Visiting with J Grandma & J Grandpa

Mark and Wendy are in town for the week with Isaiah, Mariam and Colin. We are so excited to have them visiting during the summer with fantastic weather all week. The kids had been asking to out on "J Grandpa's" boat so we took this day to go over to Kingston. As we were leaving Everett, we heard "Securite, securite" and the announcement that an aircraft carrier would be pulling out of the Everett navy base. We passed them as we left the marina but soon they were behind us and quickly overtaking us on our starboard side. Our assumption is that they were headed to Elliott Bay for Seafair. We also saw a navy frigate as we headed back to Everett. There was a lot of marine traffic today so it required close attention to what was going on around us.

It was glassy smooth so we had a wonderful time visiting in the pilot house and spending time on the upper deck. I think the kids had the most fun playing in the cabin and climbing the ladder to the upperdeck.

When we arrived in Kingston, we barbecued hotdogs for lunch and then walked into town to Mora's, our favorite ice cream place. Kingston really is a lovely little marina and it is fun to watch the ferries come and go. During the summer, the park next to the marina hosts a farmers market each Saturday as well as evening concerts throughout July and August.

Our run back to Everett went smoothly although the water got a little rough by the time we reached Mukilteo. It was a wonderful day and one that the kids will remember for a long time.

Catching Up With Old Friends

We have been trying to connect with Mike and Vicki Jacobsen (no relation) who we have not gotten together with as couples in years. Vicki and I manage lunch occasionally but we decided it would be fun to all go out on the boat and then have lunch together. Vicki had a chance to see the boat just before we left on our cruise. We had lunch at the Woodfire Grill and I gave her a quick tour. She, as well as Mike today, were surprised to discover just what a Nordic Tug is. Many people picture an old working tugboat with tires around the sides and they were no exception! We did have a great time, though, as we cruised along Whidbey Island, over to Mukilteo and back down to Everett.

A novelty we had not noticed before was a beach cabin that was constructed from an old railcar.

Another site that we have been curious about is a large shipwreck that lies along the beach near Everett. All we knew is rumor has it that a man with a shotgun lives in the little cabin to the right and chases away anyone who comes on his property. When I did an internet search, this is what I found by another boater:  "We cut a wide circle around Shipwreck Point, which is surrounded by No Trespassing signs and watched over by its owners, who are probably tired of the curious tramping across their little piece of paradise....  The shipwrecks are actually the remains of a salvage operation reportedly begun in the 1920s. I would like to know how much their skeletons have influenced the morphology of this small point of land. The largest hulk acts as a groin to northward transport, stabilizing the beach on the south and creating a small marshy cove on the north."

We had a wonderful time catching up and enjoyed a great lunch at Scuttlebutts in Everett at the North Marina. The food was wonderful, the ambience was fun and the prices were great. Thanks, Mike and Vicki, for joining us. We had a great time!

Fun With the Grandkids

Robyn came to visit for a few days while Gavin was out of town. We also had Rylie staying with us since Alley had to work so we decided it would be a good day to take everyone out on the boat for a short ride. We cruised around for an hour or so, had lunch on the boat, and cruised back. It was enough to be fun for the kids and they can say they went for a boat ride. What they actually did was play on our bed, climb on the couch, and "help" Grandpa run the boat. It was lots of fun for all of us and the weather turned out to be very nice for a short cruise.

Desolation Sound - Day 16 Home Again

Today was the final day of our cruise. We arrived back in Everett about 12:30. The amount of food I took for our two week trip worked out perfectly and I had little more than 3 eggs, some parmesan cheese and cream cheese left. This made the task of unloading the boat very easy and without the dog on-board, clean up was quick.

During our trip we covered 462.2 nautical miles, burned 200 gallons of fuel, and spent 59.9 hours running at an average speed of 7.7 knots. It was a wonderful trip and we are already making plans for next year. It looks like we may be headed up to Victoria and the San Juans - a beautiful area that I'm already looking forward to.

Desolation Sound - Day 15 at LaConner

I really do feel like we are headed home now. We stopped at LaConner and met up with five other boats from the Edmonds Yacht Club. Bob and I walked around town, got our token ice cream cones, and then hung out at the marina with other club members. One of our favorite shops was a woodworker's shop called The Wood Merchant. They had beautiful items made of wood - everything from door stops to dining room tables.

This evening we met together at a great restaurant called Marions Bistro. We all had wonderful meals and for a very reasonable price. We got to know some couples better who we have seen casually at club events but never really had sat down with them to get to know them better. It was a great evening and ended with a beautiful sunset.

Desolation Sound - Day 14 at Roche Harbor

We finally got to sleep in today! No where to go and no working around fast currents or windy weather. We wandered over to say goodbye to the EYC people who were leaving and then had lunch with Al and Sue at the restaurant that overlooks the marina. They have great food and it is a fun place to sit because of all the activity in the marina.

Roche is a very popular location for weddings and each time we have been here we have seen at least one wedding taking place. From what we can see, it looks like they have three locations that are set up for weddings. It is fun to be on the sidelines and watch these take place. What a memorable locations for a wedding.



A tradition at Roche is the raising and lowering of the flags each day. I've watched the ceremony from the distance but never gotten a good picture of the flags until today.

After lunch, Bob and I went for a walk and did a little geocaching. We found a cache that we had not been able to access last time we were here. It gave us a nice little walk through the lime quarry to a little pond. And this one, I found! It seems like I'm usually so busy looking at my GPS that Bob is the one that actually finds the cache. This time I got close, set down the GPS, and found it! This makes 62 caches we have found. No where near the number some geocachers have found (in the 10,000s!) but we are having fun doing it when we can.

Desolation Sound - Day 13 at Roche Harbor

We made a very early start at 5:30 and caught a nice picture of Sunshine ahead of us at sunrise. We made it across the Strait of Georgia with no problems. We knew the winds would be fairly strong so I set everything that was on the counters on the floor and we battened down everything we could. I even brought our lines inside so that the splashing wouldn't get on them. Salt water can make them very stiff and hard to manage. We did have a lot of rolling but everything stayed dry. Two of these pictures show just how much we were rolling.

When we got across the strait, we entered Gabriola Pass and the Gulf Islands. It was smooth and beautiful so I put everything back on the shelves, put the lines back on the cleats outside and planned on a smooth ride from there on into Roche Harbor. We headed down Trincomali Channel where it was smooth until we got to Reid Island. The wind coming up the channel, combined against the currents, created big oncoming waves. It was very rough and you can see in the next picture the waves crashing against Sunshine as well as on our windshield. Needless to say everything outside the boat from bow to stern was soaked.

Things smoothed down once we ducked behind some islands. We noticed the whale boat just outside Roche Harbor and headed in that direction to see if we could find the whales. Al and Sue were about 1/4 mile away from us on the other side of the tour boat when we saw a whale spouting alongside their boat. I was able to catch a couple of pictures of the Orca and what a show he gave.

Al and Sue tried to move away since boaters are supposed to try to stay back from where the whales are. Soon after, a small boat pulled up alongside them and we, as well as they, were concerned that someone was there to complain about how close they were. As it turned out, they were photographers who had also captured them and the orca and wanted to know if they would like to purchase the video.

We arrived at Roche Harbor, probably our favorite place, and spent the afternoon eating our traditional ice cream cones, visiting with EYC members who arrived yesterday from the Commodore's Cruise, and catching up on our emails and voice mails. In the evening, we joined EYC on their dock for a potluck/grill your own meat dinner. They had a great time on their trip, as did we, so there were lots of stories to share.

Desolation Sound - Day 12 at Pender Harbour

We left Laura Cove at 7:00am to get to Fisherman’s Resort at Pender Harbour and to begin our journey back toward home. We pulled up anchors, waved goodbye to Larry and Cheryl  and were on our way.

 

Arriving at Fisherman's Resort is a little like coming home for us. We really enjoy this little marina and the friendliness of the staff. As soon as we got settled we headed off to LaVerne's again for our hamburger and milkshakes. We did run over to the grocery store again at Mediera and then had a dinner of appetizers as we made plans for crossing the Strait of Georgia tomorrow morning. The forecast is for 5-15 knots so we plan to leave about 5:30 to get across as soon as we can.

 

 

Desolation Sound - Day 11 at Laura Cove

Today was very much like yesterday. Fortunately, we had a little breeze today which helped tremendously.  Al  started out our day with a treat of warm cinnamon coffee cake. Food is definitely a focal point on this cruise!

It was another perfect day for kayaking and Sue spent some time running her sailboat. Larry played chase boat when the sailboat got too close to the rocks. Bob discovered the rudder had quit working and was able to get it going again and steering  properly for Sue. She is doing a great job with her sailboat and is looking forward to the big EYC race on Labor Day.   Bob, Sue and I also kayaked over to a small island that had a geocache hidden but the tide was low enough that we couldn’t find a safe way to climb to the top where the trees were and we assume the cache was hidden. We looked at it from all angles and decided it was not worth risking an injury when we are so far from any medical care. I’m not even sure at high tide how accessible the cache would be. We’ll take a look again someday when we return to Laura Cove.

This evening we watched a big, 60’ Ocean Alexander pull into the bay. It overshadowed every boat in the bay but they tucked themselves in nicely with a stern tie and provided nice shade for the boat next to them. It was another beautiful evening as we sat and visited and said our goodbyes to Larry and Cheryl. They will leave in the morning to head northwest  to Campbell River.

Desolation Sound - Day 10 at Laura Cove

We got a very early start (6:00am) to get through the rapids again at slack tide as we headed  south to Laura Cove in the Desolation Sound Marine Park area. We had a good trip and passed a resort that had so many Grady Whites that Bob had to get a picture of them all. That is one thing we noticed up here is that there are Grady Whites everywhere – many that have the Jacobsen's sticker on them.

We cruised behind Morgan Island and outside Eveleigh Island on past Prideaux Haven and Melanie Cove to check out Laura Cove. We had been told by Jane and Duane Engle that it was a really nice place to anchor and we had to agree! We found a lovely area at the end of the bay where we dropped our anchors and stern tied to the beach.

Bob and I took our kayaks out after lunch and paddled over to Melanie Cove and back. It was quite a way because the tide was so low some of the natural waterways were dry. It was beautiful and we had a great time. The water is very clear and were able to see starfish and sea cucumbers as we went around the different islands.

 

 

 

This evening we had a difficult time cooling down. The temperature was about 95 and we had no shade until around 7:00pm. Bob set up our umbrellas to add some shade to our boat and to the Smiths. Al and Larry found shade between the two boats.