Comming home

We finished our one week bareboat charter and are headed home tomorrow. This was a great trip and one that we would do again in a heartbeat. We had a great crew with us and even though a couple were green around the gills in any kind of rough seas I believe everyone had a great time. There are more places to explore the next time as we did not make it out to Jost Van Dyke and Foxy's or Diamond Key or Anagada Island. All of those are definite future places to visit as the reports from those that did visit them were all very positive. Our agenda was Norman Island the first night after leaving Road Town on Tortolla. It spoiled the rest of the trip because we were always looking for better snorkling spots and never found one. The absolute best snorkling was along the rocky shoreline in the inner harbor of the Bight on Norman Island. We checked out the Caves just outside of the bight and they paled by comparison. Day two found us on Coooper Island after a brisk day of sailing and learning how to sail up wind in a catamaran. Cooper is a nice place but we did not do much in the way of snorkling there. Rumor has it that it was ok at the rock pilars just south of the anchorage.
Day three we visited the Baths but the Red flags were flying and the surf prevented us from landing from the boat. We pulled into Spanish town and rented a taxi to take us down there. We hiked the short trail and wandered through the Caves and that was a fun excursion. Too bad it was too rough to snorkle through the rocks.
We stayed that night at Marina Cay and tried snorkling across from the anchorage but the current was quite strong and tried to pull us out to sea through the gap between Guana Island and Scrub Island.

Day four found us at the Bitter End and Saba rock after a great day of sailing. We got the boat up to 8.1 knots so we were excited about that. Saba Rock and the Bitter end is a Very nice place and well worth visiting but the reports on the snorkling were less than favorable.

Next day we opted out of going out to Anegada in case the weather changed and change it did. the run out there for the others was good but that night the wind came up and it was not only an exciting night in the anchorage but it was a wild ride back in heavy seas.

We cruised back to Monkey point to try snorkling there as it was reportedly one of the best spots but the surf was so big the visibility was poor and there was not much to see. The best part was all the yellow jack fish that swarmed around us at the boat waiting to be fed. hundreds of them swam around us as we floated in the water and it was a spectacular show.
We stayed the night in Trellis Bay and watched as two other sail boats ran aground on the same rock within an hour of our arrival. We watched as one captain tried to run over his wive and nearly succeded. She was in the water checking the damage when he decided to try to power off and he nearly backed over her with the prop. She was one very lucky lady.
Trellis bay is much like our Eagle harbor, a lot of local boats anchored there and not much tourist activity. The loose Mongoose bar was quiet as was the last resort while we were there. Apparently that is not the case during the full moon parties.

We left Trellis bay for Great Harbor on Peter island under heavy winds and big seas and were unable to sail comfortably so motored down quickly to get out of the weather and get Lisa and Buck looking a normal color again as Green did not suit them.
Great Harbor was another good spot and comes in a close second for snorkling. It is strange that none of the guide books or suggested itinerary's even mention snorkling at Peter or Norman islands in the main anchorages. These two places had the most variety of fish and best coral and bottom contours of all the places we went swimming.
We hiked up and over the island to White beach for some exercise the next day and visited Peter Island Resort and Deadmans beach. The snorkling at White beach was actually quite good along the rocky end of the sand beach. The hike was a couple miles up a very steep road but the resort has built rest benches and water stations.
From there we wandered down to the Bight again and snorkled along the cliffs at the NE side of the entrance to the Bight and found it to be a fun and different place with a wide variety of fish, not too much coral but lots of canyons and contours to swim around. We ended up grabbing a mooring buoy in the Bight next to Glen and Liz's boat and Steve and Michelles. During the late evening hours we mounted a raid on Steve's boat and stole his dingy. Unfortunately Michelle woke up shortly after our theft and found the boat missing and did not sleep again that night as she fretted over what happened. Of cours the next morning it was obvious who stole it and steve swam over to recover it and would have wire tied our rope to the buoy if I had not been awake at the time. all good fun and taken as intended.

Took our time motoring over to Road Town to turn in the boat. docking was a piece of cake and after getting the boat secured the Mooring's dock master offered me a job any time I wanted it.

We stayed at the Moorings and had a very nice newly renovated room on the second floor overlooking the marina. Glen and Liz, Jim and Cheryl and Gary and Lenore Timm all stayed there as well so we had dinner with them before retiring for the night.

Next day Glen, Liz and Chris and I rented a taxi and took a three hour tour of the island. It was well worth the time.

Tonight were back in St Thomas at the Emerald Bay Resort hotel. It is very nice and we have a great view. The Sunset tonight was the best weve seen yet.

We catch a plane first thing in the morning and head for home.

BVI journey

Since we have no internet I am posting this after the fact.
Day -1
We left St Thomas by Fast Ferry and headed to Tortolla with our crew and half of Glen’s crew. That was a 45 minute run through the islands that we would be sailing through during the week. Arrived at Tortolla and found Moorings after a short taxi ride. By the way, Taxi’s were a bit pricey in St Thomas, government fixed rates but it is per person and per bag. You don’t save anything by cramming more people into the rig. All of them are pickups with converted beds into rows of seats. Pretty crazy narrow and steep roads.
Mixed reviews on Moorings. They are all nice folks but they work on island time and your emergency is not theirs. We got most everything on the boat we ordered with a couple exceptions. Our boat was almost new so except for trying three different coffee pots to find one that worked we had a functioning boat. Can’t say the same for our dink. The dink engine ran for about 30 minutes and stopped never to run again. The good thing is that Moorings is responsive and came out with a new engine the next day. Several others had more significant problems with their boats that took hours to resolve stranding them dockside in Tortolla. One boat’s engine refused to start but finally did but when they went to grab a mooring buoy for the night in the Bight on Norman Island where we were the engine would not go in forward and they backed into another sail boat on the next buoy. Luckily no damage except for nerves and pride. No screw-up award for that one thought, the cable broke on the controller and so their was no way to go forward. Moorings came out and fixed it that night.
Other boats are well worn and have an amazing strong odor about them. The holding tanks are small and have been stuffed full many a time as they are only about 12 gallons each and those are for 2 heads. You dump every day out in the open water but if someone uses them without understanding that it is quite possible to overfill. Most of the older boats had that nagging odor in the beginning but it got better with use or so I was told.
Day 1
We stayed at the Bight on Norman Island after completing our training with our friendly captain learning how to sail. Lou was a bit energetic and obviously had a colorful life prior to this occupation. Stories of drug running from south America are most believable and the adage if you can’t do the time don’t do the crime fit. He was a good teacher and after an hour of sailing around in the harbor (sort of) we were off on our own. We chose to motor to our destination and arrived in time to find plenty of mooring balls to grab. Lou had advised us to grab a mooring ball right off the rocks half way between the pirates bar and the Willy Thornton Floating scow. We did and discovered that we could snorkel from the boat into a wonderland of underwater wildlife. Pelicans entertained us constantly by diving into the water for fish from the rocks. The abundance of fish life below was amazing. Spotted stingrays, large and do mean large groupers, millions of small blue fish in schools that allowed you to swim right in them, parting slightly as you and the groupers glided through, occasionally a pelican would dive right next to you grabbing up a few for their meal. The variety of fish and coral was amazing and colorful and the visibility was amazing, nothing like up here in Puget Sound. And the water was warm.
We snorkeled for hours and then headed over to the William Thompson just to say we had done it. The Willy T’s reputation is sketchy and it lives up to its name. Highly over rated, the Willy T is a floating scow with a bar and sleazy restaurant that draws from all the anchored tourist boats. The drinks were bad, the kitchen would not meet health standards in a forth world nation and there is no such thing as sanitation concerns in the bathroom, yes bathroom, a single toilet plumbed to the bay.
We sampled the drink while watching the porno show on their TV of past times when women ran around half naked in the bar and earned free drinks by jumping naked from the top of the ship. After several fatal jumps, it’s not that high but when you jump onto someone else the results are not favorable to either one, the government stepped in and curtailed some of the frivolity.
We were going to eat on the boat but Chris demanded some food after her bad drink on the Willy T and so we motored over to Pirates on the opposite side of the bay. What a difference, this place is a definite winner with really good food, a clean establishment and a surly staff. We met up with Gina and Byron and his crew which included Dave and Andrea and Doug and his wife.
Steve and Michelle were also in the bight and had said we needed to snorkel at the caves, which are just outside of the bight so we dingy’d over to them and swam for a while there but were a bit disappointed. The rocks next to our mooring ball were far better and had much more to see than the caves did so we appreciated the local knowledge that led us to them in the first place. The Caves are one of those must see spots in the BVI according to all the guide books.
Day 2
We motored out with destination unknown. The wind was blowing about 12 to 15 so we decided to attempt to sail. After some frustration with the main which we could not do anything with. It simple pulled us around head into the wind no matter how much rudder we had over. Finally we hauled out the Gyb Sail and we were sailing. We got it up to 7.2 knots which is the same speed we get underway by engine. It was a hoot, but we could not sail into the wind very well, a broad reach was no problem but anything we did to try to get more than 60 degrees to the wind we lost power and lost speed. More practice is needed. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have it down. We sailed most of the way to Cooper Island where we grabbed the last available mooring Buoy. The Bar at Cooper is beautiful. A perfect setting on a sand beach with palm trees and big soft cushy seats and big tables. The Pain killers were superb. After happy hour we were feeling no pain and returned to the boat for burgers and hot dogs. Actually it was a great tasting meal. Meals down here run 60 bucks for two at a minimum so eating out will damage your budget real quick. But it’s hard to pass up the great food and let someone else do the cooking while on vacation. So plan accordingly and don’t let the cost bother you too much because you get what you pay for in most cases.
By the way I caught a cold somewhere before departing and I have not been feeling the greatest but I can think of worse places to be feeling under the weather.

Day 3
Left cooper early and headed for the Baths. The surf was up and the red flag was up warning people not to attempt to swim or boat to the beach as 5 foot rollers were breaking on the beach and between the rocks.
We opted to head up to Spanish Town where we entered the tricky harbor. It is a narrow entrance that makes a 90 degree right angle turn 50 feet from the shorline with breaking waves over a reef to your right. Fun! We made it and picked up a slip for about three hours. We rented a cab and drove to the Baths and hiked to the beach. Its a great place and the hike through the "cave" is a fun experience. don't miss the opportunity to go there even if the surf is up.

Hopefully we can get back later in the week when the surf is down.

We left there and headed over to Marina Cay and caught the next to last bouy. Met up with Jim and Cheryl and Steve and Michelle there as well ad Jane and Roger. more painkillers and some more snorkling were in store for some of us and some beach exploring for others. Another perfect day. tomorrow were off to the Bitter End were were supposed to meet up with all of our group of 9 boats. Should be entertaining.

British virgin Islands

Were off on another adventure this time to the tropics. We have rented a 46 foot catamaran sail boat in Tortolla BVI for 7 days. Were picking it up today after spending the last two days here in St Thomas in the American Virgin Islands at a beautiful little B&B. the Bellavista is a great little spot on the hillside overlooking the harbor. this is a very nice veranda style home, open to the outdoors with a fabulous hostess and nice amenities. Wendy is the proprieter and takes good care of her customers. Buck and Lisa are staying here with us and we have had a good time roaming the very narrow and very busy streets. Of course the town is filled with real tourists (we don't consider ourselves one of them) from the multiple large cruise ships that come in to port every day. Just watched the second one dock this morning from my veranda. So far it is everything we expected and more. We have sampled various Rum drinks with the resulting affects. Painkillers live up to their reputation. We are meeting Sherm and Nancy and Dave and Connie at the boat today. We met Glen and Liz last night. Saw them walking in town from our veranda and they wandered up the numerous steep steps to join us for the afternoon and dinner last night. We ended up at a local restaurant and the waitress was a hoot but the meal left a bit to be desired. Not that it was not good food it just did not fit our tastes.

Probably will not be able to do daily blogs on this trip since the
internet options are limited in the BVI but will post when I can

wish us luck, no one on my boat has ever sailed before for real. A couple short sails in commencement bay with Fran and jeff is all we have ever done. An adventure it will be.

Liberty Bay

The weather forcast was for such good weather we scrapped all other plans and went down to the boat on Friday the 13th. got a late start after struggling in the heat to re install the alternator that i pulled out to make sure it was working correctly after having it rebuilt earlier this year. Wanted to make sure it was not the cause of the cooked battery. Apparently not but it had to be the hard one to get at. Lots of cursing. It finally was in and we were finally off for Illahee State Park and abundant crab. Picked a bouy up and dropped the new pot with good bait. Nothing worth keeping all night., Dropped it again next morning and as i was motoring away the float dissapeared under water, oops, dropped too deep. Lost the whole dang thing. Looked at low tide but I checked an it was in 120 feet and I only had 100 feet of line. Dumb luck for me, good luck for the crabs.

Headed on up to Liberty Bay just ahead of Steve and Michelle. Dropped anchor in a stiff breeze and hung out all day. Swimmine, cleaning the hull and drinking tall cool ones. met up with Jeff Edmonds and Colleen on their 42 Krogan at the Poulsbo Yacht Club where the moor. they just got back from an all day run from Lopez, had to cut their trip short for a family emergency. Bummer. Hope all goes well.
It was good to catch up with what they have been up to of late, we see them once or twice a year.

Chris suggested we stay out tonight since we have no home to return to with the floors all churned up and the furniture in storage. Why not?

Think we will head down to Gig and hang out for a couple of days. I could get to liking this live aboard thing,

August 10, 2010

supposed to be really hot this weekend. Were headed out to beat the heat on the water. Meeting up with Steve and Michelle in Poulsbo, crabbing should be good.

Agate Pass

Were about home, blogging from the Bridge, were an hour from home port. It has been a great and relaxing three weeks. We were worried about Fog and wind and today their was none in the straits. Visibility was about 3 miles in all directions, the Fog never really materialized like it had for the last week. The first few miles were lumphy with us taking some spray onto the fly bridge due to the outgoing current against the wind from mosquito Pass to Lime Kiln Point. We had to slow down for a bit for the Killer Whales just south of the point. After than the waves smoothed out and it was a smooth run all the way to Port Townsend. i got intercepted by the Coast Guard as they were escorting a nuke Sub and My course was a bit too close for them, I was monitoring Channel 5 and missed the security warning on channel 16. No big deal I did a quick 90 degree turn and got outside the 1000 yard perimeter and all was forgiven. it was difficult to determine what was comming at us in the limited visibilithy and the sub was had to see as it was bracketed by two large shielding ships. About the time I saw the high speed ooasty headed my way is when I saw the conning tower and the sub inbetween.
Other than that it was an uneventful trip. took about 7 hours total run time.

Now its back to work for a few days then I am off to Ohio for four days. I hear it is hot and humid back there. Yuk!

Roche Harbor

Another near perfrect day. A bit cooler today, fog rolling in over Mosquito Pass but I just spoke to Fran who is in the middle of the straits and she says no wind and no fog yet.

tomorrow I am planning on fog across the straits.

Five crab yesterday, but still no monsters. Others are comming back with mutant crabs in their pots, large monsters that make mine look anemic. Nothing in the pots this morning. Will try again at Garrison for a bit.

Were going to head over to Garrison and wander around the British Camp reinactment event over there.

Tonight the Club officers get to partidipaqte in the Roche Harbor Colors cerimony then we finish our terms by jumping off the pier into the bay next to the fuel dock.

Pete arrived late last night with a full batch of monkey milk and the viking helmet. after several milks the helmet possession passed to me with a few modifications since I last had it. Been double dog dared to jump tonight wearing the helmet so I guess I will have to do that, photos to follow I am sure.

Will be home tomorrow afternoon if all goes well and the weather cooperates.

Chloe at Poets Cove and Sydney Spit

Garrison Bay Again

Were back in Garrison Bay tonight rafted together with 10 other Roche Harbor Yacht Club boats. Another lazy day, tried to lure some crab into the pot but they were elusive. We may have chased them all into Diane Fetzners pot because she is the only one who caught any today. Talked to one local and he showed me where to drop my pots, he said he limited in two hours. I of course caught nothing.

Becky sent us the photos she took while Chloe was with us so I gotta share those with with you.
It' a lot cooler down here than it was just a few miles north. The fog has been pouring through Mosquito Pass all day which is just a couple hundred yards from us but in the bay their is nothing. But the breeze at the head of the bay is about 20 degrees cooler. Several people said they were held up by fog in the straits comming up. We have crossed in the fog before so as long as everything is working it is not big deal to cross over in fog, it's just when the wind kicks up that it can be a bit more exciting. Should not be a problem early monday morning, the winds have not picked up till afternoon around here.
tomorrow were in Roche harbor with the club for the Colors cruise then we head out Sunday for the long run home. It's all over way too soon but it has been a very relaxing and pleasant three weeks. Except for the cold Chris and I now have from Chloe it was a perfect vacation.

James Island

Last night and tonight we are anchored at Jones Island with Glen and Liz, Don and Jane and Dave and Sandy. Yesterday we took the Dinghys to Deer harbor for ice cream. last night we watched a baby deer, no bigger than Sophie get chased by a dog into the water and try swimming away. A lady in a dinghy rowed out and grabbed it before it drowned. nice save.
Today we hiked around the island and then kayaked around it. Yesterday the Lady Washingto went sailing by so glen and Liz and Chris and I chased it down for photos. had to chase it all the way to Roche Harbor and poor Liz's back may never be the same again.
Today the lady washington came sailing in the bay and anchored right in front of us. As I type this she is sterntied a couple hundred feet away.
Weather remains outstanding though it is much cooler and windier now that we are back in the San juans. But still lots of sun.

Back in the USA

Becky and Chloe left this morning on the International Ferry from Sydney. We really had a great time and miss them terribly. Never knew being a grandparent could be so much fun. Just sorry Mikey could not join us on this trip.
As we crossed Haro Strait Beckyh called from the ferry which was just ahead of us and said they had stopped to watch wales. We caught up to them and then spent the next two hours floating around watching a huge pod of Killer whales. For a while they were well ahead of us and quite some distance away and with the whale watcher police all around we could not get real close. we started to leave when I noticed that we were headed right at a group of whales or they were headed right for me. I stopped the boat and cut the engines and the whole pod swam within a few feet of the boat. we floated there for a good hour watching them swim by.
We checked in through Customs and they let us back in despite Chris failing to sign her passport, the customs guy gave her a bad time and confiscated our limes. He said he was going to check on the booze we had on board, something about the type of Rum? he forgot to check that however so we got across with only losing three limes.

Were sitting in Reid harbor tonight, very peaceful. Were having steak and crabs. The only two BC crab we were able to catch. Hopefully the american crab are a bit more cooperative. Fran, your crab are winning the battle up here. So far I have thrown far more back in than I have kept, all females or too small or the wrong kind.

Tomorrow we will try to hook up with Glen and Liz and their group, they are all over on Sucia tonight. After watching whales all afternoon we decided not to run that far.

Sydney BC

Wow! Full moon, cloudless night, not a breath of wind. Can't get much better than this. sitting here looking at the reflection of the full moon over sydney spit. Just returned from a long walk with Chloe, she has been such a doll on this trip, the perfect baby. Hate to see them go tomorrow but its time for them to catch the ferry. Bummer.
Were going back over the boarder, hope they let us in. Will meet up with Glen and Liz probably Tuesday i West bay. Try our luck crabbing in the american waters tomorrow, got two just legal ones today at Sydney Spit, spent the day lazing around on the beach with the girls. Tough life but someones gotta do it and it may as well be me.
All is good.

Poets Cove

We left Chemainus after wandering around the town looking for coffee and breakfast. Must be on Island time, nothing opened until 9 am. Not even the coffee shops!
made a liesurly run south and through Pender channel just after low tide. plenty or water. Jeff, Fran, don't try this route, you won't clear the bridge.

Poets Cove was full up at the docks but the breakwater is first come first serve, we managed to slip in to a 50 foot spot between a couple big boats and then took Chloe in to use the Pool. She had a blast, loved the water, loved the hot tub even more. had to drag her away before she boiled herself alive.
Dropped a couple pots down in the bay, no luck last night, hopefully today their will be something their to show for our BC fishing license.
so far the one BC crab is pretty darned expensive per pound.
We may hang out here for the day or go over to Sydney spit and play on the beach. we have reservations at Sydney marina tonight so Becky can catch the international ferry home tomorrow morning. It has been a blast having them with us and the only thing that would have made it better is if Mikey had been able to join us.

Chemainus

We spent last night in Todd Inlett behind Buchart Gardens. Took Becky and Chloe in the back way and wandered around for several hours and had a great time. chloe ran all over the place, rode the carousel and on my shoulders for a large portion of the tour. She has taken to her life jacket quite nicely, hardly complains when it goes on.
Were sitting in Chemainus right now, it is quite warm today, very little breeze. When it cools off a bit we will wander in to town. We dropped a couple crab pots down so hopefully we have some fresh crab tonight. We just picked up our canadian license the other day so the whole time we have been in BC we have been crabless.
Watched a sailboat try to demast itself today when it snagged its rigging in the bow spit and anchor of a 47 bayliner sitting next to us. that is about the only excitement so far on this trip, pretty uneventful so far.
Fran, you and Jeff will enjoy this up here, the breezes have been pretty constant every afternoon up to about 20 mph.

Sydney BC

We are in beautiful Sydney BC today. Stayed at Musgraves landing last night. neat little spot, very secluded and quiet. Not much there, a small private dock next to the public dock and some new homes under construction and a small public park next to the dock. some logging roads to hike on and that is about it. We just enjoyed the day and cleaned up the boat a bit.
Becky and Chloe coming in today on the international ferry. Weather is holding, should be great for the next several days.
Will hang out in the Gulf Islands with becky and then head back over to the san juans on Monday or Tuesday.

July 20, Maple Bay

Spent a night in Annette Inlett, visited Ganges for resupply then headed north to Telegraph harbor where we met up with Steve and Michelle on their way north to desolation. We spent two nights there, nice place, warm water. Just did nothing but read, walk, kayak and sleep.
visited Chemainus across the way from Telegraph, very nice spot and one worth revisiting. We made reservations for Friday night when Becky and chloe are with us.
We spent last night in Maple Bay achored out and kyaked the back bay. today were headed out for Portland Island and then down to Sydney to pick up Becky tomorrow night.

Garrison Bay

view from dining table

We hung out all day here at Garrison Bay with the crab pots down. We did fairly well, limited on Dungeness, lots of large females in the pots and rock crabs but the legal males were hard to come by.
Will leave them to soak overnight and pick them up in the morning if I can find them. there are so many pots out there that I had to lay down a GPS way point to find them each time.
Tomorrow were headed over the boarder, trying to get rid of all the illegal stuff like fruit and excess booze.
Plans have totally changed, were not going to make it past the Gulf Islands this year, just going to hang around and play vacationing tourist. Lazy laid back no schedule no plan, whereever and whatever suits our fancy is what were going to do. Today we took the dinghy over to Roche and had lunch and wandered around the shops. Had ice cream and did some shopping and came back to the boat, it was still there.
We had a great crab salad, fresh baked crecent rolls and a drink and enjoyed the view from the flybridge.

hiking trails on Stewart Island

rosario resort

a photo of kenmore air taking off in front of Rosario Resort

Garrison Bay, San Juan Island

We left Prevost this morning, Chris slept in till 10. stopped at Friday Harbor and had lunch with my parents. Dad's looking old, mom's not moving too well. they are in their 80's so I guess that is to be expected.
Were in Garrision Bay next to Roche Harbor tonight. Crowded in here, lots of boats waiting for crabbing season to open tomorrow morning. We will stick around for awhile and try to get our limits. Were going to cross into BC tomorrow or the next day. Depends on how good the crabbing is. We will probably not get any further than Nanaimo this trip, Becky is comming up on the 21st sith Chloe and staying till the 25th, so we will meet her in Friday Harbor at the ferry and cross back into canada for a couple days. Were in relax mode so no need to go far or do much, the days fly by and were eating late every evening because the time slips by so quickly. Beautiful quiet evening tonight, not a cloud to be seen and no wind.
Make sure you check out the follow me spot link on the blog page. it will show you where we have been and where we have landed for the night. Spot tracker leaves a pin point on the map every 10 minutes while were running. Kinda cool technology.

Stewart Island, Prevost Harbor

We left Hunter bay, about 10 and cruised slowly past Spencer Spit and up to Rosario resort. Neither one of us has been there since we were kids so we thought we would stop and see what changes have occured with the new owners who just opened it up again this year. We grabbed one of the bouys and dinghy'd in, not much is different. Same beautiful grounds and great views. It is a great spot to stop with kids, a pool and a great wide open grassy field to play in just above the marina. We ate lunch at the restaurant just above the marina and then headed out for Stewart Island. The forcast is for heavy winds tonight so we decided to find a snug harbor to hang out in. Prevost had a spot available on the linier mooring line so we grabbed it even though there is plenty of room to anchor. As predicted the wind came up about 10pm and is blowing 15 to 20 right out of the south east, and were relatively seltered from that direction so I can only imagine what its like in a south facing bay tonight.
We may hang around in the San Juans rather than cross over to BC and wait for crabbing to open up. First day of crabbing in Garrison Bay should be pretty good. we could stock up and not have to worry about buying a BC fishing license.

hunter Bay, Lopez Island

We left Kingston about 9:15 this morning to get a northbound push with the outgoing tide. We made good time and were at Port Townsend just after the tide change to flood. The south half of the crossing was a bit lumpy with good sized rollers comming in from the west. We got another good push north up Rosario strait with the flood tide and were anchored in Hunter Bay on Lopez by 2 pm. I noticed that there were no crab pots anywhere which I thought a bit unuasal since we figured we would hang out for a few days and stock up on fresh crab. Dang if crab season does not start up here until the 17th of July. Oh well, the one I caught legally in Kingston was pretty good for dinner and i guess we will just have to stock up on the way back down.
Never been in to hunter bay but it is pretty nice with easy anchoring.
Weather is cooler but were not complaining cause it is all sunshine. Surprised at how few boats are out and about with all this good weather. About a dozen other boats in here tonight with us.
Probably head up to stewart Island tomorrow and cross over on Monday to Poets cove and the gulf islands. Supposed to be gusts up to 41 mph tomorrow in this area, Hmm! that is a bit unusual for this time of year up here so I guess we will find a snug cove to hide in.
did some small repairs and maintenance on the boat today, finished re installing the dinghy brackets with a couple extra bolts and backing plates and remounted my stern anchor and replaced a burned out deck light which turned out to be the most difficultg of the three tasks.
took a short walk along the road tonight and right now were just sitting here on the fly bridge enjoying a cool but quiet evening. Not a breath of wind and hardly any noise at all. We can hear the ferry passing by several miles to the north of us.

Vacation at last

Were a day late but were finally on the boat and heading north. Chris needed a Chloe fix so yesterday was her day with our grandaughter and that put her a day behind getting ready. I needed to do some maintenance on the boat so all in all it worked out. It took all day friday to get ready, finish the mainenance and get underway but we made it and all is good. My truck decided to act up however, somehow it jumped into four wheel low and will not come out. Try driving at freeway speeds in 4x4 low, it does not work well. We will figure that out when we get home.

I dropped a crab pot down outside of the harbor here at Kingston, A friend caught about 20 here last weekend so hopefully we will have a few to start the trip off with. It will be the only time we get to crab before crossing into BC. Were hoping that we can scoot across the straights tomorrow before the predicted winds pick up later tomorrow evening. Weather is changing and with it comes small craft warnings in the straits.
Get up early tomorrow and ride the outgoing tide north till noon then cross the straits on the incomming tide so if the wind does pick up it won't be quite as rough as it could be, at least in theory.

July 4th

Amazing fireworks display in Quartermaster Harbor. It was one of the longest and best displays ever. Talked to the organizers and they said it was the only show in washington to use the largest mortar shells available, 80 lbs of explosive going off is something to see and feel. Poulsbo's show on the 3rd was not even a close second.

Were getting the boat ready to head out on vacation. this time only for a few weeks so were probably only going to get as far north as Campbell River BC. Looks like the weather is finally going to turn for the better just in time for our departure.

Were Back!

It has been quite a while since I posted so here is a quick status check.
Weather has sucked for the last three months. We have been out on the boat a bunch but it's more like winter cruising than spring cruising.
We were in Poulsbo last night for the July 3rd fireworks there. The day turned out to be fairly nice, nice enough to end up swimming for a bit. We had 20 boats from the club in a wagon wheel. The fireworks were better than usual. Must have something to do with it being all donated by small businesses.
Tonight were sitting in Quartermaster harbor waiting for the best fireworks display around. It too is private and outdoes anything we have ever seen in the big city. Hope it holds true again tonight. Jeff and Fran are joining us and I hope Doug and Lori get a chance to come out as well.