San Juan Cruise Day 10 - Headed Home

Today we had very smooth waters all the way back to Everett. We started out with the current pushing us for the first couple of hours as we came down Rosario Strait. The Strait of Juan de Fuca was like glass. Once we got to Admiralty Inlet the current was right on our nose because of the horrible tides this weekend. They have been very low. We only had 2-1/2' under our keel when we entered the Blakely Marina. Our departure time today was very dependent on the tides so our chosen route was to go straight down to Everett rather than going through Deception Pass or La Conner. The current in Deception Pass was running 8 knots (we cruise at 8!) and in the south end of the channel in La Conner would have been very shallow. Our route took us back to Everett with no problems. We can now look forward to another two week cruise with our friends in just three short weeks!

San Juan Cruise Day 9 - Blakely Island

The day was spent reading and taking Barkley for lots of walks. The only thing we did special was to buy lunch in the store. We enjoyed talking with Neil and his wife who have managed the resort for the last three years. They are on duty 24-7 for the three months between Memorial Day and Labor Day so they stay very busy. They also spend 4 months in Seattle and 4 months in Tokyo.  As soon as their daughters finished up the school year they would be joining them at Blakely.

We had to laugh when we noticed a sign they have in front of the bar stools. It said "Please do not sit on the chair when naked". I had seen the sign before and thought it was a joke. Apparently not! When they were in Okinawa (his wife is Japanese) and using the saunas some of the men would come in and sit down completely naked. Those operating the sauna had to put up these signs to keep it from happening. Neil thought it was so funny that they gave him a sign to use in the restaurant here at Blakely.

This afternoon there was a large group of geocachers (about 15 of them) who were looking for a cache hidden in a man-made rock spit as one enters the marina. They looked for a long time but were unable to find it so they left in their boat to go to another location. This is one that Bob and I found a few years ago but were unable to locate it last year. I decided I needed to find it again but I couldn't. It's very possible the tides have washed it away or someone found it and removed it.

And then it was with MORE ice cream at Al and Sue's and off to bed!

San Juan Cruise Day 8 - Blakely Island

This morning would took some time in Roche Harbor before heading over to Blakely Island. Bob and I ordered breakfast at the cafe and then later I walked through the artisan booths at the marina. I found a cute chicken clock for my kitchen so it will give me a great keepsake to remember Roche Harbor by.

Next, we headed over to Blakely Island and we had a beautiful run. We enjoyed the sun out on the fly bridge along the way.

There is not much to do here since it is a private island with only about 8 slips for guests. We love it here, though, for precisely that reason. When we checked in at the store I found a new fleece sweatshirt that will be perfect for Idaho. Bob noticed a beautiful wood burl bowl that he liked and I agreed that it would look really nice on the shelves in our living room. Now I have two souvenirs for our new house from our cruising adventures!

While we were at the store, Bob had tied up Barkley outside. When he went out to check on him he started laughing and called to me to join him outside. There was a group of SPU students who had been on the island for two weeks doing a study program. Barkley had 6 girls surrounding him and he was eating it up!

We invited Al and Sue to come up on our fly bridge to eat their dinner so we could enjoy the sunset. We love the place we were tied up to. It is one of the few slips big enough for our boat so we usually end up there which gives us a great view looking out of the harbor.

San Juan Cruise Day 7 - Roche Harbor

This was our running day so we climbed out of bed and went straight out to do our run. We found a good flat area around the parking lot and up into the area where they do maintenance for the resort. It worked great for our early morning run. They we returned to the boat, ate breakfast and rested for awhile. In the afternoon Bob and I took Barkley on a long walk along the airport runway and then on the trails through the woods at the sound end. It was a great walk for all of us.

We got some nice photos of Roche Harbor as we returned from our walk.

This afternoon we walked down to look at the Ocean Alexander yachts that were there for their rendezvous. As we walked along the dock, I suddenly realized something had happened to my big toe. I was wearing flip-flops and apparently I kicked a 3" long splinter (more like a spike!)., It went through the rubber sole of my flip-flop and then right into my toe. When I pulled the splinter out, my foot began to bleed a a lot! I caught the attention of a few people on the dock when the pool of blood quickly became the size of a salad plate. I've never seen anything bleed so badly! The injury wasn't really bad but it was really sore and I knew it would keep me from running for a couple of days.

That evening we had dinner at the outdoor restaurant up on the dock as we said our goodbyes to Jack and Moon. They have great food at that cafe and our waitress was awesome! We ended our evening by gathering on Jack and Moon's boat for ice cream and to wish them well as they head back to La Conner.

San Juan Cruise Day 6 - Roche Harbor

Today we went to Roche Harbor and were lucky enough to get the end of H dock which normally moors a huge yacht. Since they were gone, the three of our boats were able to line up along there. It was a great spot for watching the boats coming in and out of the harbor.

That evening we had appetizers on the dock and after filling up on those we all managed to find room for dinner on our own boats. Once again we gathered for ice cream for dessert. Jack and Moon brought a great supply with lots of flavors! We never seem to get tired of our ice cream!

San Juan Cruise Day 5 - Sucia

Once we were all up this morning we had another conversation about moving on to Prevost. We decided to stay here at Sucia for another day which was fine with us. It was another day of hikes, reading and relaxing. We could really get used to this!

San Juan Cruise Day 4 - Sucia

This morning we took a quick dinghy ride to the beach so Barkley could go potty then returned to Synnova for breakfast and showers. We decided to get our run in (we only run every other day) over at Fossil Bay which looked like it had some flatter trails. So many of them are uphill to get to the other side of the island. We found a great place to run that was actually a road for the park ranger but was dirt and relatively flat. It ran through the trees just like any other trail. It was beautiful and the perfect place to run and just enjoy the beauty. It was so quiet except for the many birds. We loved it there.

In the afternoon we took another long walk to Fossil Bay. The entire island is full of trails and the trees and undergrowth are beautiful. We even saw two geese with their goslings and a family of otters playing the in the water. We had a wonderful time on our walks and then spent some time reading after dinner.

In the evening we invited everyone over to our boat for apple pie, to visit, and to make plans for tomorrow. We have decided to spend just one night at Prevost and then get reservations for Roche Harbor. As much fun as it is to anchor, it is really a hassle with Barkley to have to take him to the beach using a dinghy every time. I think we will be ready for some electricity, a dock and wi-fi again.

San Juan Cruise Day 3 - Sucia

Today was the start of our ICC cruise. Unfortunately, Larry and Cheryl were not able to come with us because of other commitments. The Smiths and Canons joined us and we left Port Townsend at 8:00am which put us at Sucia Island at 1:00. We spent the day relaxing, reading, napping and hiking. It is so beautiful here. We tied to a mooring buoy so the dinghy will have to get us back and forth to the beach so Barkley can do his business. It's a little inconvenient but he loves being with us.

 This evening after dinner we went over to Sunshine and visited for an hour or so.