First Day of School

You are now looking at three Middle Schoolers. Hard to believe! Summer break is over, back to classes and catching up with friends. 

E

M

I

Summer 2013: Cruise (5b) - Return to Our Home Port

Sunday - 25 August 2014
Anchored Echo Bay, Sucia Island

As we started the cruise on a Sunday, worshiping with the Straight of Georgia, it was only fitting that our cruise concluded on a Sunday, too.

L. and J. awoke to a glassy calm morning. Hmm... if we didn't have to get back to the land of work and commitments we'd have stayed and waited (whistled?) for a wind.







By the time we were raising anchor a gentle breeze was starting to fill in, so it looked like motor-sailing once again. We sure did a lot this cruise.



J.'s Soap Box (welcome to skip if want to):

Electric Autopilots are handy things to have, especially short-handed, but they don't have much of a brain. The auto-pilot's brain just says "On Course" or "Off Course Turn to Starboard" or "Off Course Turn to Port." It cannot look around to see where other boats are, nor can it see if it is steering the boat (and crew) into danger. And when hooked up to a chart plotter with way-points, it sure can make some sudden changes of course.
The near misses we had on this cruise didn't come from power boats, but from sailboats ... on auto-pilot. In one case, the couple was busy talking while motoring through a narrow pass with other boats and oblivious that there might have been someone (us) trying to sail out!
At least today's sailboat - on auto-pilot - had a helmsman (there were three men aboard, two below) standing by in case he needed to over-ride the auto-pilot to avoid us (Thank You!), but when past us, and having reached the way-point, the auto-pilot turned so sharply I was ready to see a person fly through the air and land in the sea!
End of Soap Box ...

Even if there was not much wind, it sure was a beautiful day!

The kids remained sacked out and/or reading below, enjoying the lazy-day. Once again, they demonstrated the advantages of traveling with/in your own home.

L. and J. got to wondering, "At this rate, will there be any coffee left for E.?" The Log Records:

"Wahahahaha!" Evil Laughter fills the cockpit!

Nice weather and relaxation mean there is some time to monkey around and be silly!






By 0942 the log reads:

What do you know? There was coffee left for E. What a lucky guy! and just enough for I. to have 1/2 cup, too.

Finally by 1130 the breeze filled in enough to cut the engine - J. wanted some quite - pure sail time. And a following breeze sure was nice.



The wind was cooperative enough to bend around Birch Point and continuing following us.

This was great, as it allowed us to sail past the Semiahmoo Resort ...

and enter Drayton Harbor.

After entering the Harbor, we sailed past the marina entrance to drop our sails and turned on our trusty SABB engine, preparing to enter our slip. We docked with the only hitch being those of the dock lines around their respective cleats. 

About fifteen minutes later, a rain squall blew through giving a remarkable rainbow. What a way to end our cruise. 

Summer 2013: Cruise (4b) - To Sucia Again

Friday, 23 August 2013
Anchored off Saddlebag Island

One of the great things about being on a cruise for an extended time period is the loss of "time." Sure we knew what day it was, and which day of the week. But they didn't really matter anymore.

So after spending a morning exploring the Island (see previous post) we decide to continue heading north. L. and J. had both heard of Inati Bay on Lummi Island, and thought this would be a good stop-over on the way home. We could explore and then make Drayton Harbor the following day. Plenty of time.

We prepared to get underway: stored dinghies, got the out charts, raised main, (the cat go suspicious), raise anchor and sail off north in a light wind.


But the cat said, "Wait, there is no engine monster sound. Maybe I can stay out here after all."











We watched her. She was fascinated by the moving water, but didn't seem like she was interested in pouncing over the side.







Here you can see that the sails are still up and she was still out - rather than hiding under the dinghy as usual.

We had a nice quiet sail leaving Padilla Bay to the south and heading northwest toward Lummi Island to the west of Bellingham Bay (which is about 7 miles South West of Bellingham).








 Amazing how relaxed she was on this passage.







The last time J. and MERGANSER were through this way was coming home on the delivery passage from Anacortes to Semiahmoo. It was fun to see all of this again, and identify new sites. We had a perfectly calm and gentle wind to just carry us along.

Saddlebag Island is right about where the "1" is to the right of Guemes Island in Padilla Bay (Bottom Center).

Inati Bay, on Lumi Island, is right were "DANGER ROCK" is located (Left side just above the line running across the chart). Yes, that does mean you do have to watch out for this when entering/exiting.






Here you can see Eliza Island over the cat's back, and off our starboard bow is Portage Island. Lummi Island was off our port side (to the west).

It is just after 1800 (6 p.m.) and we are starting to look for Inati Bay. We could see the light on the small island just to the south of Portage Island (as you can see in this photo), which means that we should be coming up to Inati Bay.

We could tell by the chart that the bay is hidden, and well sheltered from the south, and that there is a rocky reef sticking out into the middle of the Bay. It must be just around the corner.


 The farther north we sailed, the clearer things became. "Great, it looks empty. This will be awesome!"
"Wait ... is that a boat in there?"
"What's one boat? ... But, no ... there are a bunch. Do we really want to do this?"
"I'm not sure ... "
"You know what? It's Friday. I bet that is the Bellingham Yacht Club. According to the guide book, they "rent"/"own" a part of the beach. I bet this is a yacht club gathering."
"In that case, I'm up for skipping it!"

We continued on north, looking for another option. The more north we came, the louder the crowd became. At first, we thought about anchoring in Smuggler's Cove - but as we come around the next headland, we see that this is a no go, as the rock quarry is near here and who knows what is under the surface of the water.  As we prepare to turn the engine on and head "more purposefully" up Hale Passage we notice a racing sailboat under spinnaker fly up around Eliza Island and toward Inati Bay.
Every group has a person whose voice carries across long distances. In this case, we hear a woman's voice yell out "Horray! Tommy's here!" Then we watched as the sailboat jibed around and headed back toward Bellingham. "Where are you going? Nooooo!"
We smiled and chugged along. We were going, too. After a peaceful cruise we did not want a load "re-entry."

We continued looking at the chart for possible anchorages, but finally decided that there weren't any options we were willing to take at this point. What to do? It was starting to become dark. After much discussion, we decided we'd head back over to Sucia, where at least we knew the anchorage in Echo Bay, even though we figured that it was likely to be fairly full on a Friday night, too.

Motor-sailing up Hale Passage, we watched the Lummi Island Ferry going back and forth and rounded the north end of Lummi Island. The sky to the west was jet black and moving our direction. Looking at the chart we decided to head to the south of Matia Island and around and into Echo Bay. This would avoid the marked but not lighted reef to the north of Sucia. Around we went, and down came the rain. Nothing like anchoring in almost the exact spot from which we started this cruise. Of course, then it was day light and sunny. In this case it was a wet night. We started the stove to dry ourselves out and hit the sack.




The yellow to the right is our day's run, further than we intended.






We declared Saturday a lay-day. We've made the return trip from Sucia to Drayton Harbor in under four hours (we've also done the trip in a lot longer when purposefully (the kids and L. might say "stubbornly") sailing in light ("nonexistent") winds). So we were not too worried about our time-line and could enjoy a day just putzing around. Which is just what we did.

And we ended Saturday by enjoying another beautiful sunset.

Summer 2013: Cruise (3b) - To Saddle Bag Island via the Swinomish Channel

Thursday, 22 August 2013
Elger Bay, Camano Island - at anchor

We decided that today would be interesting. We weren't sure if we would come around to the top of Camano Island and anchor off of the State Park there, or we would decide to go for the Swinomish Channel. It would be wind and tide dependent. (Although you have the advantage of seeing the green passage, and reading the title to know where we went.)

L. and J. awoke to a flat calm sea, and a clear day. We put the kettle on for coffee and climbed back into bed. 0600 was a little earlier than we wanted to be up just then.

Nonetheless, we were underway by 0912 with M. at the helm and E.  awaking five minute prior to our starting the engine saying, "Coffee ... coffee ... oh, please ..."

0600 Sunrise

To get north, we headed up Saratoga Passage between Whidbey and Camano Islands, and then into Skagit Bay. While Saratoga Passage is deep (66 fathoms tapering off to 22 fathoms), Skagit Bay is primarily shallow mud-flats that just cover at high tide (depths along the passage/channel of 10.5 - 19 fathoms, while 1.75 to .5 lie just off the channel). It would prove a day of watching the day markers and bouys, a day to keep track of where we were and where we were going.

As we motored, then motor-sailed up Saratoga Passage, we ate a breakfast of fresh bread. How we love our oven and bread makers (I. and M.).







Not much occurred during this portion of our day's trip. We continued to motor-sail north, tacking with favorable winds to try to increase our speed. We were passed by larger power craft heading south, and as we came up towards Camano Island, we started to be passed by a few sailboats heading south, too. Most of these were also motor-sailing, a few just powering.






Here's a shot of the north end of Camano Island. You can see how flat the water is, nothing but zephyrs.

By noon J. and L. figured out the tides, once again, to see what made sense. With the flat water we decided to go for it and see if we could get through the Swinomish Channel today. High tide was to be around 1900, so we figured we were good.

from Three Sheets NW

Here's a chart showing the channel up towards the Swinomish Channel. Directly at the top of the chart is a small yellow island (Goat Island). The Swinomish Channel is marked with a red line just above it.

At 1400 we were just coming around the corner, where the two blue lines are (a pipeline area) just above the "ROUTE" box.

We had entered Skagit Bay.

from Three Sheets NW

This chart gives an overview picture of the Swinomish Channel (fairly close to the center) and shows how it winds its way through lots of mud flats and low ground.










Here are a few pictures looking across the mud flats.

As we came up to the to the Channel, we started to see boats exiting. This was a good sign, as it helped us to see exactly where the Channel was.










As we came closer, J. and L. decided it was time to drop the main and stays'l. This way, no matter what the wind did, we would hopefully stay under control. We kept them loosely furled, so that if needed, we could quickly raise them again. But looking at the chart, we didn't think there would be any room to tack once in the Channel.

from Three Sheets NW

Ok, before entering the Channel, we needed to line up the two range markers. You can make out the two range markers on this chart to the left bottom quarter. One is in the blue, one in the green.

By the way, notice the "dog-leg" up near the + and - signs? That will become apparent as the photos show later.






Once these range markers were aligned, we were ready to proceed.

We kept them lined up astern, and in we went.


From here on, we'll let the photos do the talking with only a few comments here and there.

Enjoy the photo essay ...

Looking aft.

Looking aft.

Looking aft.

There is a marina in there.

First sight of the Rainbow Bridge.

Looking aft.

We ate with Nanna and Poppy here one day. It's for sale now.

Part of the west side is Swinomish Reservation Land.

That's PULL AND BE DAMNED.

I'm just going to go play on my ATARI.

Looking aft.

We're glad the railroad bridge was open.

Looking aft.

from Three Sheets NW

This chart shows how the Swinomish Channel cuts through the tide and mud flats of Padilla Bay. All the green dries out, and lots of the blue is .25 with pockets of 4.5 fathoms at low water. Not a place where you want to get outside the channel with a sailboat's keel. At least we don't.
But then came the long straight slog out to deeper water.

This video was shot with our very dear friend K.F. in mind - and memories of a trip long ago that J. and her husband (G.F.) took from Beverly, MA to Cape Ann.

This is Hat Island, with Saddlebag and little Dot Islands behind.

Looking aft towards the refineries at Anacortes.

Here we see Guemes with little Huckleberry Islands.

Sadddlebag and Dot Islands from the south.

We motored around to the north side of Saddlebag Island and anchored off the little cove.

This is where we anchored off the cove on the north side of Saddlebag Island.

We entered the Swinomish Channel at 1512.
We exited the Swinomish Channel at 1802.
Anchored at 1850.
Ah, the engine was finally off after a day of motoring.


Hey, what do you know, M.? The cat came out.

J. wrote up the log, all the while enjoying the freedom of deeper water!

The sun started to set over Guemes Island. I. shot some neat sunset photos.

We enjoyed watching this yawl raise sails and ghost around Guemes heading back south toward Anacortes.

An achored breeze filled in (this is the breeze you wanted all day, but got calms instead, until you anchored).

J. got the chart-book out to try to figure out what it was he was seeing. Which island is which? It had been awhile since he was last here.

Does Anacortes have a similar night life to Seattle? Look how they were hopping! They danced so much, the wiggled all the lights in town!

The next morning, the parents sent the children ashore to go get some wiggles out. "Go explore!" they said, and sent them off in PIPPI.

The kids went ashore and scrambled around awaiting for their parents.








From their perspective ...

From the parental perspective ...

Once we met up, we decided to explore the island. We ended up walking from "our" cove to the south cove, cutting the island in half. We then walked around the western half of the island.

The southern cove had lots of drift wood.

Hat Island, with Dot Island just peeking out from the left.

From the south-west corner, we took a picture of the kids with Guemes Island behind them. Then we continued walking ...

... until we found a nice spot for a parental photo.

















I. got such a neat shot. This is one of J. and L.'s favorites.

Huckleberry Island with Guemes Island behind.

Here's the cove from which we started.

Here's our faithful MERGANSER awaiting our return.

We left that afternoon to explore a different anchorage - one more - before reaching our home port.