Amy had an overnight work trip to Lopez Island and so the boys and I went over yesterday to meet her in the afternoon when she was done. Elliott took the wheel and steered for quite a way over to Lopez. He was proud, and I was proud of him. He's learning how to use ranges to steer a straight course. We went into Fish Bay, always a fun trip through the narrow entrance, and although the tide was rising, it was the lowest I have ever seen upon entering. Fortunately, experience helps and we had no problems. Once in, we anchored in about 10 feet of water just SW of Islanders Marine.
We dinghied over to the dinghy dock and walked into Lopez Village for some play time in the big field and the dirt pile. There is a dirt pile about the size of a truck load right near Bucky's cafe and the boys love rolling around in it like dogs. We then went to the wonderful Lopez library and enjoyed a magical few hours of reading.
After going to pick up Amy when she was done, we went back to town to eat at the Love Dog Cafe for the first time. Wonderful place. Great food at a good price. Way cheaper for the quality than anything you can get in Friday Harbor.
We rowed back to Aeolus at dusk and fired up the diesel cabin heater and settled in for a cozy night. All was quiet and in the morning we slept in as late as Elliott and Owen would allow. On the trip back Amy wanted to handle all duties to sharpen her captain skills so I just stood aside. She took us out and most of the way across. I took over near Turn Island as the current had picked up pretty fiercely and I was having to cut a steep ferry angle to make forward progress. Eddies and whirlpools abound right off Turn Island.
Home again, home again. Everyone piled into the dinghy to row the short distance back to our neighbor's dock where we are allowed to keep the dinghy tied up for easy access. Another great family trip made possible by Aeolus and we never had to touch a car from the time we left the house to the time we returned.
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