Getting away to Stuart Island

From our boat journal:

1/13/12
Up to the islands for the three day MLK weekend. Came up on 9:05 milk run ferry after converging in Seattle at 6pm. Boys took ferry alone, and were first off on the Seattle side holding hands. So proud of them! Got to Aeolus at 11pm in pouring rain and she was 43 degrees inside.

Orcas Island, Turtleback Mountain

So good to be back. Probably go to Stuart this trip as snow is forecast. Would be fun and beautiful to be at Stuart with snow.



1/14/12
Tied to dock at Stuart Island, Reid Harbor and snug as a bug now that I fixed the heater. We motored away from Friday Harbor at about 12pm after another lazy morning. Amy and the boys went to town for Cafe Demeter and to pick up a few things at the store, and I stayed on Aeolus to give her some love and attention. I finished up the starboard chainplate installation with the last two bolts. Now they are fully done and beautiful. Last thing to do on deck is to replace the plate that slides over the chainplate and holds the butyl rubber in place. It gives me immense peace of mind to know the chainplates are absolutely bomber, and even stronger than OEQ and without crevice corrosion.

I also filled the water tank and checked the batteries and engine fluids. All was well. Happy to be getting such long life from these Trojan batteries. A good investment.

When we left Friday Harbor we found it was ebbing hard and so we hugged the San Juan shore for our journey north. It was also blowing 15-20 NW, which was opposite of the SW forecast. Approaching Spieden channel it was awash with white caps because the eddy along both shores that drives the current NW on an ebb which rubbed  against the NW wind with predictable results. The roughest patch was actually near the north end of Spieden on the east side, approaching Stuart. Choppy 2-3 foot waves.

Once we pulled into Reid it flattened right out and as always Reid was a refuge. We tied to the dock and leapt off to go to our favorite west facing sunny spot that once sported the tree stump the boys liked to climb so much. It had been suprisingly sunny all day after an evening that rained hard until 9am this morning.

We reached the sunny spot just in time to get about 15 minutes of pure unadulterated solar love before an interloping cloud crashed the party. Taking this prompt, we set out to walk the isthmus trail and marveled at the birds and views.

The Force 10 kerosene heater started acting up on our previous trip, such that it would barely burble a bit of flame despite pushing the little pin up as part of the self-cleaning function. I knew from experience these darn heaters are truly temperamental and resist all efforts to diagnose and repair them. Carbon fouls them here or there, and you end up having to clean the whole thing. Acetone is required. I tried just replacing the nozzle and needle, but to no effect. Fortunately I had the spare burner I purchased for just such an emergency. No heat on a 36 degree day with snow forecast was not an option!

The new burner fired right up and burned hotter than ever. It managed to get the boat up to a relatively comfortable 62 degrees, which is about 30 degrees warmer than the outside area.

Amy went for a long dinghy ride at dusk and circled this northern end of Reid Harbor. Evidently she had a blast and saw many, many birds.

Prevost Harbor from Isthmus trail

We are now, as always, counting our lucky stars for our incredible good fortune. Amy is cooking a gourmet dinner and we have every manner of delicious food around us, while cozy on our own sailaboat in a spectacular wild harbor all in perfect health and just thoroughly thrilled. Bad grammar and all, it is just heaven.