Spencer Spit, Lopez Island weekend-Prepping for trip north to Quadra

With Amy and the boys away on a Mom/Sons backpacking trip with a few of her girlfriends, there was nothing to be done except to escape up to the islands and join Aeolus for some sort of adventure. As much for a change of pace as for the beauty of the spot, I chose to head over to Spencer Spit. It would also allow me to go on a much longer run on scenic Lopez roads as I am training for the Bellingham marathon these days.

The trip from Friday Harbor takes about 80 minutes, more or less. Saturday was gorgeous and warm, and I joined about 30 other boats anchored on the northern side of the spit. Before getting there however, I was able to raise sail in that amazing inland sea and feel the joy of wind on sails. That particular area bounded by Orcas, Lopez, Shaw and Blakely, is the single largest body of water within the San Juan Islands and to me it resembles a large lake. A lake of saltwater. And it happens to have the most consistent winds as you can always expect a breeze going up or down Eastsound.

Close reaching toward Blakely

I rigged my jacklines before leaving the slip in Friday Harbor and raised sail once I rounded Upright Head on Lopez. The wind was only 10-15 knots, but enough for Aeolus to lean over and get into a nice groove. Ahhh, what a feeling.

Desolation Sound trip Summer 2011

It is so unlike me not to post about a trip once it is completed, but somehow or another, until now I have not posted about our trip to Desolation Sound last summer. It was a continuation of the trip north with Bill and Banning for the boys and I, and a new trip for Amy and our friends the Justis family. Cleve, Rachael, Galen and Daniel came up from the Bay Area and joined us for a week in paradise. They are our dearest friends, from forever ago, and the times we shared only reinforced how well suited we are to hang out as often as we can.

At Refuge Cove for a quick stop

Lanonlin on prop really works!

I last hauled Aeolus in spring 2011, and at that time I cleaned off the prop really well and got her down to shiny bronze. I then tried something I had heard about and applied a generous amount of lanolin on her and hoped for the best. In prior years I have developed hard growth on the prop within months of putting her back in the water, and even a slow poke like me hates the inefficiency of turbulent flow on his prop caused by barnacles and algae.

Well, I dove on Aeolus this weekend to inspect the prop, expecting to find a lot of growth since it has been over a year, and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a really clean prop and only one place with a barnacle! I spun the prop around and around and couldn't believe it. I took my scraper and scraped a place and it was clear there was still lanolin on the prop because of the way it changed color and was waxy when I scraped it.

I've read about people buying and using fancy prop paints and hoping for good results, and I don't know if lanolin will work on the east coast or in the tropics, but let me tell you for certain that anywhere here on the west coast I have seen that it works wonders, and since I haul every two years to bottom paint anyway, I think I have found my permanent solution to prop fouling!

Yippee and cheap, cheap, cheap!

Stuart Island Summers

Got away this weekend for a trip to Stuart Island and was shocked to remember that it is actually a very popular place in the summer time. Throughout the year we journey to Stuart for wild solitude, and find it empty of people and full of beauty from October to May. But on this trip, I turned the corner into Reid Harbor to discover that the entirety of the harbor was filled with boats, from one end to the other. Reid is large enough to handle an armada, but it was nevertheless quite a sight to see. My rough count totaled over 100 boats! Later that night, I wondered across the isthmus and counted 50 boats in Prevost without being able to see the entire harbor. So between the two, there were over 150 boats visiting Stuart this weekend! My gosh.

Although we love the quiet of the place the rest of the year, there is something appropriate and festive about all the people in summer. On my walk out to the lighthouse I must have passed twenty people, and at Turn Point itself, there were several dozen.

It is worth noting that the historical museum at Turn Point is officially open and they have done a fantastic job of gathering photos and artifacts to tell the story. There is even a narrated video you can watch for free.

K&N Air filter for Universal 5432/M40 is RA0500

About four years ago I upgraded the air filter on Aeolus to a K&N model. The intake manifold opening is actually larger than the air opening on the stock air filter that came with the engine. So to improve air flow as well as accommodate the PCV system I installed, I switched to the K&N. Some time back I was asked by a follower of this blog which model K&N it was, and I've finally remembered to post it.

This model fits perfectly and does the job. Here is a link to the K&N site for this model:K&N RA0500