(overnight Friday 7/14 at Anacortes Marina) Saturday July, 15 2000 - Friday July 21, 2000 in San Juan and Canadian Gulf Islands.
Here’s the details on the 34' CHB Trawler "Sara L" secured from Anacortes Yacht Charters.
Name: Sara L
Hailing Port: Anacortes, Wa
ID# 982380 US Customs ID: 0552092
Owner's Name/Number: David Hastings/Sara Morris
Builder: CHB
Year: 1984 Length: 33'6" Draft: 3'6" Beam 11'9"
Hull Color: White Trim: Wood trim accents, teak decks
Propeller Size: 24x19 Prop Rotation: walks to starboard
Engine Make(s): Ford Lehman 135hp Diesel Model(s): D2205/209
Serial# Number of Cylinders (per):
Old Type Winter: Delo 400, SAE 30 Summer
Fuel Tank(s) Capacity: 300 Water Tank(s) Capacity: 150
Hot Water Tank Capacity: 8? Generator Make/Model: none
Bobge will be crusing the same week on “S'Mitten” a 42' Grand Banks
Bill & Ann are on "Down Time" a 34' CHB (206-949-4674)
'Chart'- Charts referred to (unless otherwise specified) are in Bayless Enterprises "Marine Atlas" Volume1. Olympia to Malcolm Island.
'Wag.'- 1999 Waggoner Cruising Guide from Weatherly Press
'Cruise'- Migael Scherer's "A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound" from McGraw Hill
7/14/00 Get up to Anacortes Marina (chart7) by 4pm. Office briefing, onboard overview and 'walk around the park' checkout. Load up boat, and sleep on boat for the eve. in slip D24. N48 30.174 W122 36.244
Cruising to ~24 km to Patos (chart12) which is just NW of Sucia... nice bay, nice lighthouse. We can always head back to Sucia if we can't find moorage. That should put us ~12 km to bedwell (canadian customs) the next morn,on route for another ~19 km to Princess Cove, Wallace Island.
Bobge also notes, "on the way there's a giant oyster fest (bbq oysters...yum yum) on lummi friday-sunday...I know a bunch of the boaters (my brothers boat club). We could make a pit stop there on the way...most all these people have boated between here and Alaska for years and could give great waypointers on the rest of your trip..."
We'll meet Bob in Guemes Channel and select a route to head on up.
-----
Date: 7/15
Cruise from: Echo Harbor, Anacortes Cruise to: Patos. N48 47.133 W122 58.090
Engine Hours: depart- arrival-
Fuel: depart- arrival-
Time: depart- arrival-
Weather: Sunny day, bimini down.
Avg RPMs
Avg Kt.
0930 headed out of slip D24 in Anacortes Marina. Met up w/Bill/Ann oustide the harbor and communicated a bit w/them and Roger and Connier before heading off. Burned out GPS after about 5 min. in the 12V socket... not pleased.
1015 Got our bearings after a bit of confusion and will head around E side of Guemes I. & meet Bobge by Clark Pt. Will pass by W of Hat I. & shoot Huckleberry & Saddlebag I.
1025 1800rpm, 6.8kt
1050 1800 rpm, 7.5kt; Coming up Jack I. to pass between it and N tip of Guemes I (Clark Pt.)
1115 met up w/Bob-- decided to cruise up E side of Lummi I. (rather than W side)
1120 Bob along our starboard side-- took picture w/SW tip of Lummi in view.
1130 1800rpm, 6kt, ~45psi oil, 180degF; East enough on Lummi to now start heading up N & pass to W of Eliza I
1215 Punted on Inait Bay-- Bob didn't see his brother so we're heading up further. 1800rpm, 6.6kt. Heading 304deg up Hale Passage. Trina's making some turkey sandwiches since there's no Oyster/BBQ happening :-)
1325 Over to chart12 will head ~260deg up past Matia I. on port bow up toward Patos-- trying to stay W of N bound traffic lane in Strait of Georgia
1345 Past Puffin I. & just starting down Matia I. 1800rpm, 5.9kt
1350 Trinas gone downstairs to shower... voltage gage jumping on flying bridge.
1355 VHF on bridge not working, voltage guage steady @12.5V
1400 Fixed radio... connection came loose under helm
1405 Approaching N end of Sucia... my turn to shower
1430 Between Sucia & Patos... in below S of Patos a pilot whale visited with us. Good cover below Patos from a decent wind & chop coming N of the island. Make that a pair of Pilot whales. Running W in cover from the wind 1800rpm; 3.8kt (good current) for W approach to Active Cove.
1150 Moored in mouth of Active cove in 19' water. N48 47.136 W122 58.097 Ended up rafting up w/Bob who also set his anchor and then dragged back to us w/it.
1700 Back from a hike. 23' water. Ranger says high is 8.3' @1930
1900 Some wave action & current passing through. Still 23'
2000 Waves dwindling (thanks!)-- still ripping current. Pulled up the crab pot, but nothing w/the current.
0300 Serious waves but everything appears to be holding. Not ideal moorage.
0600 After checking a few more times, I'm a bit tired but it's time for Dukes mooring constitutional. Appears our anchor isn't doing much and bob is holding both of us.
0840 Wave action finally appearing to die down. Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eye-- and I won't be surprised if it's a dream (hmmm... bet that would make a good song).
Cruise from Active Harbor, Patos (chart12) ~12 km to bedwell (chart11, spot 10; canadian customs) the next morn,on route for another ~19 km to Princess Cove, Wallace Island. (Chart10, Spot 17; p.124 Wag) where we'll stay for the eve. Princess cove is mid-island on the SW side.
<Out Active Harbor on heading 270 for Saturna (& cross into Canada). Once in reasonable cover head 217 along Saturna's East Point and Monarch Head, and then around S tip of S Pender (Chart8), then heading 303 into Bedwell (chart11, spot10)>
-----
Date: 7/16
Cruise from: Active Harbor, Patos. Cruise to: Selby Cove, Prevost I. N48 50.058 W122 23.948
Weather: another sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky and no appreciable wind at 1200
Avg RPMs 1800
0940 1800rpm, 4.3kt; Heading 250 to Tumo. Calm, min winds (~8kt)
0955 Crossing border
1035 1800rpm, 6kt. Off of Taylor Pt, Saturna. Adjusted GPS to read Track as 'Auto Mag Variation'. Trina's doing the dishes-- the voltage gauge is jumping again. Must be related to the water pump.
1110 5min to Tilly Poin, S Pender. Just came up from below to check phone charge; It was ringing. I spoke w/slawler who wanted to know my office preference for the new building move. I thanked him and said I'd take a Pod somewhere central the various wireless apps/core teams.
1123 Entering Bedwell harbor
1153 Heading out of Bedwell. CA Customs Clearance #V203390. Check to make sure we have Duke's Rabies vacination history.
1205 1800rpm, 6.3kt, 45psi, 180degF; Going to punt on going all the way up to Wallace Pt. Instead will try Prevost's Selby Cove
1220 1800rpm, 7.8kt; 2-3nm up S and (SW side) on N Pender toward Boat Nook. Trina's going below to shower... I'll watch the volt gauge.
1236 @ Boat Nook; 1800rpm, 8.1kt; Voltage gauge does jump w/water pump.
1320 Approaching 3rd cove which is Selby Cove.
1355 Anchored in 17.5' water; ~50' chain out-- very soft bottom.
1500 A short nap-- we haven't moved so anchor's definitely set. Took Duke for a walk at the southern most toe of the cove. Hardly a 'sandy' beach as Wag suggests... muck/mud is a better description. And now there IS a private property sign & no sign of a farmhouse. Nevertheless, we threw the ball in the water for Duke. He seemed confused by the salt water taste. He keep spitting the ball out and then batting it around in the mud.
1530 Time to read and snooze.
1700 Played some chess w/Trina. Depth is now 23' so I let out another 15' chain. One more boat joined us in the cove, as did someone living in a house on the cove accessible by boat. Otherwise... besides the muskrat we saw swimming and the Eagle we heard, we're alone. Found a great candian classic rock station (92.8 KISM, Bellingham)
2200 Lengthened the scope a bit as the tide seems to continue to come up. 100' of chain now out.
0600 Flat calm, no wind-- was a great night, and we all slept soundly. Much nicer than last eve. in Patos' Active Cove. Trina rowed Duke (and me) in for his morning walk, this time on a rocky cliff across from our boat on the NE shore about halfway in the cove.
0800 Great morning in Selby cove. Now Trina's got the smokies and eggs on the burners-- smells great.. We've been eating well-- I barbequed NY strip steaks that past 2 evenings, along w/a greek salad and red potatoes which Trina whipped up.
1200 Really enjoying this cove, the weather and our little family. Took Duke up to explore the rocky beach and rock knoll at the mouth of the cove-- the SW molar of the mouth so to speak. We played there for an hour, having Duke chase the ball and swim, and climb up the rock to the knoll portion. On the way back saw a bald eagle perched on a tree overlooking our fine craft-- I snapped some pictures.
Cruise 13 km NE to N. Pender's Port Browning (Chart11, Spot9; ) where we'll stay for the eve. We'll head around the East side of Prevost this time and to the E of N. Pender too passing Mayne I. off to port. Then around Razor Pt. and into Port Browning.
-----
Date: 7/17
Cruise from: Selby Cove, Prevost I. Cruise to: Port Browning, N. Pender. N48 46.412 W122 15.996
Weather/Sea Condition: clear, sunny skies
1215 started engine.
1240 Underway at 1650rpm, 6kt & motoring out of Selby Cove. We're taking our time-- it's a beautiful day.
1300 I hosed down the anchor and deck. We saw a seal off the N tip of Prevost once running SE along Galiano I.
1310 I went down to shower-- the water hardly heats up w/45+min! Trina's cut power back to 1500rpm, 6kt. We're now @SE tip of Prevost, crossing over to N Pender along Mayne I. There appears to be a sailboat race between N Pendere and Mayne I... we'll cruise past closer to N Pender shore & keep the sailboats off to port.
1330 up to 1700rpm, 7.6-8kt
1335 back down to 1500, 7.3kt; beautiful sailing ships-- got lots of pictures.
1350 Fane I. off to our starboard bow. Trina's brought up some yummy sandwiches.
1400 Lots of seals here in Plumper Sound.
1430 Approaching Port Browning, N. Pender. 1500rpm, 6.6kt, 45psi, 180degF. Beautiful, sunny, cloudless, windless (water ever so slightly rippled) cruising day.
1448 We're anchored in 19.5' water and I've put out ~80' chain. Today's trip was 12.6nm, avg.5.7kt, max8.4kt, 2hr11min. Trina took a shower (after another 1.5 hrs, w/engine at 180deg)-- water's still cold after that cruise.
1515 13'
1718 Back from excursion into town. Bought the essentials: 1/2 dozen eggs, coconut rum and pineapple juice. Now we have 22' water.
1900 Great sloppy joes. An otter off our starboard bow seemed to be enjoying his sushi dinner as well. 27' water-- I let out some more chain; we now have 100' in.
2150 Sun's down. We're back from Duke's last walk for the day. He's gone up to sit on the cool cushions on the flying bridge. I'm sitting in the captains chair down below. When I poke my head out and whisper his name, he rolls his head over the side from where he's lying, and looks down attentively. What a good boy. I wonder if he too is enjoying the Merle Haggard...
0427 Heard the dingy banging into the swim step. Went outside to adjust... not much wind (1kt) but current was shifting around and as the boat was swinging the dingy got caught up to windward. I shifted it around, and went back to sleep.
0630 Duke says it's time to get up and go ashore, so like obedient masters we attended to his demands. 14' water this morning. This cove is protected too-- it was a quite night. But the houses around the cove, particularly on the N shore have some noisy kids by day. The town here is good for supplies (particularly the market in town); though the marina, even though the building is redone, is hardly setup as a marina. No marine shop, no tide reports. There is a cafe which looked nice, though we've done all our own cooking. We definitely enjoyed the solitude of Shelby cove, and probably weren't ready for civilization just yet. I think we'll go take a nap.
Cruise NE 14km to Cabbage I. Marine Park (Chart12, quadrant E/V; p. 114 Wag), near Saturna I. where we'll stay for the eve.
-----
Date: 7/18
Cruise from: Port Browning, N. Pender. Cruise to: Montague Harbor, Galiano I. N48 53.713 W123 23.918.
Engine Hours: depart- arrival-
Fuel: depart- arrival-
Time: depart- arrival-
Weather: another sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky and no wind to speak of at 1200
Avg RPMs
Avg Kt.
0930 Getting really shallow in our anchorage and choppier... so we decided to pull anchor & head out.
0940 Motoring out of Port Browning with coffee in hand and breakfast on the way. 1200rpm, 5.1kt. Haven't been able to get in touch w/Toddr but we'll shoot for Montague on the chance that he'll be there today (per precruise plan). Lots of clouds-- where did our great weather go!? Staying below for now where it's warm.
0955 Clouds/fog are blowing over us as we head out. We'll bear NW now-- it looks clear up there :-) out toward Montague. I'll step it up to 1400rpm, 6.1kt w/the cross wind off from starboard.
1030 1400rpm, 7.6kt. Entering Navy Channel; lots of seals.
1040 Up to flying bridge and up to 1500rpm, 7.8kt (noticed the flying bridge rpm gauge reads 1k lower than the gauge below ie. 1300 rather than 1400).
1100 Just below & had a shave. Back up & pushing up to 1800rpm, 5.9kt to assist from getting blown about. between Mayne I's "Helen Pt." and Galiano's "Collinson Pt." with Prevost I to port. and wind coming across port stern from the South.
1115 Todd, Jenny, Nice, Robin and friend just motored up to us near SE entry to Montague, past Phillimore Pt. in their 17' whaler loaded w/all their camping gear. To 1600rpm, 7kt.
1150 Moored in Montague.
1154 On one of the many mooring buoys in the North end. Trip summary: 12.8nm, avg 5.9kt, max.8.4kt, 2hr10min. Adjusted mooring lines so that we have two lines each doubled through the bow cleats.
1325 Had a great mac & cheese lunch, tidy'ed up the deck, and now we'll take Duke ashore and have him lead us to TJNR's campsite! (34' water where we're moored)
1715 Back from our excursion. We met up w/Todd and crew (and a big crew at that). John and his kids, John's dad Mike, and Rick and his kids. We hiked all around w/the gang... Duke had a ball on one of the sandy beaches that we parked at for a good hour. He played ball non-stop. A slew of other kids kept him busy when I got tired, and then a couple dogs and their owners came by and Duke played w/the dogs. Then we took Todd's whaler over to the marina/stores. On the way back, Todd, Jenny and the kids came aboard our vessel. We'll probably join them after dinner for smores and campfire stories.
Got talking w/Rick while waiting outside the marina stores w/Duke. He and his wife run a restaurant on San Juan called Duck Soup. He told us about an interesting route on the way back, so we'll probably make an early start tomorrow and try that. It's roughly 42nm out of the NW approach of Montague (chart 11), up N around the top of Saltspring I. (chart 10) and down between Saltspring and Vancouver I. through the Sansum Narrows, into Satellite Channel (chart 9), through Shute Passage @79deg over to Prevost Passage and then 97deg over into (chart8) Roche Harbor to clear US Customs... before heading another 3-4nm into Garrison Bay where we plan to meet Bill and Ann.
1930 Finished a great dinner w/Trina. I BBQ'd some chicken and Trina made up some wild rice and green beans... that was a great compliment to the coconut rum and pineapple juice. We're going to head over to the campsite with smores materials, and join the campers.
2200 Back from an evening at the campsite. We enjoyed desert, Robin was among the happy campers, Nick played w/Duke all eve., as Todd, Jenny and Rick studied the charts and mapped out tomorrow's excursion. We hiked over to the westward beach, covered in oyster shells, and watched the sunset. Now we're back on board, and ready to get a great nights sleep in preparation for what should be a long, and scenic cruise tomorrow. It's flat calm, windless and quiet in the harbor-- we should sleep well.
0550 Took Duke ashore for one last walk around the park; passed by the Roberts campsite and everyone seemed to be sleeping soundly.
Cruise S 19 km to Roche Harbor Customs and then on to 2-3km to San Juan I. Garrison Bay (Chart8, Spot5; p.95 Wag, p.309 Cruising) where we'll stay for the eve. This is an old historical site/British camp-- good hiking.
Must stop here at customs first so work this out prior to garrison bay.
Date: 7/19
Cruise from: Montague Harbor, Galiano I. Cruise to: Garrison Bay, San Juan I. N48 35.218 W123 09.45 via Roche harbor US Customs
Engine Hours: depart- 1501.5 arrival 1-1507.3 arrival2- 15xx
Time: depart-0656 arrival 1- 1 arrival 2- 1
Weather: clear and sunny, but windier
Avg RPMs
Avg Kt.
Received Customs Clearance# 002093
0651 Started motor.
0656 Underway and motoring out of Montague @1000rpm, 4.8kt. Great night-- flat calm, no wind, & silent. We'll head up NW though, there appears to be some clouds up that way, before heading bck down along the west side of Saltspring I. On the way out we're passing the NE shore/beach where we played yesterday with the Dukester. <picture>
0713 Moved up to 1800rpm, 6.9kt and the GPS says the total trip time dropped from 6hr40min to 5hr57min with an ETA of 1310.
0720 Passing Wise I's north tip to port; clouds overhead.
0736 Passing Governor Rock of the port bow & Walker Rock off the starboard bow
0747 Victoria Rock (U43) off to port
0757 Wallace I off to starboard-- nice small cove with some boats anchored about 1/3 way up the island. Looks like a small dock @ the south end and then room for ~3 boats anchoring.
0803 2nd 3rd of the way up Wallace we passed another neat anchorage inside a rocky shoal.
0820 Rounding Saltspring's "Southey Pt" (which is the northern most tip) in Houston Passage. Nice little cove at this point (though appears that it would be exposed to winds from the north, similar to Patos' Active Cove, though presumably nowhere near the same deal of current).
0910 Entering Sansum Narrows; Saltspring's Erskine Pt. off to port & a seal is here to greet us. 1800rpm, 7.6kt, 45psi, 180degF. The last wisps of fog & cloud over head & it's starting to look clear. Time to shed a layer of fleece!
0915 Looks like a fish farm on Vancouver I. between Grave Pt. and Arbutus Pt. It's quite scenic in here.
0937 A nice little cabin & beach at Vancouver I's Octopus Pt <picture>. There's an eagle we haven't seen calling out to us.
0942 Another nice house overlooking the narrows looking East on Vancouver I's Sansum Pt <photo>. Lots of little whirlpools at the point. Another nice house on the south side of the point at the bottom of a big rocky cliff. <picture> Lots more eddies and we're moving @ 8kt, 1800rpm.
0955 Heading out of the narrows & into Satellite channel-- I'm going below to shower.
1023 Up from my shower... a hint of warmer water after 3hrs is some positive thinking is aplied. Just now bearing into Satellite channel below Saltspring with BC's Saanich Peninsula to the south which is our starboard bow.
1045 Rounding into Shute Passage N of Piers I.
1105 Portland I. off to port 1800rpm, 8kt. Sunny, no clouds overhead though they appear to be hanging all around the horizon. There's a slight wind and 2-3' chop.
1130 <1nm from the US boarder below Moresby... <photo of fishing boat>. 1800rpm, 5.9kt
1140 Calling into customs by phone 1-800-562-5943
Vessel reg # 982380
Sara L, a 34' CHB
User Fee Decal # 10330
Canadian clearance # V203390
Departed Montague Hbr, Galiano I. this morn. and entered US.
Did not receive Release # or PIN by phone. We'll head into Roche to meet the inspectors.
1201 Crossed the border into US in Haro Strait. Biggest swells (~6'+) we've seen, in the middle of this strait.
1235 Heading into the inlet at Roche by jog around Pearl I. 1800rpm, 7.1kt. The GPS says the trip has been 40.2nm, avg 7kt, max10.7kt, total trip time 5hr43min
1253 On customs dock. 5hr57min trip time; 41nm; engine hrs 1507.3
1309 Starting engine and pushing off customs dock.
1415 Shutt off motor and anchored in Garrison Bay in 7ft of water with 50ft of chain. 2.68nm from Roche which we putted around taking our time.
1506 Back from walk ashore with Duke. Now we have 7.6' water. We spent time gazing around English camp.
Rest of evening: Bill and Ann arrived 1600ish with Buck and Nancy Jorgenson. We spent more time ashore at English camp, and then a nice evening on the Downtime. Chatted w/Buck about his apple orchard while enjoying some cheese and crackers. Great bacon wrapped steaks, salad, potatoes and some cabernet was the fare for the eve-- enjoyed thoroughly by all. More time ashore later that eve, and ~0700 the next morning with the dog before joining them in the morning for breakfast including bacon, smokies, yogurt, coffee, etc.
1030 Left the Sara L at her anchorage, and boarded Downtime to cruise out along the west side of San Juan to see if we can spot some whales. We spend a few hours out an about w/them before we all head back into Garrison to split off and take the Sara L out to Cypress I. Bill/Ann and crew will sail the Downtime to Sucia.
1300 Back from milling about-- saw lots of dolphins and dall's porpoises between Pile Pt and Like Kiln... mostly lower by pile. The dolphins/porpoises swam with us as we were motoring northward back up to Garrison. As we got up to Orcas we passed a pod of Orcas swimming southward. That was awesome.
Cruise x km to Cypress I. Eagle Harbor (p.78 Wag, p.252 Cruise). It's shallow. Enter slow and favor N. shore. At low tide and watch for submerged pilings, and shoal in middle. Miles of hiking trails.
it's clearly shorter ( ~24km) to go across on top of San Juan, Shaw and Lopez through Obstruction or Peavine Pass... but this will be the 2nd to last morn. cruise and we could take the longer route (~38) around the bottom of San Juan and Lopez and then up to Cypress. I'm leaning in the direction of the longer route, since I've done the other (trafficked) route before, and suspect our chance of seeing some whales of some sort might be decent going around the bottom/outside along Rosario Strait. Toddr suggested, if we "want to see whales, the west side of San Juan is the best place to be. We've seen them out there this past weekend and a couple days last week. Nick and I did a sightseeing flight and could see the whales swimming around under water - pretty cool. Which way you go depends a little bit on the weather. It could get pretty rough on the west side of San Juan, but it shouldn't be a big concern this time of year."
If we do an extra day on Saturday, then we cruise to Lopez I's Mackaye Harbor (p. 89 Wag, p. 287 Cruise.)
-----
Date: 7/20
Cruise from: Garrison Bay, San Juan, I. Cruise to: Mackeye Harbor, Lopez I. N48 26.501 W122 51.965
Engine Hours: depart- 1508.4 arrival- 1511.9
Time: depart- 1430 arrival- 1804
Weather/Sea Condition: clear, sunny skies
Avg RPMs 1800
Avg Kt. 5.4kt
1424 started engine
1430 Motoring out of Garrison Bay at 1000rpm, 4.4kt
1444 Heading out into water off San Juan's White Pt. up to 1800rpm, 6.1kt. We're going to head back around the West side of San Juan and look for more marine mammals.
1505 Motoring down to Lime Kiln Pt-- can see the lighthouse. 1800rpm, 9.4kt
1530 We're between Lime Kiln & Pile Pt. and now the current/eddies are definitely working against us. We've slowed to 4.3kt at 1800rpm. Just to make sure we didn't have any mechanical problems, or kelp on the prop because it did relatively feel like we were driving w/the breaks on, we did a 180deg spin and we shot up to 10kt! ie. a 3kt current against us. Saw a couple of porpoise again-- though this time they were a couple 100 yards further offshore from us rather than swimming directly around and under the boat as they were earlier when we were out on the Downtime.
1620 We're now about half way or less down between the South end of False bay and Eagle Pt. We're picking up a bit now to a whooping 5.9kt (at 1800rpm). Not the most exciting run w/out the whales...
1703 We're crossing San Juan Channel eastward at 5.7kt, 1800rpm... will go below Long I. and Charles I. and then head up North into Mackeye Harbor. Clear blue sky, and nice breeze, water slightly rippled.
1710 The Orca pod is headed West, and then eventually back North from earlier this morn! Saw 4 Orcas playing and breeching between Charles Island and mid way into San Juan Channel (between Charles I and San Juan's Cattle Point). Then saw 2 more, then 3 more then 2 more! The last one popped up to take a breath at 1730 no more than 20' off our starboard bow. Very cool! Duke was whistling at them-- He really wanted to jump in and swim with them.
1757 1500rpm, 7.1kt. Heading North up to Richardson fuel tanks on route into Lopez Island's Mackeye harbor.
1804 Anchored in 15' water (60' chain) by the Eastern, public access shore in Mackey Harbor. I shut the engine down, reading 1511.9hrs. Trip computer says we did 19.7nm from Garrison, avg5.4kt, max10.7kt with a trip time of 3hr37min.
1830 We took the boy ashore and set a crab pot. It's quite calm and peaceful. Noone's around except for a couple locals enjoying the afternoon of sun and slight breeze-- a nice old, small catboat rig, and a sporty hobie 16'.
2210 Pulled the crab pot... nothing. We're starting to see some rollers coming in from beyond Charles, which is causing us to roll a bit given that the boat is swinging around and taking them broadside. This east shore is a bit exposed. I set a Danforth anchor off the stern so the bow faces wsw into the rollers.
cruise to Anacortes to return the boat before noon.
-----
Date: 7/21
Cruise from: Mackeye Harbor, Lopez I. Cruise to: Anacortes N48 30.174 W122 36.244
Engine Hours: depart- 1511.9 arrival- ?
Time: depart- 0750 arrival- 1130
Weather: Worst of the trip. Patches of fog where we couldn't see 10 feet off the bow.
Avg RPMs
Avg Kt. 5.7kt
0530 Duke's up. Took a look outside-- we're totally socked in by fog. Hopefully if we go back to sleep for an hour some of it will burn off.
0750 Pulled the stern anchor which worked great last night, and then the bow anchor and were underway. Sprayed down the anchor, deck and dingy.
0810 Cruising out of Mackeye... fog appears to be lifting/burning off a bit. There's now about 2-3mi visibility. Up to 1800rpm, 7.3kt.
0850 Cut back to 1200rpm, 5k for the past 10 min. Could see only a few feet in front of our boat... and heard a fog horn from one of the big ships in the Rosario Strait shipping lanes. Definitely spooky being in total fog and hearing that. Just closely monitored the charts/gps and made sure we were inside the shipping lanes and off the rocks. Now I can see a clear shot between Colville I. and Pt. Colville toward the SE tip of Lopez. Will shoot it at 1800rpm, 6kt.
0900 Off Pt Colville and looking foggy ahead.
0910 Rounding Watmough Head and can now see Boulder Rock as expected given charts/gps. I'm staying to East of Boulder Rock. Lots of fog-- about a 1/4nm visibility at best.
0930 Kellett Lady is in sight, and fog has lifted a bit. Will motor up there before crossing Rosario Strait.
0945 Just shy of Kellet Lady and fog has lifted a bit. There are ships moving both directions. I'm going to attempt to cross over to Burrows I. At least now the ships will clearly see us and know our intent.
0954 Went ahead of the tug and sand barges going Southbound and below the tug and barge going northbound (and pushed up to 2000rpm, 7.4kt for the maneuver). Then back down to 1800rpm. We passed quite cleanly, and I had wanted to cross when I/they could see, and before the fog closed back in again which it does quite quickly, and w/out any significant warning; I really didn't want to cross in the fog. Hindsight suggested I could have let the first tug going southbound (while we were going northbound) close on us, and go behind him, and then behind the other. I just didn't want to move toward him head on in fog...
1030 Rounding Shannon Pt into Guemes Channel. The barge we passed behind (heading northbound) is to our port. 1 ferry has come into Ship Harbor, and another is loading to presumably depart shortly. I'll watch closely. 1800rpm, 4.8kt heading East into Guemes.
1130 Outside Anacortes marina. There are several boats (charters coming in) queuing at the fuel dock so we're hovering just outside the marina entry. Trip computer shows 19.4nm, Avg 5.7kt, max 10.7kt, 3hr23min.
1308 In slipD24, shutting down engine (took a loooong time to get to fuel dock). All in all a fantastic week.
Turned in all paperwork and key to the AYC folks. In general, we thought this was a super charter organization. They really run like a well oiled machine, w/a variety of crews at the fuel dock refueling dingy gerry cans, propane while you're refueling w/diesel, checkout/in people meeting every boat (Oleg in our case) going over everything on the vessel, divers dropping the water to checkout the hull, cleaning crews scheduled for a pass through the ship, people at the front desk making sure the paperwork is in order. It's quite painless as the charterer and we'll do it again w/them.
Spent a bit of time at Cap Sante marina, and Skipper Cress Yacht Sales with Iain walking aboard a new Nordic Tug 42' with the flying bridge. Beautiful vessel, ample salon area and an awesome (though separate/closed off from salon) bridge-- a magnificently wired main panel under the helm. After spending the week on the CHB, similar to Bob's Grand Banks configuration, we really like the two full staterooms, w/the master stateroom in the rear. Also appreciated the close proximity of the galley/bridge and salon...
1920 Caught the evening showing of "The Perfect Storm" about the Andrea Gail swordfish boat lost off the Grand Banks in 1991. Trina has wanted to read the book, and was going to take it along on our cruise-- which I strongly advised against her doing. The movie was as sad, as the book was frightening. Now I'll get her a copy of the book :-). Also have to get in touch w/Jeff-- seems his Dad's boat "Midnight Sun" is seen motoring in a clip in the opening of the movie.
0530 Saturday morning. Heard the wind and water outside. Disoriented a bit as it felt just a bit too soft, comfortable, and entirely too still to match the wind and waves I was hearing... Then realized I was sleeping in my own bed at home. A renewed sense of calm and comfort... rolled over and back to sleep until 0730 before we got up and took Duke out for his morning swim.