Clark Island a new favorite

As we explore our new local waters around Anacortes we are delighted to come across new favorite places. Cypress Island is quite magnificent, and I've chosen not to write much about it as it remains the wildest of the islands. This time we decided to explore yet another new place I had passed by with the boys on our Sucia a few weeks ago.

Clark Island beach on east side

I had never even heard of Clark Island, which lies just east of Orcas. It is clearly a local haunt for people from Bellingham or Lummi. We fought the ebb for a long way getting there on Saturday and enjoyed the lovely views along the way. The east side of Guemes is quite beautiful, and of course Vendovi and Lummi are rugged gems. Eventually, you end up at Clark Island. With neutral current it is about a 3 hour trip.

There is a bight on the east side that has mooring balls and a few places to anchor. We dropped anchor in about 40' of water and enjoyed a fantastic few days of exploring this great place. The beach on the east side was filled with people camping who had kayaked over from Lummi or in one case, rowed a giant skin frame canoe over as one large group. This group was young, with kids, and has been doing this trip for 14 years on this weekend, I'm told. The skin frame vessel fits 15 or so people, and is apparently quite stout.

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.

Cypress Island trip in February was wonderful

Back in February we took our first trip to Cypress Island. It is wonderfully close to Anacortes. And unlike every other place we have gone, I have chosen not to describe this island and it's many wonderful attributes. It is a fairly wild place. Large and rugged. One can experience some wilderness there, despite it having all been logged before. So my only reason for posting this here is to say that Cypress Island is well worth your exploration!

Stormy MLK weekend at Stuart Island-Mantus never budges

The forecasts were calling for gale winds on the weekend but with closer study you could see that they weren't expected to hit until Saturday night and be done by Sunday night. Perfect for a three day escape to the hurricane hole anchorage of Reid Harbor on Stuart Island.

On our way

We had wanted to go to Tumbo, as followers of this blog know how much we love that spot, but the anchorage there is too exposed to the N and NW to risk an imprecise gale forecast.

Plus, it had been a few months since we had been at Stuart and we all felt the need to return. As usual, people stayed away by the millions! I've been in Reid Harbor in July and counted over 100 boats. Plus an additional 50+ in Prevost Harbor on the other side. But if you go between October and about May, you will likely have it to yourself, or close enough to not matter.

The voyage from Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes to Stuart is really scenic, and diverse. Last time we saw the baby Orca before it was even in the news! This was our second trip of this sort since moving Aeolus to Anacortes from Friday Harbor. It has felt like a great choice. You cross Rosario Strait on the way and this body of water can be quite rough in a strong NW or SE blow. I've crossed it on the ferry when there was about 35 knots SE and I'd say the waves were 4-5 feet. No safety concern for a Gulf 32 but unpleasant.

Christmas aboard Aeolus, Orcas, and Jones Island

We are just returned from a special trip aboard the good ship Aeolus. Given some other travel plans and expenses associated with such, we decided not to do a traditional home Christmas this year as we fly out early tomorrow morning on the 26th. Instead, and since we are traveling to the Megalopolis of Los Angeles, we decided to get aboard Aeolus and make a special voyage to Jones Island for a wild bit of festivities.

It was wonderful.

We left Anacortes and our new slip at Cap Sante at 9:30 on the 24th. It was calm, and remarkably sunny. The journey out Guemes Channel is heavily tidal, and strong enough to be a significant help or hindrance. It ebbs going West and floods East. We had some help this morning with the ebb and then rode the eddies up the Cypress shoreline before hopping across toward Obstruction Pass. As we approached Blakely, eagle eyed Amy spotted a dorsal fin and sure enough, we had Orcas off the port side! A large adult, probably female, and a young calf. They were about 200 yards away and were having some fun, including a few leaps out of the water! What a spectacle. We took it as an omen for our first trip from Anacortes to Jones. It seems we always see special wildlife on any new trip.

Gorgeous clouding on Cypress Island

Reconnassaince yields discovery

The boys and I made the now easier trip to Aeolus this weekend for no particular reason other than my internal clock telling me it had been too long and the always present nagging desire in my gut to be on the boat, away, in the wilds. There were things to clean, things to fix, as always, but it was also just a chance to get away with my sons and enjoy the high quality time the boat provides.

When we got to Anacortes it was not yet as windy as had been forecast. As is often the case, the forecast was off by time or magnitude. Tough stuff to get right. I'm OK with that. The predicted 35 knot winds were a meek 10 until late in the day. So we got there during fairly calm conditions. I noticed right away that there was a problem.

Despite how complex our boats are, or houses, for that matter, we develop a very clear mental image of what "normal" looks like. It's uncanny. And unconscious. On Aeolus, I noticed a line laying in a place that it shouldn't. Then, I noticed that it had a frayed end. Then, I looked up and saw that my jib halyard wasn't there, and then gazing higher still, saw the remains of the halyard still hanging a few feet below the top of the mast.

"Well, crap!", the good father says.

Aeolus moved to Anacortes

It has been quite some time since I have posted here on this blog. Mostly this has been the result of being quite busy with work and life, though some of it relates to not having been on the boat as much,  which also relates to being busy with work and life. Too much work! Too much going on in life!

Aeolus has a new slip at Cap Sante in Anacortes, WA

Back in October we decided to move Aeolus from her long term home in Friday Harbor to Anacortes and Cap Sante Marina. We made this decision because we became fatigued by the tyranny of the San Juan ferry. It has such a constraining impact on your whole weekend, that we came to feel we were better off sacrificing proximity to convenience. Time will tell if that trade off is manageable. Instead of waiting for a ferry in Anacortes, we can now be on our boat and traveling. It is four hours from Anacortes to Jones Island. If catching the ferry, you had to be there about 30-60 minutes early, then the ride would take 1-2 hours, and then 30-45 minutes to get to your boat and get going. The time equation should be fairly comparable, and instead of being on the ferry, we get more time on our own boat!

So we did that back in October. This weekend I went up with my boys to change fluids and do some maintenance. Time for oil, transmission too, and changing of the raw water impeller.

This is the old impeller with 600 hours and 3 years old. No real sign of trouble. 

Cap Sante marina is such a vibrant and bustling nautical place. Much larger than Friday Harbor, and far more active. Whereas the boats in Friday Harbor never seem to move, the boats in Cap Sante are constantly in and out. And we notice that overall the boats at Cap Sante are much nicer, better maintained and newer. I speculate this reflects the demographics of the two places. With Friday Harbor and San Juan Island having such a disparity between the young, poor and retired wealthy. Many of the boats there are run down live a boards or seldom used vessels. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Port of Friday Harbor and may be back, but the marina differences are interesting.

Aeolus is in fine shape. Changing the transmission oil remains a breeze thanks to my installation of the oil drain hose.  The raw water impeller is an Oberdorfer and has a retaining clip that can be a bit tricky. It had been 3 years and about 600 engine hours since I last changed it but honestly, the old one looked like new. No cracking or signs of decay. Glad I changed it anyway, but next time I make take it out to 1000 hours. Need to check what Oberdorfer says.

Can't wait to go back and get out on her. This was just a maintenance trip. The boys and I had a great time, as always.