Juxtapose those two data points in the title together in a symbiotic manner… good weather and time to play… And what do itinerant voayageurs such as ourselves do? Well… we slip the dock lines and head out for adventure. Why knot? That’s what our life style calls for.
About that brilliant winter weather: This was our winterish view from the pilothouse… looking towards Lopez Island. Winter doesn’t get better does it? Well unless you are a skier…
At the time this snap was taken during our voyage, we were transiting the Eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and were about halfway between Partridge Point by Admiralty Inlet and the San Juan Islands. The gap towards the right third of the picture is Rosario Strait. We swerved up that Strait for a bit, then hung a left into Lopez pass, transited the waters of lower Lopez Sound, and settled into Hunter Bay for the night. Cozy it was. We were the only boat occupying one of our favorite anchorages.
Hunter Bay looking North and then East:
Delightful to state the obvious… In the morning: Hunter Bay Huevos Rancheros was served in the sunny cockpit. (Oh sure… a tosh of red goes well with breakfast whatever time it is served. In this case nearly noon.):
And our breakfasting view abaft the stern:
So… to appease gods of current, on day 2 of our adventure, we moved on and anchored in Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island… And in the morning, to our delight, found the morning light on day 3 to be up to par:
Our view to the East (The International Airport:
To the West…, The Erikson ranch and environs:
To the Northwest, the State Park dock:
And in the State park: Campers in a magnificent wall tent on the bluff overlooking Prevost Harbor:
And of course we hiked the 6 miles out to the Turn Point Lighthouse and back. There were lots of eagles out there, but our snaps were a bit too out of focus to share… But as we were snacking on our traditional shared Cliff Bar and gazing about, the lighthouse and a passing ship were there for us to enjoy. The waters are Haro Strait. Canadian waters and the Gulf Islands are the background. Our next voyage out there will be to transit into Canadian waters and the pleasures they provide…
Change of plans… and the reason:
Our plans for day 4, a Sunday, included raising the anchor and transiting from the US to Canada via Haro Strait. Our goal: Poets Cove Resort. Great marina. Excellent restaurant. Hot tubs, warm outdoor pool. Transcendental massages… The works available at a classy resort. But… looking at future weather profiles it was not to be. It was after all… still winter. And in winter from a cruising perspective: weather rules the day and most boating decisions. Red, which means lots of wind, can make transiting the Strait of Juan de Fuca beyond an uncomfortable experience. It can predict conditions on the water that border on and venture well into the danger zone, even for a boat like Great Northern. Red on a PredictWind computer map points the way into dangerous conditions: 25 to 30 knots of wind against current. That means that there will likely be “wind chop” of 4 to 8 feet, and it will be on a very short period. That means the waves will be very close together. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! will be the least of your worries. We’ve experienced “wind chop” in the open ocean off of Cape Mendocino: 15 to 20 foot seas with a 7 second interval. Those conditions barely gave us time to react to keep us in the safe zone. And… a 4 to 8 foot Juan de Fuca chop with very little distance between waves is not something we need to test Great Northern with. So… we decided to weigh anchor and head for the safety of a known harbor: Port Ludlow, our winter location.
Our passage crossing Juan de Fuca was uneventful. Well… except for the slalom course created by the number of logs and large bits of prop busting wood floating on the water. But still… it was a fine passage. The weather was mild. Great Northern functioned well for the most part (we had an odd issue with the electronic engine controls, but they continued to work just fine).
So we are back in our winter home port… and are already thinking what we will do with our next 10 day excursion…
Salish Sea Cruising With Blair, Les, Leo, and Bliss 