RIED HARBOR AND ECHO BAY

Reid Harbor on Stuart Island and Echo Bay on Sucia Island, Day 26-34

Typical morning  at anchor.

Three Wishes, Selene 53, owned by Neil & Nancy

Forever Young, Selene 43, owned by Jerry & Jenni

Youngster... Forever Young's dingy. We are anchored out in the bay.

Old school house and library.

New school house.

Who knew, John was willing to hike?

This is a forest... something we do not have in Las Vegas!

Jenni & Jerry

Orcus Killer Whales, very hard to photograph!

Whale watching at Turn Point, Stuart Island

John is having a smoke....

We pulled dock lines at 11 Am and headed for Reid harbor on Stuart Island.  We entered the bay and dropped anchor at 12:30 and within an hour were joined by Jerry and Jenny from “Forever Young” and Nancy and Neil from “Three Wishes”  very quiet evening as we suspect everyone need a bit of a break to allow the livers to heal.

Next morning, Jerry went over to Three Wishes as they were having some battery issues. They decided to head home early, as they need to get some other repairs done in preparing for their trip north in a few weeks. Jerry and Jenny came over and picked us up for a hike on Stuart Island.  Just a little 7-mile jaunt to the other side of the island to “Turning Point” and with lunch packed we took off.  At the top of the first hill, we came to the “One Room School”. The original one room school is now the Library, the original teachers home is now the museum and were open to the public. The new one room school was built back in the 80s and only open when children are on the Island.  We think that the island has 5 kids that attend the school now, but didn’t seem to be open on this Monday. Several passer bye benches with water and trunks that the locals sell on the trust basis. T-shirts and other cool memorabilia for sale and reminds one of days gone by!

We continued on our hike and as we approached the old lighthouse site, the Orcas came out to play and gave us quite the show. It is so difficult to get a picture of these whales. They only stay up for a second and by the time you get the camera on them, their gone, only to reappear somewhere else in a few minutes. Its as though they are taunting you! Although the lighthouse is no longer here and has been replaced by a steel tower with radar and cameras, the view from this site is amazing and well worth the trip.

We sat at one of the picnic tables for lunch and watched them for half an hour before heading back. Upon returning to the boat, Jerry came over and after a few beers and spreading the maps out, gave us a few tips and “gotta see” spots on our trip up north. He and Jenny are on there 5^th trip this year and will spend most of their time in Alaska this year.

After a big breakfast and chores to do, we pulled anchor and headed for Echo bay on Sucia Island. The trip took just under 3 hours, might have been shorter if we didn’t lollygag in order to find an internet connection.  Seems like we may have to rethink the phone carrier for next years trip, ATT service is real spotty up here in the San Juan’s and doesn’t get any better farther north.  Seems like Verizon has the best service.

We anchored in Echo Bay and within 30 minutes “Forever Young” was dropping there anchor not far from us. They will be staying for a few days before heading to Anacortes to meet up with friends.

Next morning we launched the Dingy and headed out for a short trip around the point towards Orcas Island in search of  service on the phones. Sure enough we found service and was able to make one update on the blog, return some emails and a few text messages.  Pretty amusing site to see us both in a little dingy with our laptops and Ipads. We rode the dingy around the bay for a few hours and after returning to the boat, sat and watched the wildlife. Its amazing stuff to watch the eagles, dolphins, seals, geese and other wildlife just a short distance from the mainland.

This morning is Friday the 29^th of April and its day 31 of the trip so far.  Jerry and Jenny left today and headed for Anacortes. Seems like we have spent so much time at anchor, but after some checking we have spent 15 days at anchor and 16 days at marinas.  Cant wait for the weather to get warmer, 64 at noon but get in the dingy and zipping around it gets quiet chilly.

Saturday we went looking for the internet and docked the dingy on the other side of Sucia Island at Fossil Bay, so nice to get back on land.  This bay has docks and mooring balls and the boats were packed in like sardines.  Not our cup of tea, but was nice to socialize with other people and spend a couple hours on land. John has promised me a nice dinner for my birthday when we check in at Bedwell for customs and a night at a marina.