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.