Change of Latitude in the Pacific Northwest

Change of Latitude in the Pacific Northwest

Who: Don/Debbie/Katie Baxter/Sarah Leu
Port: Bellingham, WA

Departure to Prevost Harbor Marine Park

31 December 2015
It was icy on the docks when we got up and our lines were frozen. We walked up to the WebLocker for breakfast and spoiled ourselves with omelets. Back on the boat, we prepared for departure, disconnecting the power. When we did so, our inverter indicated we only had 12.2 volts in our house bank, when we should have been reading 12.8 or so after being connected to shore power and charging batteries to capacity. It was a puzzle. Fortunately Jenna and Rowan came down and Rowan caught our stupid mistake. We had left the space heater running on AC in the forward cabin. It had a huge power demand and really drains batteries. We only use it when we are connected to shore power. Stupid mistake on our part. We were still getting our boat brains in gear for this trip.

We cast off and headed out. Our plan was to spend New Years in Prevost Harbor Marine Park, as wild a place as you can find in the San Juans. We really like it. We planned to watch the ball drop in NYC on our new TV tied up to the dock, if there was a space available.

Leaving Bellingham Bay we ran into several boats with captains who were not especially courteous, passing us far too closely and waking us. It was clear the New Year’s crowd was headed to Friday Harbor where there is always a raucous celebration on New Year’s. We wanted to avoid all of that at Prevost.

We had a wonderful view of Mt. Baker off our stern on the trip out. The clear cold weather (high 30s’) made for perfect viewing. Deb took a nice photo with her camera. I took a quick one and emailed it to Dan and Donna. The trip was uneventful and we found space at the dock. There were two other boats at the short state park dock but room for two more. We made a perfect landing and Deb tied us up smartly. We walked up to the registration stand on the island and paid our moorage fee. Tomorrow, we could use the annual pass we purchased for 2016.

Deb fixed a wonderful halibut dinner with fresh caught halibut that we picked up in Bellingham. It was delish! I did dishes and afterwards we watched the ball drop as the clock turned to midnight in NYC. Then we went to bed.
Comments
Vessel Name: Change of Latitude
Vessel Make/Model: Grand Banks CL 42
Hailing Port: Bellingham, WA
Crew: Don/Debbie/Katie Baxter/Sarah Leu
About: We live on the East Coast but enjoy wilderness cruising in the Pacific Northwest.
Extra: We enjoy crabbing, shrimping, fishing, and clamming. Some of us are crazy enough to swim in Northwest waters during the summer.

Change of Latitude in the Pacific Northwest

Who: Don/Debbie/Katie Baxter/Sarah Leu
Port: Bellingham, WA