Cruising the San Juan's with the Texans

Cruising the San Juans with the Texans

October 5 – October 10, 2013

         We spent all of September travelling to Illinois, visiting with lots of family and friends, and driving back to Washington, so that precious month of cruising was gone.  As luck would have it, our Texas friends, Lewis and Bonnie Smith, planned to be in Seattle the first of October.  Even better, they wanted to spend time cruising with us in the San Juan's.  Yippee, this year's cruises weren't over yet!

         We cleaned up Cosmo Place for company and headed south down Swinomish Channel toward Seattle on October 5.  We’ve been north and south through the channel many times, since it’s our route to the world.  It’s kind of an interesting spot, though.  Originally the channel was just tidal sloughs, salt marshes and mud flats and was known as Swinomish Slough.  During the great depression the US Army Corps of Engineers dredged and diked the area to create the channel.  It still needs dredging about every three years to keep it navigable since the Skagit River yields a lot of silt to the route.  We can always count on seeing lots of birds as we motor south, since the herons, cormorants, oystercatchers, gulls, and eagles like to sit on the pilings and rocks to watch for lunch.

         Our destination was Bell Harbor Marina in Seattle, right at the foot of Pike Street Market.  Marina neighbors had strongly recommended this marina, since it’s on the downtown Seattle waterfront.  Even better, it did not require us going through the Chittenden Locks (although I have to admit, we’ve been through the locks several times and have not had a bad experience).  Along the way, Jerry decided we needed to “blow the cobs out” (as my mom would say!) and run the boat harder than usual.  We usually cruise about 8 knots/ 1400-1450 RPM, but today we had the ol’ gal up to 10.3 MPH at 2200 RPM!  Yikes!  That equates to burning 14 gallons of fuel per hour!  Sure was fun going faster, though?  I stepped out back to get the shot on the previous page of our amazing wake.

         As we approached Seattle and the marina, we had wonderful views of the waterfront, the Seattle skyline and the Space needle. 

        Our moorage in Bell Harbor was on the end of a finger, fortunately, since this marina was surprisingly small.  Can you spot us?  We’re at the bottom left on the first finger of the main marina. 

         Bonnie had meetings until Monday at noon, so we had time to do a little sightseeing with Lewis.  We took in Pike Street Market, Kell’s Irish Pub, and even had dinner at the Space Needle.  This is a great place to see the city, enjoy the views and even pass notes to perfect strangers.  The restaurant revolves 360 degrees about every 45 minutes.  So, we brought pens and post-its and left “howdy” notes along the outside ledge, to be read by the next diners down the line.

         Lewis and Bonnie arrived at Cosmo Place about 1245 Monday morning, October 7, we cast off, and left Bell Harbor and Seattle.  We had kept our fingers crossed for good weather, and had hoped to be able to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca on our way to the San Juans, but decided we would be in for a rough ride.  We changed our route planning and proceeded up the eat side of Whidbey Island instead.  This is the route we had taken on the way south, and, even though it seemed a little boring, was a lot calmer.  We moored in Langley marina on Monday night…a spot we had never stopped before!  As you can see from the photo, it’s kind of like mooring in a fort!  The marina is protected by a tall wooden palisade.  The town is up on the bluff and was well worth the walk to the top. 

         I had done a lot of research for new recipes, new menus, and new ways to prepare salmon, halibut and ahi, knowing Lewis and Bonnie were big fans of fish.  My research and prep work certainly paid off!  We had bought some fish at Pike Street Market, and had some fish that Knut and Gerry had given us, so we ate well!  Tonight’s menu was Parchment Salmon with Orzo, and Summer Vegetable Ceviche.  Yum!  Shoulda taken pictures.

         Tuesday morning, October 8, we left our little moorage and proceed north up Saratoga Passage.  Our timing was perfect, which allowed us to transit Deception Pass at slack water.  Of course, I took the obligatory picture of our guests as we approached Deception Pass Bridge.

         I should add a little sidebar here.  We’ve known Lewis and Bonnie Smith for about 20 years.  Both Lewis and Jerry were Butler plant managers…Jerry in Visalia, California, and Lewis in San Marcos, Texas.  Bonnie and I are both nurses, and even though our careers took different tacks, we’ve always found lots of common ground.  After a stint as plant manager, Jerry did special projects for Butler, and spent a lot of time in San Marcos.  He saw a lot of Lewis and Bonnie, while I tended the home fires and two teenage girls!  We’ve had some fun travels with Lewis and Bonnie…Napa Valley wine tasting and a camping trip to eastern San Diego County.  We visited them during our travels during winter of 12-13 and successfully convinced them that a trip to the Northwest could be a bunch of fun.

         Our destination on Tuesday night was a state park dock in Reid Harbor on Stuart Island.  We've been to Stuart Island many times with lots of visitors and think it's a very special place.  Our route took us by Spieden Island where we saw lots of these little deer.  At one point in its history, (according to Gunkholing in the San Juans) was owned by a pair of taxidermists.  They imported several varieties of exotic animals, including Sitka deer and mouflon sheep, invited sportsmen looking for trophies, and held hunts of the animals on the little island.  I assume the two enterprising taxidermists then prepared the trophies for the sportsmen and made a bunch of money.  Walter Cronkite got wind of the whole disgusting situation and his news coverage quickly shut down the operation.  The remaining animals have been left alone and reproduced successfully.  We’ve been by this island many times, but this was the first time we actually saw animals.

         Our Reid Harbor moorage was delightful.  We tied up to a little freestanding dock, which we had all to ourselves.  A quick assessment of our moorage, some cocktails, and we were all set for the night!

         The primary reason for going to Stuart Island was to take Lewis and Bonnie on one of our favorites hikes…to the Turn Point Light.  We’ve done this with lots of visitors and didn’t’ want to short them.  

This hike took us through the campgrounds, down the county road, up and down some serious hills, and out to the location of the old light.  Although not a traditional light any longer, it’s still a beautiful spot and well worth the effort.  Lewis and Jerry posed very nicely for me, in front of this huge sedimentary rock.  At some distant past, this mountain top was part of the sea floor!

         Jerry and I are standing above Haro Strait, almost to Turn Point light.  This spot might look familiar.  We were here with Ardith Platt, Jon and Norma Owens in June.

         Turn Point light isn’t the dramatic lighthouse it once was.   Now it’s all electronic.  The light is still an important waypoint for ships headed for Vancouver, as this container ship seems to be.

         We were tired and hungry when we got back to the boat, so I was glad I’d done some prep work once again.  I was ready to feed this hungry crew!   Tonight’s menu was Seared Ahi with Balsamic Root Vegetables, and leftover Summer Vegetable Ceviche.

         Wednesday, October 9, our destination was about 10 miles away…Garrison Bay on San Juan Island.  We’d anchored here before, on our way to Sydney, BC, last spring and knew it to be an easy and well-protected anchorage.  We had chosen this destination because we knew it would take us through waters where Orcas are commonly seen. Imagine our surprise when we saw 3 humpback whales playing in the water!  What fun!!  We were so happy to share this very cool experience with Lewis and Bonnie!

         Garrison Bay was a very quiet anchorage, as compared to our last time here on Memorial Day weekend.  On Wednesday evening we were the only boat at anchor, rather than the 40 or so we’d seen several months ago.  We were ready for another fish dinner and this night’s menu was Citrus Alaska Salmon, Roasted Tomatoes, and Green Salad.   We had been spending our evenings playing Mexican Train and being seriously beaten by Bonnie!  Tonight we tried Phase 10 and I found my mojo…won both games. 

         Thursday, October 10, we hauled anchor and made our way through the San Juans back to our moorage in La Conner.  The beauty of the San Juans, the varied scenery of the islands, and a little quiet boat time all seemed like a good idea!  As you can see, Smokey found another fan!  One more dinner on the boat – this time halibut!  Yum.

         Jerry and I had debated this itinerary and decided we needed one day to do a little land touring with Lewis and Bonnie, so our cruising was over on Thursday.  On Friday morning, we drove to Deception Pass, to Anacortes and Cap Sante, and made a stop at our good friends, Jim and Chris Munch.  It was great fun introducing these two couples...and watching our good friends enjoy each other.  Jim and Chris are wonderful hosts and treated us to an impromptu lunch and some great stories.

         We made it back to La Conner for a little wine tasting at Hellam’s.  We found a favorite wine, which we enjoyed on the deck overlooking Swinomish Channel and watched the boat traffic cruise by.  Yep, a tough afternoon but we were up to it!  Eventually we made our way to dinner at Marion’s Bistro on First Street in La Conner.  What a wonderful day!

         Saturday morning, October 12, we were back to business!  A quick breakfast and we were off to Seattle to deliver Lewis and Bonnie to SeaTac and their flight to Texas.  Although it was a quick trip, we had re-connected with old friends and resolved to get together again for another adventure.