Well we have now completed a circumnavigation of Orcas Island. We set out from Fisherman Bay and did a quick sail up to Odlin County Park which is also on Lopez Island. This is a really neat park. It has camp sites right on the beach, some with lots of shade trees. It also has mooring buoys and space to anchor if they are full. The county dock is right at the edge of the park with a two hour maximum stay. It would allow us to transfer people to and from the boat. The only thing it is missing is showers. It does take reservations – are you listening Barb? The bay did get a little sloppy in the morning when the big boats started plying Upright channel.
From there we checked out a new-to-us marina called Blakely Island Marina. It is quiet, secluded and the folks are really friendly. It rained so hard that we elected to stay a second day. This evening they told us to come over to the cabana in the evening they were going to have a fire. I brought my guitar and we sang songs until really late, I believe it was 10:15 when we quit. I even got invited back.
The weather looked like it would break on Thursday, August 26th so we cast off and motored to another first for us. We stopped at Matia Island in the far North of the archipelago. It is really small, but we were able to get a spot on the dock. There is a really nice old growth forest trial loop on the island about a mile long. We walked that twice. We also took our canoe and paddled all around this island. It is about a mile long.
Today started off calm enough. We put our dingy little canoe in its towing bridle right at the dock. It was perfectly calm in the bay, We motored out to where there was a little wind and started to get the sails up. Everything was ready and along came this huge floating mat of kelp and ensnared us. I got back and shut down the outboard before the kelp fouled the prop. Next is a simple matter. I raised the motor. Pulled up the rudder, and started to crank up the centerboard. Oh – ohÂ…. The kelp is fouling the centerboard and we can’t wind it up to give us the clean slick bottom we need to get away. We tried pulling at the kelp, paddling with it and against it, nothing would work. Finally we set the sails and got the kelp streaming and then we were able to wind up the centerboard and sail clear of the kelp mat. We are actually feeling a bit heady about this bit of adventure, but Murphy wasn’t done with us yet. We were picking up more wind and sailing a beam reach, The fastest angle to sail there is; we are doing seven knots. This is surfin’ speed, folks, The motor won’t even drive the boat that fast. Just about then Judy calls out that the dingy is going under. Sure enough! The canoe is full of water and wallowing around just waiting to go submarine. We dump a bunch of speed, and I get back and drag it alongside and bail it out. This time we haul it’s bow up into the davits on the stern pulpit so only the tail is dragging. Now it is back to the races. We sailed most of the day with over fifteen mile per hour winds. We were reefed for most of that time, we had more wind than we could handle otherwise. We were able to sail all the way to our destination, Roach Harbor. We are there now, and it is just ten minutes from evening colors. We have been ogling all of the classic boats in the harbor. Most of these date from the twenty’s and thirty’s. Mahogany and varnish like you wouldn’t believe. No plastic, “Tupperware” boats are these. Tomorrow there are supposed to be classic airplanes and classic cars for us to ogle too.
Everything is going fine toward completing the purchase of the 2001 Alpine coach. We will return from our paridise in the San Juans about September 15th and go over to Bend Oregon to pick up our new home.