character," but had some good pics and apparently did a good business. Rebecca bought some of his cards. 

We spent a couple of nights there, motoring the dinghy to shore for the hike to the lighthouse - staffed by a girl from Boulder - and doing plenty of kayaking in the currents around the island. 

I have been paddling my kayak every evening around sunset in most of the places we've been. Both of us are paddling the skin-on-frame boats that we built in May, and they elicit many, many questions. I enjoy answering them, but not as much as I am constantly enjoying the serenity of effortlessly and silently gliding through the water, exploring nooks and backwaters, surrounded by curious seals and viewing some truly amazing sunsets. It's occasionally a very profound experience, which I have been referring to as "kayak bliss."

And now . . . now we are back in Bellingham, though we did hit a few more destinations on our way here. We even got to do some sailing, as the wind was perfect yesterday. It's much nicer without the drone of the motor!

We'll be here a few days, then head back out for another week. Rebecca's lease is up at the end of August, but our cars will be here,  and, of course, our friends, so we will be back from time to time.

And it was good

Today we finally venture away from the marina we've been docked at. The last two weeks have been filled with taking care of the myriad tasks that boats of a certain age and state require, not to mention getting ourselves prepared and equipped. Mostly what's been holding us back, however, has been dealing with a non functioning motor, without which life amongst the light winds and strong currents around here would not be much fun.  

The previous owner, Jake, spent plenty of time and money upgrading the boat, making needed repairs and turning a 32 year old boat into a safe, seagoing, vessel. But, he wasn't much for aesthetics. We've taken care of a lot of that, however, and Ruth looks much more yachty than she did a few days ago!

Jake lived aboard, too, but without the benefit of a land based storage area.  Hence, the boat was filled with tons of extraneous crap, much of which we binned, or relegated to my own storage area/shop. We're  a lot better organized now, with ample room for whatever we'd like to carry with us - within reason, of course.

Today the motor is back from the shop, and our lease is up at the Blaine marina (just about 300 yards from Canada), so we are off to start our adventure. There's still a lot more sanding and varnishing and minor modifications to take care of, but we'll be doing that on the go.

Next stop -  likely it'll be Sucia island, at the Northern tip of the San Juans.