Summer Cruise Day 4 - Sidney

We left Anacortes at 10:00am to head on to Sidney in British Columbia. It is always nerve-wracking to me when I have to call Canadian customs to let them know about our entry into Canada. Now that we have a NEXUS card we do not need to stop at one of the sites. We can call in a couple of hours from our arrival. The call taker collects information such as a boat name, our names, the NEXUS card numbers and then asks about the food, alcohol, tobacco and firearms that we might have on board. Since we don't drink or smoke, that part is easy. We also know better than to bring any kind of firearms into Canada so that is an easy one. The part that gets tricky is what food we are allowed to bring in. Normally, we just can't bring in apples or any fruit that has a pit. The list can change, though, so it is always good to confirm before bringing in a lot of fruits and vegetables. It all went smoothly, though, and we arrived in Sydney about 2:00pm.

We discovered that Sidney has a weekly Farmers' Market on Thursday evenings in the summer so we walked up there to see what it was all about. It was huge! It ran along the mains street for about 4 blocks. I didn't buy anything since I had just stalked up in Anacortes but it was fun to check it all out. There were several musicians performing as well as "The Copper Girl" who was a street performer.

We fixed our dinners on our boats and then retired early after a long and tiring day.

Summer Cruise Day 3 - Anacortes (4th of July)

This morning started off with breakfast with EYC and a chance to visit with some members I didn't know very well. As it turned out Steve is a retired doctor and offered to remove a piece of the splinter that was left over from the one I got at Roche Harbor a few weeks ago. I didn't realize there was a piece still in there until my pedicure last week and the girl commented that I had a sliver. It didn't hurt but I knew it would be better to get it out. Bob had tried to get it out with tweezers but couldn't do it. He knew he could not handle digging at it with a needle so Steve offered to come by our boat and remove it for me! It took some digging but he got out whatever was still in there! That's the nice thing about cruising with others. Bob can repair their mechanical problems and others help out with their talents!  Who says doctors don't make house calls (I mean, boat calls) anymore? Thank you, Steve!

We then went out onto the main street of Anacortes to watch the 4th of July parade. It was so fun to be at a small community parade and see the crowds as well as the local businesses and civic clubs turn out.  The parade started with flyover by two US Navy F-18s and our military was well represented and honored so that was awesome!

The yacht club dinner tonight was fashioned after a traditional 4th of July picnic - fried chicken, cole slaw, baked beans and corn on the cob. Dessert was apple or cherry pie and was very easy and fun with the individually wrapped Hostess-style pies we all remembered eating as kids. After dinner everyone visited on the docks and then went to various boats to watch the fireworks that were launched from the barge in the marina. Our Anacortes friends and Dave & Lynn Cheeney joined us for the fireworks.

Summer Cruise Day 2 - Anacortes

Bob was up bright and early to go pick up some battery posts so he will be ready for Jack's help to install the batteries. It went well but they are HEAVY! Each battery was 145 pounds and had to be lifted down into the lazarette (after lifting the old ones out!). They got it done, though, and they are working great!

While they did the boat repair I took my turn on the breakfast crew and helped prepare breakfast for the EYC'ers. Susan helped me prepare the batter and then I worked with Dave and Lynne Cheeney and Larry and Cheryl Martin.

After the work was done we called up friends that live in Anacortes and they invited us to the new home they have been building for three years. She prepared a lovely lunch for us and even had a card and birthday cake for me! We had a wonderful time catching up over the past year's events.

This evening we had a catered fajita dinner at the Anacortes Yacht Club. It was a great chance to catch up with all the people who came by boat or drove up and stayed in hotels. Some members live in Anacortes so joined us for the dinner. Dessert was an ice cream bar and it was Ted Christensen's birthday so his wife brought him a cake. They announced that he got to go first through the dessert line and that my birthday was just a couple of days ago, I got to join him in the line!

The cruise captains also encouraged people to dress as "Great Americans" so several were represnted. We had Betsy Ross, Lewis and Clark, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton and his wife Tessie. Even Lucille Ball showed up!

Summer Cruise Day 1 - Anacortes

Today begins our second summer cruise with our friends. We started off the two weeks in Anacortes with the Edmonds Yacht Club for the 4th of July cruise. We arrived on Monday although some boaters came in early over the weekend. It worked out well that we didn't since they had strong winds yesterday that made it very difficult to dock. We had great weather and enjoyed the beautiful view as we went through Deception Pass.

Tonight we gathered at Frida's Mexican Restaurant for dinner with our cruising friends who will be with us for the next two weeks. On our way back to the boats we stopped off at an ice cream stand for dessert.

Bob has decided it is time to replace the three house batteries in the boat since we are having trouble keeping our extra freezer cold and they have been interfering with starting the engine easily. He called up Fisheries Supply to see if they could get it up here by tomorrow morning. He got a call this evening that one of the employees lives in Anacortes and they offered to deliver it to the boat tonight! What great service! They will even come back in the morning to pick up the cores for us! The batteries are now here so looks like that will be Bob's job in the morning.

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.