March 30.
Anacortes Marina Depart 9:47 5989.1 hours 32,6622
miles
Blind Bay, Shaw Island Arrive 12:54 gray skies, calm seas
Total mileage: 15.1 nautical miles
We are finally underway! We are excited to really begin the expedition. Up
to now we have been busy preparing and provisioning the boat. That is now finished and we are actually
beginning the trip north. It is very cold today but the seas are calm and a great day to be cruising.
We saw porpoises playing in the water on our way to the first anchorage. We are anchored in Blind
Bay near Shaw Island. There is a small island sheltering us from Harney
Channel which is called Blind Island. Years ago there was a hermit who lived on the island.
Today it is a marine park and a great place for kayakers to spend the night. Shaw Island was named
for a Navy captain. For 27 years the Franciscan Nuns ran the local store and met the ferry on every run
rain, snow, wind, or sun. Last year they sold the store to a family and retired to Oregon.
Shaw is a lightly populated island and we will be going ashore tomorrow to explore. In the meantime
we are enjoying the peace and quiet of being on anchor. We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t
set out our crab pot. But the season doesn’t open to recreational crabbers until July.
But this bay is packed with crab pots set out by the commercial guys. In fact soon after we arrived
here came a crabber checking his pots. It was entertaining to watch him with the binoculars.
Many of the pots were empty but several had 5 to 10 crabs in them. A lot of work for not a very
good harvest. I guess we will have to wait until we get further north to get crab.
| View from Knot Dreamin' of the ferry |
|
March
31. A day on “the hook”. Just hanging
out in Blind Bay enjoying the scenery, not enjoying the very cold weather. There was snow mixed with the
rain today! But by mid afternoon the sun is out and we are ready to go ashore for a bike ride.
After getting the dinghy into the water and loading the folding bikes into the dinghy we are set to go.
It is just a short ride to the mainland. We spot some kayakers heading toward Blind Bay.
Looks like they will be spending the night. Pretty cold for camping out, they must be pretty tough.
We have a pleasant ride around the rural roads of Shaw Island. Lots and lots of vacant land but
also some very nice homes. A pretty remote life. Everyone waves as they pass us by.
We take a break at the little red school house which is listed on the National Historic Register. The
children on the island still attend this school, grades K – 6. Then they go to Orcas or San Juan
Island for grades 7-12. We finish the ride by stopping at the General Store which is the only business
on the island. We purchase a jar of mustard that is made by the Benedictine nuns who still live on the
island then load our bikes back into the dingy and head back for the boat. A very peaceful day and one
we look forward to repeating many times on our journey.
|
| Reef-netting boat on display in front of Shaw Island Museum |
April 1. Blind Bay, Shaw Island Depart 9:49 5992.5
hours 32,637 miles
Friday Harbor, San Juan Island Arrive 12:40
Sunny with some clouds, calm seas. Arrive 12:40
We woke to dense fog which was totally gone by the time we weighed anchor.
While eating breakfast we watched a couple of otters playing near Blind Island and also watched the kayakers preparing
for their day after a cold night camping on the island. Makes me really appreciate the warm heating system
on Knot Dreamin’. Jerry found a surprise visitor when pulling up the anchor but he didn't stay long
once. Once he was out of the water he quickly let go! We had hoped to anchor in Friday Harbor but all the good
anchoring spots were taken so we decide to just go to the visiting dock at the marina, and get our mail then head on to a
different island for the night. First stop is the Post Office. We were a little disappointed
that one of our packages had not yet arrived. That means we will need to spend the night and get the rest
of the mail hopefully tomorrow. So while walking around town feeling a little disappointed about not being
able to continue on, we saw a poster advertising a concert to be held on April 3. The performer is Coco
Montoya, a blues artist that Jerry has been wanting so see. So what we thought was a delay (waiting for
the mail) has turned into a good thing. We will go to the concert and leave for the next stop on
Friday. Every cloud has a silver lining and we are looking forward to enjoying this particular silver lining,
Coco Montoya!
April
2. We awoke to a beautiful sunny but very cold morning. We are going
to go for a bike ride today but decide to wait until it warms up at least to 40! So I spend the morning
watching the boats come and go from this very busy marina. Since it is the U.S.Customs port of entry there
is a lot of boat traffic here. It is fun to see what other people are boating in and what they
have named their vessels. I saw one named Moon Shadow and another named Dream Weaver and then there
is Josephine. All kinds of boats and all kinds of names some with lots of imagination and some not.
After lunch we figure it is time to head out. So we unfold our bikes and head to American Camp.
This island was occupied in the mid 1840’s by both an American Army and a British Army. Both
camps are now historic parks. The occupation all had to do with the Pig War and the 49th parallel.
There was a treaty of 1846 which caused all the problem. They apparently neglected to do something
about this particular island which is on both sides of the 49th parallel. Some very interesting
history. There is a replica of the officers’ quarters and the parade grounds at American Camp.
After we explore the park which houses a very big Bald Eagle’s nest, we head back to town. It
is nice 10 miles bike ride and we enjoyed seeing parts of this island that we haven’t seen before.
April
3. Another beautiful sunny & cold morning. So cold in fact that there
is frost on the docks. Jerry spends time working around on the boat while I walk to town to get the rest
of the mail and do some shopping. Friday Harbor is a nice little town, reminds us both of Brookings in
a lot of ways. Just a relaxing day around the boat and then off to the concert. What
a surprise. The community theater seats around 275-300 people. Every seat is a great
seat. And the band is excellent. Coco’s voice is terrific. At
first we thought the band members were just a couple of fishermen. Then when they played their solos we
discovered how wrong we were. The keyboardist was really good as was the drummer but the bass guitarist
was exceptional. Needless to say we were pleasantly surprised by the performance and owe our friend Phil
Roberts a big thank you for telling us about Coco Montoya in the first place.
April 4. Woke
up to rain. Went out for a nice breakfast then did a few errands before preparing to head for the next
spot.
Friday Harbor Depart 12:23 5995.7 hours
32,650 miles
Garrison Bay, San Juan Island Arrive 4:01
Cloudy, some sun breaks, some rain, calm seas 14.31 nm
Another great day for cruising. We had to plan our trip
to coincide with the tides and currents because we will be going through Mosquito Pass. It is a bit tricky
and needs to be traversed on high tides and slack current. We are going to get there a little to early
so we take a short stop at Roche Harbor. This is the other main boating stop on the island of San Juan.
We have been here a few times before but this time we were surprised by all the new condos that have been built here.
After a short walk it is time to get back on the boat. As we are leaving the marina Knot Dreamin’
passes Knot Enough, a much larger pleasure boat entering Roche Harbor. These boat names are always interesting.
The Captain gets us through the tricky pass with no problems at all and we enter Garrison Bay to find a sea of crab
pots. There are so many that it is challenging to find a place to anchor where we won’t get caught
in the pots. But once again Jerry does an excellent job and we set the anchor at 4:01. We
have anchored in this bay before, it is one of our favorites. So we will stay here a few days before crossing
the border into Canada.
April
5. Today is oyster day! We dinghy ashore and tie up at English Camp. This
is where the English Army had their encampment during the Pig War. Their spot seems like a better place
than American Camp. They had a more protected bay and they created a formal garden that is still there.
Anyway back to the oysters.
We walk to Westcott Bay Oyster Farm which is about 3 miles away. We decide to get ours off the beach
instead of just bagging up the ones they have already harvested. So we get the best ones we can find and
hike back to the boat to prepare for the big feast. Fresh oysters are hard to beat!
April 6-8. Weather
isn’t so great but the scenery is wonderful. We’ll just stay here until the weather breaks
for the passage across Haro Strait. Jerry gets the charts copied to the second computer which is an important
tasks to finish before we head to Canada. He gets several other things completed off the “to do”
list. So now we are ready to head to Canada.
