Today is Saturday and that means Farmers Market on Lopez Island. We are going to see what it is all about. We bought a copy of “Afoot & Afloat,” by Marge and Ted Mueller, by Mountaineers Books. It is really neat following their descriptions of the various marine parks and bays where you can find a good place to anchor. We picked up the book by sailing to the north end of East Sound. We anchored temporarily near the county dock there and walked up town to get groceries and while we were there Gary picked up a Radio Shack multimeter tester to trouble shoot the charging system of the Honda. Yep! It ain’t charging. Now we need to find a genuine Honda parts store to replace the rectifier circuit. We are getting lots of AC and no DC.

After paddling all of our groceries and ice over to Regal Jug, we spent a most delightful afternoon sailing to Spencer Spit on Lopez Island. The winds failed us about a mile short and we had to motor the last bit. About mid evening we could see fog seeping into Lopez sound over Blakely Island from Rosario Straits. As it set in we got bone chilling cold and went below and buttoned everything up to stay warm.

The next morning was foggy and we stayed anchored until we could at least see the shore. We paddled ashore and visited with some nice folks from Liberty Lake Washington in the campground. This is a very popular campground and it takes reservations. We can have the family ashore and we can anchor nearby. No docks, however. Around noon the fog burned off and a breeze set in. We popped over to Blakely Island and purchased two gallons of gas and checked out their marina. Blakely is a very private island. Guests are welcome only at the marina. The marina is nice, and their rates are reasonable.

We set sail right from the dock and had another delightful afternoon of sailing. This time we found our way to Hunter Bay near the south end of Lopez Sound. This was a quiet and uneventful anchorage. Again overnight the fog settled in and we spent our spare time paddling around the bay and walking the county roads until the sun returned and the way was clear.

From Hunter Bay we set out through Lopez pass and went across the South shore of Lopez. Winds were dead calm until we passed Colville Island. At that point we had just enough wind to ghost along at about two to three knots. We made several tacks and made it close to our destination before we had to fire up the “Iron Wind.” This time we stayed in McKaye Harbor. Again we paddled and walked to get our exercise. We have figured out that we could qualify for a triathlon if we could just bring ourselves to swim a few laps around the boat. With a water temperature of 52 degrees we just haven’t gotten up the courage to try that yet! Somehow we almost always are able to find an ice-cream cone somewhere. This trip we had to settle for a “Drumstick” cone.

On Friday we entered San Juan Channel from the South and were treated to a vigorous down-wind romp to Fisherman Bay, the hub of Lopez Island. Our dingy little canoe came partially unhooked from its towing bridle and threatened to swamp itself. This gave Gary a few anxious moments until he was able to snag the dragging bridle piece and once again secure it.

That brings us to Saturday. We walked into Lopez village, a stroll of about a mile. Blackberries were just ripening, so it took a little longer than planned to walk the mile. Unfortunately it started sprinkling, so we bypassed some of the blackberries and scooted into the farmers market. We picked up some nice beans, tomatoes, basal, blueberries and zucchinis. We started back but remembered that we needed to mail the earnest money deposit on our new home, so we retraced our steps to the far side of the village to find the P.O. By now it is raining steady, and the light coats we have on are soaked through. It is a fairly warm rain, so we just trudged back to the boat.

Back at the boat we were greeted by a new wet spot in the salon carpet. We traced this to a leaking main hatch. Gary disassembled the hatch frame and replaced the caulking with some nice new Life Caulk, the boaters cure for any leak. We located several more minor leaks and caulked them too. With any luck we will be at least a little more water tight in the future.

Now we are cleaned up and have had our nice warm and soapy showers. With the exception of the forest of drying coats, towels and sweat shirts festooning our main salon, things are quite stable aboard our tiny yacht. The main salon, by the way is four foot wide and two foot long and it is just inside the main hatch. The next two feet constitutes the galley, then there is a four foot segment on the starboard side that is reserved for the crew’s mess, (that is where you eat for you land lubbers.) On the port side is the head, (the, ahem…, necessary.) and then the six foot segment in the bow is the berthing space.

Well it is time to post this. We will update you all on the happenings along the Dinsmore’s journey in a few days.