It has been quite the pandemic summer cruising season which we have just completed, so we wanted to bring everyone up to speed. Here it goes:

Our original plan was for a two month cruise to Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) as part of a three boat flotilla which included our good friend, Bob Deroos of Salt Spring Island. For those of you with good memories, you will remember him from our trip to Alaska in 2015. We met him at Hidden Cove Marina at our second stop after meeting the challenge of Seymour Narrows rapids. We have kept in touch over the years, visiting him and his wife, Brenda, at their home in Ganges. The process for getting into Haida Gwaii which is a First Nations National Park is rigorous. You have to apply, designating your dates of travel, paying the fees, and then attending a visitor seminar (ours was in downtown Vancouver). One of the interesting requirements is to make sure that your vessel is rat free, which is to keep the islands free of this rodent. They provide you with rat traps and poisons which you need to maintain on your vessel before and during your visit. Everything was ready, and then the Coronavirus hit. Not only was Haida Gwaii shut down to visiting vessels, but Canada closed its borders to US vessels, so that put a huge crimp on our cruising plans for the entire season. It was time to re-evaluate which meant multiple, shorter cruises for the season. Fortunately, there are enough locations to visit locally, but extended cruising was not meant to be.

Our first cruise of the season was a return to the South Sound. Our first stop was Gig Harbor just north of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge where we ran into a fellow Outbound 46 owner who was based in a marina in that harbor. As we sat at anchor in the afternoon, we saw his vessel enter the harbor. Using the VHF radio, we spent a fair amount of time getting acquainted and exchanging information. He suggested an anchorage in the South Sound where he actually lives as a possible stop. We left the following morning to some favorable winds and managed to actually sail most of the way to our first destination, Oro Bay in the southeastern most part of the sound. We were pretty much alone at this anchorage. We went ashore and had a pleasant walk in a forested park where we were warned to be aware of Poison Oak. We were very careful and finished the walk unscathed. We then proceeded to Filucy Bay, which was a different experience. There were quite a few boats at anchor in the harbor, but we found room and spent a quiet night aboard. The following day we ventured to McMicken Island which proved to be another popular spot. The primary anchorage was crowded, but we anchored in a more remote location where we were joined by only one other boat. We launched our kayaks and went ashore for a brief, exploratory walk where we had our first experience with spouting clams. It was low tide, so where the clams, which are otherwise buried, that are normally underwater, they were shooting up streams of water the process for filtering for food) about a foot above the sand (I tried to photograph this but was unsuccessful-kind of like trying to photograph lightning bolts). After a quiet night at anchor, we were off to our final stop, the north shore of Fox Island. We found a quiet cove where we were joined by two other boats. We launched the dinghy and went for an exploratory cruise in Hale Passage. The following day was our return to Eagle Harbor and the end of this adventure.

Our next cruise was a short one to the San Juan Islands. We once again had some favorable winds, so most of our first day was under sail. We stopped at our usual anchorage in Port Townsend. We took our electric folding bikes ashore and did a bit of exploring. After a good night’s sleep, even though there was a bit of a blow, we headed across the Strait of Juan de Fuca where we once again had good sailing conditions. We were visiting our friends, Jeff and Melody, who are building a new home on Decatur Island. Jeff needed to take his power boat to Fisherman’s Cove on Lopez Island for servicing, so we arranged to head there first and pick them up to then go see their home under construction. It just so happened that they wanted to be picked up at virtually low tide, and Fisherman’s is an extremely shallow cove. The entrance is very narrow with several markers and turns, so we entered very cautiously, seeing depths on our depth sounder which showed the bottom to be only a few feet below our keel. We navigated successfully and picked them up on the dock. When leaving, the tide had gone down a little more, and, at one point, it felt like we grazed the bottom which fortunately is mud, not rocky. We continued on to Decatur where we saw the status of construction. We returned to Lion’s Paw and found an anchorage on the north part of Decatur for the night. The next day, we returned to one of our favorite spots in the San Juans-James Island. The last time that we had visited, there was a small dock where we could barely get in, it was so shallow. They have since extended and expanded the dock, and we were able to tie up with three other boats (They had just that day re-opened the dock which had been closed due to Coronavirus restrictions). It was a good thing, because for that night and the following day, it blew quite hard, so it was good to be tied up at a dock and not at anchor. We did go ashore and walked the trail on this small island. After spending 2 nights on the dock, we headed to a night at Watmaugh Bay at the north entrance to the Strait. The following morning, we headed home and again had the right winds to sail across the Juan de Fuca (This was so unusual for so many days of wind for sailing during the PNW summers).

Our next adventure was a short trip to the west side of Bainbridge Island and a transit of Port Washington Narrows and Dyes Inlet. Our destination was Silverdale where we often drive for shopping trips to Costco and Trader Joes. There is a public dock away from the commercial shopping area where we tied up for an overnight stay. We explored this portion of the old town on foot, sat in the local park overlooking the inlet for awhile, and then spent the night onboard. We left the following morning to explore the possibility of a night at Ostrich Bay but were not impressed with the scenery, so we just headed back to Bainbridge Island. We transited the west side of the island and made an overnight stay in our favorite, local anchorage-Manzanita Bay. We had to time the transit of Agate Passage at the north end of the island, another place with strong currents, and the favorable current was in the early morning. We weighed anchor the next morning and returned to Eagle Harbor to conclude this brief cruise.

We were at a loss as what next to do when we learned that Roche Harbor on San Juan Island was going to have fireworks on the 4th of July. We decided that this was a good reason to head out once again. We followed a different itinerary than our usual first stop at Port Townsend before crossing the Strait. We went to Port Hadlock around the bend from our ususal stop where we anchored and went ashore for dinner at the Ajax Café which was now serving due to the lifting of pandemic restrictions. We left the next morning to visit Mystery Bay, located in a large lagoon across the bay from Port Townsend. The entrance to the lagoon is narrow, winding and shallow with several navigation markers, which we navigated without a problem. We found a good spot to anchor just outside Mystery Bay, launched the dinghy and took the electric bikes ashore for a nice ride to Fort Flagler State Park. After spending the night aboard Lion’s Paw, we departed the lagoon and crossed the bay to our regular anchorage at Port Townsend. We launched our bikes, and took a pleasant ride to Point Wilson which is a state park at the tip of Admiralty Inlet, the access to the Juan de Fuca. With Coronavirus restrictions still in place, overnight camping was prohibited, but there were many people visiting there for the day with some pleasant but breezy weather, That night, we dined at one of our favorite restaurants, The Fountain Café. The next day, July 2nd, we crossed the Strait, managing to sail for a good portion of the crossing. We motored the last part into Roche Harbor where we joined what was at least 100 other boats at anchor, not including the full docks at the marina. The next day, we went ashore and visited the sculpture garden. After another night at anchor, we decided to take the dinghy to explore a neighboring harbor, Westcott Bay, which is about 2 miles away. It was our chance to really try out the new outboard motor which we had purchased last spring. While it has the same horsepower as our Yamaha (which had started giving us carburetor problems), this Suzuki has fuel injection and both electric start and tilt, a true luxury. We opened her up, and, after a few minutes, the engine started to bind up and smoke. The red warning light came on, and I immediately shut it down. I could not tell whether it was an oil pressure or overheating problem. Using discretion as the better part of valor, I inserted the oars and began rowing back to Lion’s Paw about a mile away. Fortunately, another dinghy was nearby and provided us with a tow back to our boat. I tried to diagnose the problem, but I could not sort it out. It ran at idle but was acting up under throttle. We enjoyed a pleasant day and early evening onboard and then watched a decent fireworks show. We left the next morning for Reid Harbor, another of our favorite spots in the San Juans. After finding a good anchorage, we did launch the dinghy, and using minimal throttle, we were able to go ashore and have a night hike around the island with a nice view of the anchorage on the opposite side of the island, Prevost Harbor. The following day, we headed home. The first part is through Haro Strait which separates the US from Canada. The wind forecast was ideal for sailing once we reached the Juan de Fuca, so we started hugging the imaginary boundary between the two countries. We were just about ready to set sail, and I was down below shutting off the watermaker. Debra was at the helm. I came on deck as a high speed patrol boat pulled up on our port side. It was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police! They said: “You are in Canadian waters.” I asked how far. They said: “about 100 meters (300 yards)”! They were very nice about it, and after giving them my personal information for their report, they said that we were not in any trouble. We thanked them and promptly changed course to re-enter US waters (There is actually about a 10 degree bend in the imaginary border as you get to the south end of Haro Strait. I had been hugging the border for the best sailing angle. We just had gone a little too far.). We had a great sail across the Strait. We were timing the current to re-enter Puget Sound, and, at times, we were going so fast (almost 10 knots) that we were constantly dumping wind to slow down-the current at Admiralty Inlet can be as much as 4 knots, and our boat speed is only 6 usually. We returned to our Port Townsend anchorage for the night. The next day, we took a detour to Port Orchard where we had purchased our new outboard. We docked at the marina, and I nursed the dinghy to the dealership. After lengthy discussions, we came to the conclusion that I had probably blocked the water cooling intake with a piece of kelp, and the engine had just overheated. Unbeknownst to me, there is built into the fuel injection system a safety feature that slows the engine to protect it from serious damage. I ran the engine at full speed when returning to the marina, and it worked like a charm (and has been fine ever since-false alarm!). We returned to Eagle Harbor the following day, completing this latest cruise.

Our next adventure was to Hood Canal, a 40 mile long fjord, which is entered via the Hood Canal Bridge, the longest floating bridge in the US. Our first stop was just outside the canal, Port Gamble, a lagoon which is well protected from any bad weather. Due to the height of our mast (70'), we cannot transit the fixed bridge opening at the east end of this floating bridge, so we have to call for the floating portion to open and let us enter the canal. It is not manned, so you call ahead and arrange a time for the opening. With Port Gamble 2 miles away from the bridge, we set the time for opening and weighed anchor to time our arrival. All went well. We continued on to our first stop in the canal-Qualcene in Dabob Bay. There is a tiny marina there, but we just set anchor outside the entrance, and I went ashore to check it out. Virtually everything (as little as there was) was closed, so it was back to Lion’s Paw for the remainder of our stay. We continued south and found a way to anchor in the delta just outside the Hamma Hamma River and dinghy ashore to Hama Hama Seafood Market where we enjoyed some oysters and clams at an outdoor table. We returned to Lion’s Paw and continued on to an overnight stop at Dewatto Bay. The next morning, we continued on to Alderbrook Resort near the end of the canal where we set anchor just off the marina. We took the dinghy to the dock and went into the resort where we had a delightful lunch as we sat at a picnic table overlooking the water. After lunch, we took a hike on one of the trails that are maintained by the resort before returning back to the boat for the remainder of the day. We left the next morning for our final stop in the canal-Seabeck Bay. This is a large bay that can hold many boats, but there were only 5 other boats in the anchorage. After a quiet night, we called the bridge for an opening and timed our departure accordingly. We had a smooth transit and finished our cruise back to Eagle Harbor.

Crabbing season had started, and, after recovering from our Hood Canal adventure, we decided that it was time to try our luck. Our friends, Katy, Kelly and TJ had been crabbing every year at a spot at the north end of Bainbridge Island, using kayaks to set and check their traps. Crabbing was limited to Sundays and Mondays, so we decided to join them. For 3 weekends, we took Lion’s Paw up to the spot, set our traps, set our anchor for the day, checked the traps with our dinghy, and spent the Sunday nights at Port Madison, a safe harbor nearby. The first two 2 weekends were sparse pickings (a couple on the first weekend and none on the second), but the 3rd weekend was the grand prize. On our first check, we had caught our limit (5 per day) and then some. That was enough for that trip so we returned home without an overnight stay.

We have just finished our final cruise of the season. We returned to the San Juans for an extended stay. After our usual stop in our Port Townsend anchorage, we left the following morning for our crossing of the Strait. No wind this time-it was so calm that it was like being on a lake! We took one crab trap on this journey. Our first stop was American Camp, just north of the Strait. We set our trap and landed almost 10 crabs overnight. Unfortunately, they were all females (you are only allowed to keep the large males). The next day, we went for another visit on Decatur Island. The winds were blowing strongly and were so varied in the beginning that we were motor sailing, just using the headsail. At one point the gusts were so strong that we decided that was enough and continued under motor only. We made our way through Rosario Strait where we experienced strong winds and wind waves right on our nose. At times, we were getting splashes of water on our deck. We found a safe anchorage at Decatur and joined Jeff and Melody for a pleasant afternoon and dinner before returning to Lion’s Paw for the night. The winds finally calmed down, and the following morning we headed for our next stop-Olga on Orcas Island. There is a small dock there, but it was occupied, so we set anchor and dropped the crab pot nearby. We went ashore to visit an art gallery we had visited in the past, but it was closed. We returned to Lion’s Paw for the night, and I checked the crab pot in the morning. This time there were almost 20 crabs, but, once again, they were all females. This was near the end of the crabbing season, and I am not sure that there are any males left in the San Juans this season! So ended crabbing for 2020. We went ashore around noon for the reason we had come to this location-Buck Bay Shellfish Company, where you can sit at picnic tables and shuck your own oysters fresh from the bay. We feasted on a dozen as I successfully re-experienced the shucking process. It was back to Lion’s Paw, and we were off to a new anchorage-Matia Island. There is a tiny cove on the east side which is very shallow and only holds a couple of boats. Fortunately, there was only one other boat in the anchorage, so we found a spot to anchor for the night. After a quiet night, we headed for our next destination-Echo Bay on Sucia Island, only a couple of miles away. We had checked the weather, and a strong wind from the south was forecast for that night, so we picked a sheltered location in this large bay along with about 50 other boats. Sure enough, the winds came up late in the afternoon and blew through the night. We had read about the arrival of a large smoke plume from the California and Oregon fires which was blowing up from the south, and, sure enough, we woke up to a dense layer of smoke, reducing visibility to less than one mile. We decided that it was time to start heading home, as the reports were that the smoke levels were “unhealthy” to “dangerous.” We made our way to Blind Bay on Shaw Island and spent the night in a continuing cloud of smoke. We headed home the following morning where visibility was no more than 3/4 of a mile and, at times, only ½ mile. We timed it so that we would experience favorable currents for most of the trip and managed to make it all the way home, non-stop, in less than 9 hours (what usually would take 10-11 hours). We wore face masks for the entire trip, although the reports were that they serve little value as smoke particles are so small (2.5 microns). We decided that we needed to get inside as soon as we docked, so after securing the boat, we left the cleanup, etc., for another day. The smoke is forecast to last through Wednesday, so hopefully, final cleanup can be done on Thursday.

I hope that we have not bored you too much with this blog, but it is also our way of preserving a record for us to look back on our adventures for years to come. That’s all folks!