ENJOYING THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS

The weekend of Friday April 8, 9 & 10 (Days 10 - 12)

We spent the weekend at anchor in Mud Bay Lopez Island where the mornings started out very foggy but didn't last very long. The sun would come out while we were whittling away at odd jobs on the list. Friday actually got up to 63*. We spent late afternoon in the aft cockpit enjoying the peace and quite talking about the travels to come, reading up on locations and planning the next couple of weeks. 

Saturday the sun was out by 10am and were launched the dingy at high noon. The winches John rebuilt at home last fall worked great. The new cordless remotes make everything so much easier. It's always very welcoming to hear the engine actually start up after having been stored for months on end. We tooled around checking out the three sailboats anchored here, two of which are severely neglected or abandoned and one old wooden gaff rig that perhaps belongs to one of the very nice homes that dot the shoreline. Skirting across the bay things got a bit chilly... I'm such a LV girl! We scoped out Sperry Peninsula and Skull Isle. ARG! We worked together getting the Zodiak inflatable back on board and spent the rest of the day goofing off listening to classic rock. As we got in the prone position, we were greeted by clear skies and the Big Dipper perfectly framed in the bow hatch above our bed!

Mud Bay or Blind Bay... hard to be sure :-)

Sunday was more of the same. We went over the weather, winds primarily. With southeast winds due, we decided on moving to Shaw Islands, Blind Cove in the morning. It won't take long to get there.

Sorry most pictures will have to wait.... till we are in port again. Wifi and Cell service not available while we are underway. Going to post this as is for now..... and today is Tuesday April 26th day 28, so I'm way behind and looks like I'll be skipping around to keep everyone informed.

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday   April 11 - 13 (Day 13 - 15) 

Anchor came up without any problems. Lots of mud to rinse down! Probably why it's called Mud Bay. The sun greeted us as we headed out. It was interesting to watch the ferries travel in and out. We passed on on Lopez Island going out and traveled toward two where we are going. We had to watch the shallows, rocks and shoals very closely to get into Blind Bay. This is a smaller island, but seems to very popular. There are over ten sailboats moored here, seemingly to belong to the residents. We anchored out aways from them. We swing more than they do because we don't have a keel. Once we were settled, John got looking at his apps and learned of two wrecked vessels sunk near us, one forward and one aft! Something we may want to check in the future BEFORE setting the hook. We anchored in 19.5' of water with 125' of rhode out. Wind is up, tide came in, now the water is 25.5' deep. John let out more chain to be on the safe side. Safe side is good. I tried my hand at homemade rosemary garlic foccia bread. The stove has been giving me trouble. I like using the oven, it helps heat the salon. But my pilot light goes out on occasion. Will have to research that. The stove top has it's own set of challenges. John is worried, I'm going to want replace that too.

Crossing the shipping lanes to explore Orcus Island and Shaw Island. Selfie on the dingy.

Orcus Island Ferry Dock South (hotel is back upper left

Deception Pass Bridge on the way to Widbey Island

To be continued....

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

Monday, 4 April 16 (Day 6)

Brand new Westport yachts moored off our bow.

Tuesday, 5 April 16 (Day 7)

We are enjoying our moorage at Port Angeles Boat Haven Marina this morning. It rained last night. We both slept very well, even sleeping in until 7am. I worked on the blog a bit, downloading pictures and such. 

Made bacon and berry waffles for lunch with our Oregon Huckleberry Syrup I purchased at the Astoria Maritime Museum souvenir shop.  We spent the day relaxing on the boat and taking advantage of the 50 amp power and fresh water from the dock. Hollywood showers, laundry done, prepped the kitchen for dinner. John couldn’t help himself and washed the salt off the boat. I helped him with the windows. We enjoyed grilled steak, scalloped potatoes and salad for dinner, while planning on going into town tomorrow. 

Wednesday 6 April 16 (Day 8)

I slept in until 8! Got busy right away with getting some needs housekeeping out of the way. I was excited about seeing the history of Port Angeles and going out to lunch. I even curled my hair for a change. John got the wagon ready and off we went. 

 Heading out we found that 3 USCG vessels came in durning the night and moored on our “D” dock. No one was on board. They were pretty interesting to check out. We walked downtown, about a mile or two. We picked a trendy lunch spot near the pier called H2O Bistro. Our waitress was having a bad day so we helped lighten her funk.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was out , no wind. Across the way was the “Marine Life Center” where John was patient on a park bench while I admired the live sand dollars, sea stars, sea urchins and such. There were ponds where you could actually handle the creatures. 

The scallops we feeding.

There were many historic buildings and landmarks on the way up the hill to Safeway for fresh produce and other supplies. I took a bunch of pictures.

Mural of a ferry crossing, wouldn't this be a cool ship to nowadays? The people are part of the painting.

Can you see John pulling the wagon to the right? He had enough tourista stops for one day.

Back aboard the board, I stored the provisions and made Grumpy some brownies. We got out the maps and log book, deciding to leave for the San Juan Islands in the morning.

Thursday 7 April 16 (day 9)

The resident ducks stopped by for breakfast.  We got everything ship shape and headed over to the pump out station and check out. Our stay in Port Angeles had concluded.

The weather was great, the wind and seas were kind for our crossing over to Lopez Island. I kicked back on the fly bridge with John. He did most of the piloting today. I actually took a nap during the 5 hour trip. 

Mt Baker, WA

My selfie

San Juans in sight. Heading for Mud Bay, Lopez Island

Setting anchor 2nd time this year.

Spectacular view from our anchorage! And..... it's so quiet!

This is the same location we used when we did are 2011 cruise with Dad, Dave and Zane.

John wasted no time getting the kayak down. It was a wonderful afternoon. 

I hesitated giving him my camera, but did so anyway. 

We got our first pictures of Pairadice at anchor.

Swinging in the hook.

We concluded a most excellent day with enchiladas, mexican rice and salad feast.