San Juan Islands Adventure

Full Moon headed north on July 11 for some cruising in the fabulous San Juan Islands. Skipper John was joined by sons Ian and Daniel - wife Vickie wasn't quite up for camping style cruising!

Day One: Under way on Lake Union a bit after 9 AM, got the Fremont Bridge to open after a short wait, then out through the locks and into the fog. The ancient handheld Garmin GPS is wonderful but it isn't radar so things are a bit scary. Strong wind on the nose (still with fog!) after Point No Point, chose the Port Townsend Canal rather than bash into it on the outside. Sunny and clear from the Canal into Port Townsend and the Point Hudson Marina. Hit the used book store (William James Bookseller) closing next April - somebody please buy this shop!!!) then great burgers for dinner at Nifty Fifty's.

Ian takes his usual spot on the bow at the Locks.

Daniel is excited by the scenery in Port Townsend.

Day Two: Showers and a great breakfast (as always) at the Hudson Point Cafe, then under way across the Straits in still more fog. Daniel suffers from some mal de mer but retains breakfast. Things clear a little for Cattle Pass and the San Juan Channel. Handheld VHF is dead coming in to Friday Harbor so try to stop at the Harbormaster booth for a slip assignment - but it takes two tries! What is going on? It seems the trusty Yamaha 8 is stuck in forward gear! We get a slip at the end of the dock and coast in. It turns out a bolt has come adrift holding the shift linkage in place. 5 minutes poking around and a 10 mm socket and we have neutral and reverse once more. (Good thing Dad is mechanically minded...) Time for ice cream and a walk around town, then a really great dinner at The Place right on the waterfront.

Day Three: Showers (five quarters for five minutes) and a good breakfast at the Blue Water Bar & Grill, then we're off for Reid Harbor at Stuart Island. The mooring buoys are all occupied so we drop the hook. The propane barbeque produces some tasty burgers and dogs. Then it is time to get buttoned up for the lightning show as strikes hit on every side but to the west.

Sentinel Island, south of Speiden Island on the way to Stuart Island. Got all that?

A little Trouble in Reid Harbor - while the weather is still behaving.

 Day Four: Eggs on the one-burner alcohol stove and we head north for Shallow Bay at Sucia Island. Once again, the mooring buoys are all occupied - and two are out of service - so we drop the hook in a good spot and set it well. (This bay isn't exactly huge and it is, indeed, shallow.) We pump up the "dinghy" and Daniel and I row to shore to check out the beach and rock formations. Dinner is burgers and dogs again but everybody seems pretty happy with that. Must be the sea air or just a boat full of boys? It gets very windy during the night.

Daniel applies sunscreen in his unique way as we head to Sucia Island.

Beautiful Shallow Bay at Sucia Island.

Day Five: We wake up to very strong wind (20 to 30 knots) and cloudy skies - and the anchor actually dragged about 50 feet! No harm done - we're still well clear of shore and other boats - but that hasn't happened before. Pulling up the hook, it is covered in a big blob of grass, so it must not have been able to dig down through into something more solid. Skipper John dons some foul weather gear and we bash south to the north side of Jones Island for some shelter and some breakfast in the rain. Time for some civilization and showers - we head to Roche Harbor!

Ian and Daniel prepare to play Bocce Ball in Roche Harbor.

Sure, it's a mess, but it's home, sweet home!

Day 6: Daniel votes for another dock at Deer Harbor but is over-ruled - we head for Lopez Sound. Spencer Spit is fully occupied so we check out Sylvan Cove at the north end of Decatur. This is all private property and private mooring buoys but we find there is room for one boat on an anchor in the middle with good holding and good shelter from the regular nighttime southerlies. The residents seem a bit surprised to have a visitor in "their" cove but we don't present any threat (we've anchored very carefully!) and are left alone. Dinner is spaghetti with meatballs and a side of vegetables - pretty amazing considering the one-burner stove!

Sunset from Sylvan Harbor.

Day 7: Back to Friday Harbor for our final night in the islands. We consider trying a different restaurant but return to The Place. Excellent dinner once again!

The boys chow down at The Place. Dad chose the grilled chicken with pasta, which was awesome!!!

Day 8: Tidal currents dictate an early departure so coffee and breakfast are grabbed from The Crow's Nest - which has great coffee drinks but not so great breakfast burritos, at least according to Ian's stomach. Moderate fog allows acceptable visibility. The San Juan Channel provides a nice ride with the current, then we're out into the Straits, past Smith Island and back to Port Townsend (mind you, this took a number of hours...). We hit the used book store again and buy even more books! (How did we miss these?) Dinner is just okay at the Public House Grill - I remember it being much better - but the beer is good! Perhaps we should have climbed the hill to Lanza's - I enjoyed it very much a number of years ago and it is still getting great reviews.

Day 9: Currents and opening times for the Fremont Bridge in Seattle (before 4 PM or after 6) suggest a Noon departure. Breakfast is excellent once more at the Hudson Point Cafe. You may note that I have not described a lot of sailing action thus far and this is because we either didn't have wind or had too much coming right on the nose - so we didn't sail. But that was about to change.

The main went up before we got to the tip of Marrowstone Island and the ancient "small" spinnaker went up shortly after. A good northerly and strong currents push us south very fast indeed - we see bursts over 8 knots on the instruments and well over 9 on the GPS (speed over ground). Just south of Marrowstone, we encounter a cruising Beneteau of about 35 feet flying a cruising chute. Time for a race? Full Moon shows her stuff and slowly pulls ahead.

Ian and Daniel find a friendly Corgi at the Port Hudson Marina.

The vintage 1978 spinnaker flies in the sun, heading south back to Seattle.

Daniel seems a bit glum to be back but he is secretly craving a Dick's Cheeseburger!

The spinnaker stays up nearly all the way to Shilshole. Good sailing at last! Then it is into the locks, under the bridges and back to good old Lake Union. Full Moon is home.