Park's Bay
09 July 2010 | Park's Bay
Eugene and Tami
It has been a few days since we last blogged. But, to be quite honest, everything that has happened within the past week can probably be summed up in a few short paragraphs.
4th of July weekend was spent on the anchor in Roche Harbor. The fireworks were less than impressive and there were about a thousand boats there (most of them worth about half a million dollars and operated by intoxicated nautical morons). The resort did put on a pretty good program of events for the weekend. Tami ran in an "almost 5K" fun run and the kids had a blast competing in a donut eating contest. Neither of them won, but they got their fill of donuts and milk, and we got some great photos to be used as blackmail when they get older.
After the Roche Harbor 500, we motored up to Reid Harbor on Butt Tree Island (aka Stuart Island) and sat in a great spot for two nights. We set the anchor and backed into a rocky corner then set a stern tie to the shore. We didn't move for two days. Once again, we hiked to the Turn Point lighthouse with the kids. We had a great lunch looking out across the water into Canada. The next morning, Tami and I ran to the lighthouse and back for our workout. Additionally, we got some boat cleaning done and a few other chores that we had been putting off for a while.
After weighing anchor from Reid Harbor, it was time to make the West Marine and grocery store run in Friday Harbor. Boating season is definitely in full swing - the marina was busy. We got a spot on the "D" breakwater next to the ferry landing. The next day, we were lucky enough to get a spot on the reciprocal dock where we linked up with our friends from Cygnet and Pyxus. We enjoyed another great day of good company, good food, boat chores, and amazing summer weather. Speaking of summer weather....
From Tami:
Too Hott!!
We left quiet Stewart Island headed for Friday Harbor. We were in need of supplies and some friends from Olympia were headed there also, so off we went. We had a great sail, something that seems so rare here these days. Well I had a great sail, Gene spent the better part of our sail fighting with our Spinnaker. The wind was blowing nicely off the port quarter giving us perfect conditions for a nice run with the chute. As our luck would have it, the minute the spinnaker filled, the wind shifted to the starboard beam and slowed to 1 knot. It was very frustrating, but par for the course for the San Juans in the summer time. We finally put the Spinnaker to rest and set the sails for a broad reach toward Friday Harbor. We clipped along at a swift 5 knots sailing across San Juan Channel. But what was even more rare than the good sailing conditions was the hot weather we finally got to experience. It is so rarely this hot in Washington that we forget what hot is like. We think we miss the warm sunny days but then we realize that what we miss is warm sunny weather where you can jump into refreshing water to cool off. Now some of you may be saying " but you are on a boat, jump in." Well, the Puget Sound and it's surrounding waters don't get warmer than 56 degrees, ever! We have made the mistake of jumping in the past, and the water made my legs go numb instantly. I will never try it again; the memory has scared me for life.
For the next 3 days we enjoyed sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 80s. It was magnificent. It really bothers us to hear people complain about this warm weather when others across the nation are seeing temperatures in the high 90s! Don't get us wrong, we sweated like pigs in heat and have the sunburn to prove it, but it was amazing. As soon as the sun started to set, the temperature dropped back down to a wonderful 65 degrees. It just doesn't get much better than this.
So, we are still busy with lots to do. The boat's chore list isn't getting any shorter and our re-rig in Anacortes is rapidly approaching. We want to make sure we are ready for that and get all our vacationing in before we have to take the boat to the yard again.
Tonight, we are anchored in Parks Bay on the south side of Shaw Island. It's Friday night, so as tradition would have it, we all enjoyed pizza for dinner. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring more boat projects and some good sailing.
Today - Friday Harbor to Parks Bay - 2.6nm
Log - 204.6nm (over 200 miles on this trip with lots more to go!)