Sucia weekend with my boys

My wife was going to be busy on Saturday with a workshop, and it had been too long since I had taken Aeolus out for an adventure, so I grabbed the boys and took off for a weekend of fun. Since I work in Seattle, it works well to have the boys get on the ferry from Bainbridge and for me to pick them up on the other side on a Friday night. That is just what we did.

I still hadn't decided where we were going to go, and the forecast was for warm sunny weather. So when we woke up on Saturday morning I took a poll of my conscience preferences and decided on Sucia. Sucia is such a zoo during nice weather that it was a bit risky to go there, but I was in the mood for a long trip, to go far, to see new things, and yet didn't have time to get to Tumbo.

So we struck out for Sucia. It was a motoring trip all the way there. We were going against a strong ebb so I took back channels and found eddies. We probably averaged a SOG of 4.5-5, which was not bad given the current. And it is such a gorgeous trip.

For people who have lived and traveled so much in the Western San Juans, it is quite novel to explore the Easter areas. Cypress is stunning, and Vendovi is a little gem. Lummi is staggering in the south, and then Orcas looms. It is certainly far more rugged, and even prettier, than the haunts around Shaw and San Juan. And Mt. Baker towers over so closely, you feel like you can touch the glaciers.

Lummi Island while heading toward Sucia

We went into Fossil Bay and had a fantastic evening. It is 21 miles to Sucia from Anacortes, and it took us about 5 hours or so. Once we had grabbed a ball, we took the walk over to Echo Bay and enjoyed some fantastic time sunning on the beach and playing around.



I had a moment on the shore when I got oriented to the sun just right, laid down, and within minutes was almost asleep. That warmth penetrated every cell of my perpetually cold NW bones. Heaven.

The real excitement of the trip was on Sunday morning, though. We wanted to stretch our legs before heading back to Anacortes and so after a tasty breakfast, we went to shore. This time we went left, or West. It's a wonderful walk with beaches all around and hidden coves. As we walked out to the point, on a small trail that climbs the bluff, we were surrounded by bald eagles. They were all around, and not very concerned about our presence. Elliott then looked down to the beach and guess what?

Otters! In fact, two otters that were mating! The boys and I carefully laid ourselves down on the top of the bluff, and the beach was about 100 feet below. These two otters were on the beach, all alone, and we could watch them in their private moment without being seen. Once in a while they would look up, and look puzzled, but not see us.

Two otters mating on Sucia Island

For what seemed like forever we got to see them wrestle and tussle and mate. There is no better lesson for growing boys on some basic aspects of reproduction than seeing it happen in the wild. They realized how rare, and cool it was. I mean, how many people ever get to see that, and in such a wild and beautiful place???

Our sail back home was absolutely perfect. We sailed downwind, both wing to wing and broach reaching, for hours. And we had the current with us. Winds were light, but sufficient. Sometimes 10, sometimes 20. We did 5-6 knots, sometimes 7. It was sunny.

I sailed silently along through these island mountains and rioted in the joy of the moment.

Boys on the bow, perfect breeze, quiet, magnificent-A moment of perfect being