Friday, September 23, Spencer Spit to James Island

This morning was as beautiful as the afternoon before. The air was still and the water flat. We motored south down the Lopez Sound passing a solo sea kayaker who was enjoying the flat water more than we [Bass: He would have enjoyed it less had I run him over… going straight into the sun he was almost impossible to see through the glare!]. Motoring between Decatur and Lopez Islands landed us back into the Rosario Strait [Lopez Pass, solid current of ~2.5 – 3 knots against us, big swirly eddies… cool in a slightly nerve wracking way.]. There was wind in this piece of water so we raised the main and the jib and sailed up and down the coast. It was our last full day in the San Juan’s and we were feeling a bit sorry for ourselves (everyone now……ooohhhhh poor B & B!!). The wind eventually died so we headed to our last night’s spot at the moorage dock on James Island. The dock is on the west side of a small, verdant island in a protected cove. However sailboats which looked very “moved in” already flanked the dock [and I had read that anchoring conditions weren’t great in the west cove] so we grabbed a mooring ball on the east side of the island in a cove open to the Rosario Strait and practically across from Anacortes. While the boat traffic would be beautiful, especially at night, it was going to be a rolly moorage.

Rowing the dinghy to shore we planned to walk around this quiet island. The beach was neither sand nor rocks but uniform pebbles one inch in diameter and ankle deep. The color, smell and sound of the pebble beach was relaxing. Hiking to the high point we found a mossy rock with a great view. Here we conspired to forever more see land by boat.

On the way back down to the beach we heard a power boat quickly approaching the cove. A few minutes later another power boat loaded with sea kayaks joined the first. Suddenly there were a dozen boys in the campground on the bench above the beach. They set tents and a camp kitchen pretty quickly as the light began to fade. They built a campfire and huddled around the picnic tables. There was a lot of activity but not much noise and it looked like they may have an early morning ahead of them. We did as well, so after a pleasant afternoon on land and evening in the cockpit we decided we would pack tomorrow and retired for the evening.

The next morning the boys had packed camp and were loading their kayaks as we made coffee. It was going to be a nice day to paddle. And as much as we envied the boys beginning their adventure as we ended ours, we were also ready to sleep in our cal king bed and be reunited with our sweet dog Hannah.

Google Earth Tour

Click the link below to download a Google Earth .kml file that will take you on a fly-by tour of our route from Spencer Spit to James Island:

Pictures:

Video from Day 10 (1 mins 14 seconds):

Saturday, September 24, James Island to Anacortes

Click the link below to download a Google Earth .kml file that will take you on a fly-by tour of our route from James Island to Anacortes:

Video from Day 11 (45 seconds):

Thursday, September 22, Blind Island to Spencer Spit

When we woke in the morning the mooring lines were tangled and it took many tries to free Gretel II. The wind we were expecting arrived in the night and the boat hit the mooring ball repeatedly. Sleep was hard to come by so when the morning light came we were up and at them. A slight breeze continued in the morning – it was the right day to raise both headsails in perfect cutter-rigged fashion. We did not have to make many miles this day and the wind was good so we sailed around at the top of Lopez Island, technically in the Harney Channel. We flew both headsails and Gretel II was splendid looking. I’m not sure if it was just my imagination but it seemed like the other sailboats in the area were doing fly-bys in an attempt to get a closer look at Gretel II. I think I was expecting a power boost with two headsails flying and I’m not sure we were going any faster but we were sure a pretty sight! Our only issue was where we found good consistent wind was also in the middle of the main ferry route from Orcas and other islands back to Anacortes. It did feel like we were playing “ferry chicken”.

Although Gretel II looked spectacular flying both headsails it was a chore to come about and tack. Bass spent a lot of time on the fore deck adjusting the sails. I think Bass’s assessment was the two headsails would be great if we were sailing downwind for hundreds of miles, say for instance on a run to Hawaii (I’m game!). But for our purposes the two headsails were really not practical except in keeping us warm with all of the fiddling. [Bass: two things I figured out belatedly: one, the giant furling genoa style headsail is not really the ideal forward sail in a cutter rig, too hard to get it to come around the inner stay that the staysail was hanked onto. Given belated thought #1, belated thought #2 would be for upwind work perhaps leave the big headsail furled and just use the staysail, which tacks back and forth which much less effort and less foredeck work.]

We were spending this night at Spencer Spit on Lopez Island. We arrived in the mooring field in the afternoon. It was sunny and warm and we kicked back in the cockpit reading and listening to tunes. On the power yacht moored next to us were two older couples who were very serious about their crab. Their “dinghy” was a zodiac loaded with pots, buoys and other fishing gear. They checked their pots a few times as Bass and I were basking in the sun. They were laughing and smiling when they collected the last of their pots. I watched as the two men cleaned the crab right off the swim platform of their boat. Up until this point I did not understand the popularity of power yachts. We saw more power yachts than sailing vessels and many of them were chartered. But it dawned on me that a couple of 80 year olds could charter one of these boats and tour the San Juan’s, fishing, watching for whales and experiencing it all in luxury and warmth. I envisioned me and Bass snuggled up in the glass enclosed, raised cabin touring the fjords of Alaska celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary!

Google Earth Tour

Click the link below to download a Google Earth .kml file that will take you on a fly-by tour of our route from Blind Island to Spencer Spit:

Pictures:

Video from Day 9 (2 mins 37 seconds):