Our passage from Port Ludlow to Hunter Bay, Lopez Island was a push button passage. Push button… because I drove from my piloting perch, remote control at the ready, click left or right to change course to negotiate the flotsam defined “slalom course”. There had been a high tide last night So… the water had a lot of wood and logs released from the beaches, floating about, getting their bearings. I’m sure they felt some relief to be back in the water and able to continue their wayward journeys.
The eastern Strait sported a significant wind event yesterday afternoon. It tapered off around midnight, but not until the chop and swell had loosened kelp fronds from their holdfasts. Without their anchors they float around and to accumulate together. The end result, before they float ashore to become food for the sad fleas, deer, bacteria and fungi: They form kelp patties. The patties can get quite large and attract bits of wood, small and large logs, discarded rope and netting, and birds perched on the bits of wood, boat trash and the like. Putting a boat on an electronic course can get your boat to plow through such a pattie or a log for that matter. Either can be bad.
Piloting actions by remote control: Notable kelp pattie – 4 clicks to port, negotiate clear path around pattie, 4 clicks to the right to get back on “course”. Big tree with roots still attached with a crew of gulls using it as a fish camp: hold the port button down for 3+ seconds to obtain a full 10 degree course change, get around the evil obstacle, push the starboard button down for 3+ seconds to return back to the course. Mostly the gulls just keep to the log, but If there are skittish cormorants mixed in the crowd that take off to avoid contact with the alien vehicle bearing down on their lair, the gulls follow suit and take off. It is so.
Oh… a pre-planned course was loaded on the navigation chart and easy to follow. Our journey was never seat of the pants flying. It was just not activated and controlling our course. Doing it that way provides a course on the chart to follow to avoid major obstacles and stay out of the shipping lanes. The remote control is used to veer back to the track every once in a while and to run the slalom course about patties, logs and other flosam. Doing it that way keeps one more alert while transiting through obstacle laden waters.
Imagine holding a small remote controlled device that fits in the palm of your hand that connects wirelessly to the navigation system that allows you to control the course of your 53 foot, 75,000 pound boat thither and yon. Hmmm… What will AI do with that?
After our passage of diligence we settled calmly into Hunter Bay, Lopez Island. We dined, drank to our good fortune to be able to continue our explorations of the Salish Sea and beyond. The dawn of the 4th found our little tribe in a quiet, windless anchorage. A few new boats came in. A few boats left. Quietly. No muss. No fuss. We had expected to find a few more boats and a bit of rowdiness due to its being the 4th, but found everyone to be quiet and respectful of the solitude that Hunter offers. So different from Cherry Cove and Avalon on Catalina Island, our old stomping grounds.
This cruising chronicle will cover our first few days from Hunter Bay to Reid Harbor, Stuart Island.
Hunter Bay, 7/4/24- 7/5/24
04:57. Nautical twilight, the time between day and night when there is light outside, but the Sun is below the horizon. The humble beginnings of a languorous day in Hunter Bay.
04:58 We shared the bay with 5 other boats. The black line is the tombola at the SE end of Lopez. The left size is the bit of land, 375 acres or so, that Paul Alan (think Microsoft) bought years ago…
04:59 There is not too much to say about this picture… It is only meant to illustrate the “emptiness” and lack of humanoid activity during our stay.
Les took full advantage of the windless day and smooth water conditions. Perfect for stand up paddleboarding (SUP)
7/5/24 to 7/7/24: After a brief visit at Hunter, we moved on to Blind Bay, Shaw Island. It is a repeat anchorage for us, but a fine spot to lollygag for a bit, drink wine with friends and cook a nice meal in pleasing surroundings. Why knot:
We anchored just off our favorite rocky reef in the Southwest corner of the bay.
The view towards the South. A few boats are anchored in the bay. Most of them local. Blind Bay is open to Harney Channel to the North and ferry traffic which can cause a few rolly interludes. Easily attenuated with one of our flopper stoppers, a device we hang over the side.
To the East… our friends Beckie and Glen anchored their 60 foot Ocean Alexander. We met them in Chemainus, Canada a few years ago. We touch bases often.
7/7/24 to 7/11/24: After a few days at anchor in Blind Bay… we made our way to another of our favorite anchorages: Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island. It is picturesque, and sheltered from most winds. There has always been room for us to anchor, and provides quick access to Canada just across the border. There is a state park dock, a public dock and a post office “outpost” for island residents. While we were there the locally famous Thea Foss cruised through the harbor and anchored for the night. The ship has a most interesting history… for more information if you are so inclined follow the link: https://classicyachtinfo.org/yachts/thea-foss
The 112 foot Thea Foss cruising through Prevost Harbor. It barely had room to turn around.
Prevost Harbor. Picture taken from the county gravel road bordering the Ericksen Farm.
The county dock and the “postoffice anex” on the West side of Prevost Harbor.
Whilst we were dining on filet, fresh steamed corn, and a greenish salad, a band of post millennial Athabaskans paddled their cedar war canoe through the harbor.
7/11/24 to 7/13/24: Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, the townified hub of the San Juans. Friday Harbor is home to the San Juan Brewery, a wonderful whale museum, great grocery stores, and many eateries including one of our favorites: Vinnies. Here there is ferry access, seaplane access, private boat access and you will find boats here from Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Colorado and other places a boat might be registered.
Boats and Ferries and planes oh my! After Prevost Harbor this feels like a busy place.
Mucho aeroplanos buzzing overhead, in the bay and on the dock dedicated to seaplanes…
Whale watching safaris…
After a dinner at Vinnies… we made our way back to Great Northern for a nightcap and some TV. Our new Starlink satellite system gets us internet access with wi-fi phone and just about everything internetishly speaking…
Next anchorage on our list: Reid Harbor on Stuart Island. After the bussle of Friday Harbor, some decompressing, hiking, paddleboarding and just hanging about is in order
Then… we will be off to Canada…
To be continued…
Salish Sea Cruising With Blair, Les, Leo, and Bliss 