Sailing True Blue

Island Cruising

2010-08-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a year since we moved to Orcas Island. It has been our biggest boating season to date. We have been able to go out in the boat almost every weekend since January.

On May 1st we moved on to our boat for the summer season. We love living on our boat. Too bad the weather here isn't warm year round because if it was it would be a perfect paradise!!

In October we move back into Mitch's Boss' house. We will still play on our boat during the weekends and check on it daily. Mitch will be at the marina everyday. He is in charge of the yacht that is moored there in the winter.

Here are a few of the places we sailed to this year and explored:

January
Mt Constitution
Jones Island
Stuart Island linear moorage/Sea Lions by Speiden Island

February
Obstruction Pass Mooring ball
Jones Island Dock space

March
Cascadia Rendevouz in Anacortes/Cap Sante Marina/Boat Tipping =)
Boat haul out Sky line Marina
Hike Moran Trails/Cave/Waterfalls with Michelle
New Dinghy: 11'2" airdeck floor and 9.9 hp motor
Jones Island with Kelli/Dinghy Deer Harbor

April
Sunset sail to Roche Harbor dropped anchor in the dark
Jones Island
West Sound moor on house's dock
West Sound moor on ball by the house's dock

May
Live-A-Board Status Official!!
Sucia Island
Rosario Resort Dinner on The Guinn's 50ft Sienne

June
Griffin Bay/South Beach/Foxes
Harrow Strait/Gossip Is/Stuart Island
Walk on Indian Island Low tide

July
Deer Harbor Fireworks on 3rd/Randy, Susie and Daniel
Day Sailing
Elliott Bay (meet crew to SF)
Crab Season Opened/Crab Trap for B. Day
Took Friends from work Sailing
Westcott Bay/English Camp
Roche Harbor
New Dock at home

August
Ferry to San Juan Island/Car tour/Herbs
Mitch crewed on sailboat to SF
Friday Harbor with Jamie/slip at marina/Herbs
Jones Island

San Juan Islands/Jones Island/Washington State Park

2010-01-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

Commodore Jacob Jones also had two U.S. Navy Destroyers and an escort ship named in his honor. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/pers-us/uspers-j/ja-jones.htm

Jones Island

S/V True Blue closing in on Jones Island

Layout of the island and moorage rules

Jones Island has 188 acres with 25,000 ft of shore. There are 7 mooring balls and a long dock for extra moorage in the summer. Although this year, with the construction, they left the dock in. Apparently they are getting a new dock that will have a special lift on it for wheelchair access.

64 ft dock in the North Cove; moorage on both sides

North Cove, 5 mooring balls

South Cove, 2 mooring balls

There is a marked reef at the northeast entrance to North Cove and several unmarked, but charted rocks along the southeastern shore. Just make sure to consult your chart.

This island is one of our favorites for a variety of reasons. It has easy walking paths, is close in proximity to our marina, and is clean, and beautiful.

Walking path from North Cove to South Cove

Look closely to see a tree growing out of the fallen tree.

South Cove picnic area

South Cove looking south west

Remember if you are going to be visiting the islands more than say ten nights for the year you might want to consider buying a permit. Mooring balls are $10.00 a night and dock moorage is $17.00.

A yearly moorage permit is only $3.50 a ft with a $50.00 minimum. For our 34 ft boat the yearly permit cost $119.00. The only stipulation is you can only moor 3 consecutive nights at a facility but there are tons of parks to choose from, and rarely do you want to stay in one place for more than 3 nights.

Jones Island is only a 1/2 hour away from Deer Harbor Marina. There are campsites (24+), and firepits (word is you have to haul in your own wood from now on) plus all sorts of amenities that they are building. Such as cabanas, rustic shelters, and wheelchair accessible toilets..

Instead of myself trying to describe the new facilities the following is a picture story!

Wheelchair access to bathroom

Cabana near North Cove

Pump house near North Cove

One of the Rustic Shelters near South Cove

Inside the shelter: two sets of bunk beds

South Cove amenities

That's Sail La Vie on Jones!

Friday Harbor Lights

2009-12-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

True Blue Christmas

This was the first morning I walked outside and it was calm and comparatively warm. So when Mitch suggested we go to the Friday Harbor Boat Parade I was interested.

At first I thought we would just hop on the ferry and watch it ourselves. I had forgotten that it would take less than two hours to get over there on our boat. And with the weather being nice, I decided that it sounded like fun.

The marina at Friday Harbor was offering free moorage to any boats that participated in the Boat parade, cool! We arrived around 1:30 and enjoyed our sack lunches along with a rather icy beer in our salon.

We walked around downtown and checked in at the place we were intending to eat dinner at to see what time they stopped serving food.

Around 4:30 or so we saw the first lighted boat head out of the marina. We all gathered down at the south end of the bay. The other lighted boats all had guests aboard. Most of the people were outside so you could hear them laughing and having a fun time. I was stationed on the bow of our boat as a look out and enjoyed taking pictures in the dark with my camera.

We all looked like a floating ballet with our boats gradually pirohuetting and gliding gracefully through the water around each other. We had our own little party going on down there.

At about 5:30 two boats came to get us, one a police boat with blue and white lights shining and the other, possibly a fireboat with their red and white lights shining. They escorted us up the bay to the viewing docks. We cut right in front of the docked ferry boat and all took our turns strutting down the water isle as the crowds cheered us on and we all wished each other a "Merry Christmas". I was waving from the bow and having a lot of fun.

We definitely want to do this again. We'll keep our eye out for some more decor for next year's showing.

Merry Christmas!!

God's Timing

2009-11-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

Our sailing vacation was during Memorial week in May. We spent it at Sucia Island. I plan to devote a post to Sucia Island but right now I want to update you on our home and employment situation.

I didn't get any time of in June or July but Mitch ended up moving over to Orcas Island the end of June. He did come home for his birthday party in late July. His new boss sent him home with money to take his wife out to dinner and fresh crab in a cooler.

He had applied at two different marinas in the San Juan area. He was interviewed for both. He was a close runner up for the first one and for the second one they just weren't sure if they could give him enough hours.

We were intitially disappointed but I knew we had to trust God because he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Everything is His to give, so we had to trust he had something better for us.

Within a week of not getting the second job Mitch got a phone call from a man that said he had received his application from the marina and that Mitch sounded perfect for what he was looking for.

It just so happened we had met his son, Eric, who works at the marina the year before when he had stopped to admire our little dog. We remembered seeing his family's yacht getting fuel while we were chatting. It was a beautiful 80 ft yacht named Gladiator.

So right away Mitch knew who he was and was pretty excited to have this job opportunity. They set up an interview and the rest is history.

Mitch now works year round for him maintaining his home, yacht and whatever else may need attention. They also trusted him with caretaking everything while they winter in Arizona.

I finally was able to meet them the last week in August. They are so nice. They invited us for dinner and gave me a tour of the home and yacht. Then a few days later they invited me out on the yacht for lunch at Friday Harbor. Wow!! It was so sweet of them to include me as one of their guests. We are so blessed!!

So now our sailboat is moored in the Deer Harbor Marina, which is only a couple miles away from their home.

Mitch is staying in their home and I decided it is time to try to join him, after all it gets lonely in a big house. =)

I decided to inquire about a banking job on the island by email. No jobs were posted but I thought it might be worth a try. I didn't hear back after 4 days so I decided that I needed to pray more and thought about the verse that says, "Ask and it will be given unto you, Seek and ye shall find, Knock and the door will be opened unto you." Matthew 7:7 So I specifically prayed for a job at Islanders Bank.

Guess what?! The next day I got a phone message from the V.P. over at the bank asking me to send them an application.

I felt right then that God had been waiting all the time to give me the job. I had a picture of being in an invisible room and that there was a door that God wanted to open but I had to ask specifically. Of course, I'm not trying to say that everything you or "I" ask for we will receive. But I think there are a lot of things that God wants to give us that are just waiting outside the door.

It did bother Mitch a little that I kept talking like I already had the job but I really felt that way.

Mitch drove me to my interview and told me to just be myself, that everyone likes me. Aww... how nice. =)

The interview couldn't have gone any better. They called me within an hour and offered me the job. Thank you, God!!

I gave notice at Mountain West Bank on Friday, Oct. 30th and they were all happy for me that I would be joining my husband.

I only have 4 days of work since the second week in November I wasn't scheduled to work! Wow! It doesn't get any better than that!!!

So the plan is we live in the house in the winter and live on our boat in the summer. Sounds good to me. In the summer we can go after work and sail around. And on Friday evenings we can head out for the weekend. Yea!!!

God is good!!!!

Cascadia Sailing Association Rendezvous in Anacortes

2009-03-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

February Sail-in' !

The Cascadia Sailing Association is a group of sailors that live in the pacific northwest. Cascadia is in reference to the mountain range that connects Oregon, Washington and Canada together. The members are spread out from Oregon and up, into Canada. The way we linked up with this nice group of people was through their e-mail based news group. Anyone can subscribe to their list and glean from their regular postings. Mitch had been reading their posts for years and we finally decided it was high time to meet them.

We had planned to attend the Seattle Boat Show with them in January until we found out that my Dad needed emergency surgery. That all went well, and luckily for us Cascadia had another get together planned for February 28th at the Cap Sante Marina. Cap Sante is the municipal marina located a short distance from ours, in Anacortes.

Mitch and I at the rendezvous

Mitch posted that we would like to join them and we were welcomed. We then responded to a post stating that one of the member's, Bob Gwinn, was going to move his boat from Skyline Marina (also in Anacortes) to the Cap Sante Marina, and in the process enjoy a day of sailing, and asked who might want to join him! ? Well, right away Mitch signed us up. We could have also spent the night on the 50 ft "Sienne" a Beneteau Jeanneau Sailboat, in one of her four staterooms with private in suite heads but since our boat, True Blue was in the neighboring marina we politley declined.

Sienne has a regular main sail, a sugar scoop and dual steering.

Sienne's Layout

The Sienne is a beautiful sailboat that the owners have in charter. Bob Gwinn, the owner, picked us up from the Cap Sante Marina along with Skip, Michael and Sandee.

Sienne owner, Bob Gwinn.

We rode over to Skyline in Michael and Sandee's SUV. Everyone was friendly, and talkative. Skyline Marina is on the opposite side of Fidalgo Island, which is the west side. It is more of a high dollar residential area, and the marina has condos with slips, as well as some of the homes close by.

We all prepared Sienne for leaving the dock and were eager for the adventure. The weather was brisk with a high of 45 degrees that day and 85% humidity. It always feels colder out on the water too, so we all bundled up without concern to fashion. I had on a turtleneck, a sweatshirt with hood, a lined windbreaker with hood, and a West Marine Third Reef Foul Weather jacket. I was okay but not toasty! =) Plus Mitch and I had our pajamas under our jeans. =) Bob donned a knitted hat that his daughter made him, and Sandee was as wrapped up like myself.

Our sailing campanions Mike and Sandee Glanz, and Skip Meisch.
(Okay you caught me, obviously these are not current pictures.

I forgot to bring my camera! Can you believe that?)

We had to leave Skyline Marina by 10:30 because the tide was ebbing and the entrance is shallow. The only snag was that the currents were not going to be favorable to make ground, not that we want to really make GROUND =) , in the direction we needed to sail until 1:30pm. We didn't really care. It was a lot of fun to be out on the water in February and catch a nice breeze now and then, even though we couldn't make any real progress. It was easy to get disoriented as to where we were because after an hour or so we had actually lost ground... we could see Skyline at many various times, and laughed a lot about it.

Bob, let Mitch be at the wheel as much as he liked. Sienne has two wheels, port and starboard, and I had fun while Mitch was at the helm and sat down at the opposing wheel and steered hard the opposite direction and waited till he noticed... =)

Skip was amazing with fine tuning the sails. It was almost like having Auto-Sail. Sandy kept me company and talked about: her and Mike's careers, their two daughters, and their boat. They live on a 30 ft Catalina named Solus Deus, in the Everett Marina. Come to find out they had never been to the San Juan Islands. Too bad we couldn't have shown them some of our favorite spots, well, all in due time. She told me that they had been in the process of purchasing a brand new sailboat and had even flown to see it being made at the factory but then had the bank financing fall out from under them. They lost almost $100,000 of their own money. That is heartbreaking. Wow... They had a really good attitude about it and are pushing on.

Bob said he bought Sienne in the British Virgin Islands and had hired a captain to help him sail it back to Florida, which took 16 days, and then had someone truck it to Anacortes. He said the price they purchased her at was still worth the transportation costs. He and another fellow went in on it and they have it in charter through Ship Harbor Yacht Charters. The lay out is great for a few couples to share it. We had fun although it was freezing - just imagine if it were warm!!! =) He already had plans made for his vacation in May with a list of the places he wanted to sail to and was very excited that his wife, Bonnie, was to be joining him for the adventure.

Bob and wife, Bonnie

We did get some great sailing after the currents changed and it was interesting to see how easily it sailed. I loved it!!! Wooohoooo!

We arrived at Cap Sante Marina around 3:30? and were greeted by other sailing members. Ken and Mary took our lines for docking. We then were invited on to Ken Fischer's 42 ft Catalina named Solaria, it was a 2004 which he and a friend bought brand new. He keeps it moored at Anacortes Marina ( he also charters it) and had just brought it over for the night. The lay out was really nice, it looked more like a motor boat inside because of how much room it had. The master head was in the bow and was complete with a shower door. The master stateroom had a real mattress on the captains bed and built in drawers on the outside wall. The salon was spacious with leather-like wrap around settee and a huge all in one monitor/computer on the desk table. The galley was across from the settee and had nice cabinetry and a front opening frigerator. The second head was off the salon. The rear staterooms also had regular type mattresses and many hatches; one that came up through the cockpit for escape, kind of cool.

Ken Fischer of Solaria

42 ft Catalina, Solaria

Destiny at Cap Sante Marina. Cool Teak Floor in cockpit

We then all ventured over to The Zieglers' Destiny which just happened to be our dream boat, a 40ft Beneteau Oceanis. Scott, Diane and Taryn their daughter welcomed us aboard. Their cockpit was enclosed and the heat was on. I loved the cockpit floor, it had teak decorative squares, instead of rubber matting like ours. The cockpit had about 12 people in it and on the table about the same amount of wine bottles! There was also chocolate, homemade tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa. (We finally were able to thaw out. Whew...that was cold!! )Everyone was really nice and you could tell they all had good relationships with each other. They made us feel welcome and even passed around warm, cuddly puppies to hold. Poor Ralph got the bad end of the deal, luckily the rest of us were alerted as to what to do if your puppy started to squeal! =)

Mary and Diane with the sweet puppies

Party on Destiny

Taryn, Scott and Diane of Destiny

Tony and Ginette's Twowowie, 41 ft Sceptre

Mitch had talked about Ralph a lot previously because of his creative postings. He always had a good quip and reminded him of our neighbor, Gene Nelson. Ralph , of Oblio a 27ft Catalina, was definitely everyone's favorite guy. Everyone was very generous and kind. I think Mike and Sandee had brought wine, a long with others, it seemed like more wine kept appearing from various places. Mary from Parallax a Pearson 42, which she had sailed from Bellingham, made the chips, salsa and guac and brought two boxes of wine herself, what a sweet heart. Pam kept us all entertained with her light hearted antics and it was amazing how many people fit in the boat. I sat by Tony and Ginette of Twowowie, a Sceptre 41 who had sailed down from Canada to join us. I loved their Canadian accents and they told us about selling their house and moving onto their boat. There was a mix of people, part came by sea, and others by land.

Skip, Pam, Ralph, Mitch and I, at the Majestic Inn

Mike, host of The Anacortes Sail-in

We all met later for dinner at the Majestic Inn, downtown Anacortes. They had reserved the lounge and we all had drinks. There was a cozy fireplace atmosphere. The leaders of the assembly seemed to be Pam, Ralph and Mike. Mike had made the arrangements and he had done very well. The service and food was great. Ralph went from table to table to make sure no one was left out. He told us the story of Oblio, of which his boat a was named after. He lives in Astoria. We hope to look him up next time we got visit my mom and brother.
There were a lot more people at the dinner than earlier in the day. Probably about 35 people came and all with unique stories. We didn't get to talk to as many as we would have liked but we will, sooner or later. We sat by Les and Lynn Blackwell of Trumpeter, a new 28ft Hunter and apparently they have written a book on some of their adventures. They had just sailed from their condo in Friday Harbor but I think they live in Bellingham. They have had a number of boats in their life time. I would love to read it. Also I met Delphi and Ed sitting by the fire whom I am sure have many a story to tell also.

Ed Merta of Pacific Dream chatting with Tony

Ginette and Delphi warming by the fire... Les and Lynn of Trumpeter, Les is the author of , "Exploring the South Coast of British Columbia"

It was definitely a very full and fun day!! We are so glad we were able to finally meet everyone. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again soon. We have some ideas for future rendezvous' also

77 degrees or inches

2009-01-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

We wanted to spend Christmas with Mitch's step father, Buzz and do something special for our 30th wedding anniversary. So we escaped the snow and spent over two weeks in Florida.

Our neighbor, Gene was measuring the inches of snow while we were away, 77; that was about the temperature in Jacksonville! The day after we left there were major weather advisories and the airport was shutdown.

I couldn't believe it we were out raking leaves and taking long hot walks in the sunshine while the northwest was being blasted with snow, day after day.

Apparently they only have to rake leaves in December

Wait a minute this is suppose to be a Sailing Blog!!!

Well...you'll never believe this!

Mitch posted a message on his sailing newsgroup before we left, and said we'd be in the Jacksonville area from Dec 16th to Dec. 31st and we'd love to go sailing. Sure enough, a sailing enthusiast named Doug replied and said he'd be happy to take us and Mitch's step Dad, Buzz, if we brought the beer and sandwiches!

Doug has a 30ft Santana sailboat named Quick Sand. It had brand new sails; a jib and a main with lazy jacks and a cradle cover to hold the sail after you let it down.

We went out on December 27th in 80 degree weather. He brought his friend, Dave, and Barnaby, the beagle. The dog was a riot when he would end up sliding off the seat onto the floor.

Dave, Doug and Barnaby

Dave set up all of the rigging and we all helped tack, and dock. Doug and Dave are old sail racing buddies. Dave also use to teach kids to sail at the rudder club marina. Doug retired recently from the Army Corp of Engineers, and had even worked a couple years in Iraq helping rebuild the country. He has a couple boys, one in the Coast Guard. He's currently remodeling his house but he loves our idea of living on a boat.

Doug and Dave were very friendly and relaxed guys. Doug let Mitch sail the boat most of the day. It is smaller than our boat so instead of a wheel it had a tiller. Mitch really enjoyed the feel of the tiller, while sailing it. I had a fantastic time; the wind was perfect and we were heeled all day and never once without any wind. The wind would increase and subconsiously I would be brace myself for a blast of cold air, but it never came. Wow! I love Florida!!!

Doug's boat is moored on the Ortega River about 1/2 mi. from the St. Johns River. There is a draw bridge shortly after leaving his marina. He radioed the bridge and with in a couple minutes it was raised and we were through. Tradition is you wave at the operator as you go by. =)

Ortega Bridge

The St. Johns River goes all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The river is brackish because it has a mix of salt and fresh water. The color of the water is brown, that's how you know you are in the south! There were crab pots all around just like in the San Juans. The river is rather shallow but he knew all of the channels.

See the brackish brown water

The sailing crew of Quick Sand

The St. Johns River goes through downtown Jacksonville and he said there are many public docks to tie up to. We went the opposite direction on the St. John and sailed to our hearts content. We sailed a good five hours and it was still light at 4:30. We had an excellent time. Thank you!!!

Downtown JAX

Beautiful day! Their friends in the Ghost ship fly by with their spinaker!

Loving every second

That evening I was still jumping with excitement over the great day of sailing we had. Mitch got a kick out of that because he loves sailing even more than I do and wants to keep me on board with our plans.

Strolling on St. Augustine Beach on Conch Island: Buzz, me, Mitch, Karen and Daisy!

So...between sailing, exploring St. Augustine, Anastasia Island, Conch Island and Neptune Beach. Checking out moorage prices at The Conch House Marina. Hanging out with Mitch's step father, and his cousin, Karen, helping Karen buy a used car, celebrating Christmas, attending Mass and sitting around the kitchen table with three lap tops, singing with Karen playing the guitar and watching the squirrels and leaping lizards play in the back yard ...it couldn't have been any better!!

Entrance to the marina we were interested in but we can do with out all of the frills...they wanted $14.50 a ft yearly or $17.50 ft mo. It was cool though with two lounges!

Conch House Marina dockside

Happy Anniversary Mitch!!

True Blue Dog Training

2008-11-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

Daisy...Do

I'm half crazy over my love for you

Here is the little Princess!!

Daisy is our new Pomeranian. She just turned two years old. Our last dog, Kitty loved boating but she was not the perfect boat dog. So with our new dog came new possibilities!.

Kitty was an eternal landlubber. Sometimes our cruises took a little longer than we planned and she would be miserable waiting for us to arrive and take her to shore. We felt bad but she would never relieve herself. She wouldn't even go on a big rock, it had to be real land. We rowed her ashore three times a day. Once early in the morning, another time mid-day, and the last before bedtime;which was never convenient. Even in the summer it is dark at 9:30 or 10, which would be a good time to take her so she could make it until 8am the next morning. We could never lounge around in our pajamas before taking her because we had to be dressed in order to row her to shore.

I would like to share with you what we did in order to make our new dog cruiser friendly.

When we would first take her to the boat I would get newspapers and place them on the cockpit floor. She had been trained on newspapers as a puppy but I don't know if that actually had a lot to do with it. Because as soon as we got a doggie door at home, she went outside. So when we finally did visit the boat she didn't want to go on the papers.

Silly little dog loves her newspapers;thankfully these were clean when she decided to take a nap on them in the cockpit

I had to take clean newspapers with me on our walk when we first arrived at the marina. I would make sure that I would dip them at least a little bit in her pee and take them with me back to the boat. The other important factor was to keep putting her on the newspapers and coax her with a treat. It did take patience at first because she wanted to run around on the top-side of the boat. I had to keep getting her and putting her back and crinkling the bag with the treats. And say, “TREAT!”. I cut just a little bit of a snausage (dog treat) off at a time and she gets that whenever she goes on the paper.

Daisy looking in the companionway from the cockpit:she doesn't really want in, she's just checking on us. =)

If she didn't go I would put her back below. Then she would run back over to the stairs and want out. It didn't take long for her to get the idea that going on the paper meant treat. In the morning she will still occasionally want to go up on the bow if I don't stand there and watch her. But I don't mind because I can be standing below in a heated cabin, still in my pajamas with just my head out of the boat.

I always get worried when we are away from the boat for long that she won't remember. We are away from the boat for 5 months but it is just like old hat to her.

This last time we went to the boat in October, one of the first things I did was put the papers down. I don't have to pre-treat them any more that was just in the very beginning of her training. This time just cracked me up because no sooner did I put the paper down then did she run over and pee on them. Of course, she got a treat right away. What a great little sailing dog!!

Daisy is a lot more insecure than Kitty ever was. At first she didn't like the noise of anything on the boat, and would squeal in a high pitched frenzy. I couldn't put her down below because she would get even more frightened. Also when I held her she would try to jump out of my arms which is not a good thing when you are on a boat in the middle of the ocean. I really thought at one point that I would have to get a doggie front pack and wear it.

Daisy, safe and content on her leash system:hooked to the helm cup holder

What we ended up doing was putting a harness on her and a leash that is connected to the helm. She can run around on all of the cockpit cushions and get down on the cockpit floor but she can't get on to the top side of the boat. She use to just sit in my lap the whole time but now she will lay down where ever she wants although usually close by, depending on the weather and calmness of the sea. She rarely gets afraid now of sounds. Before she even freaked out over the sound of the engine, let alone the boom banging and so forth. I think the leash makes her feel secure.

The last time we docked I let her off of her leash but she didn't realize it. I was off of the boat walking around the marina taking pictures and I could see her just sitting in the cockpit all content. Pretty cool.

Everything on the boat (and off) has its place!

Awww.....good little Daisy! =)

Roche Harbor, San Juan Island

2008-09-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

Roche is French for Rock

Roche Harbor Marina

San Juan Island and Stuart Island, click on map to enlarge...

Hotel de Haro and McMillins Dinning Room

Chapel overlooking the marina

All of the islands offer different venues. Roche Harbor is one of our favorite islands. Roche Harbor Resort is one of the tourist hot spots. There are only two ways to reach Roche Harbor; boat, or plane. It is located on the north side of San Juan Island; Friday Harbor is another popular place, located on the east side of San Juan Island.

There is a U.S. Customs building facing the harbor on the outside finger of the marina. There is plenty of space there to tie up, and are usually plenty of agents. This is one of the main customs offices for entry into the U.S.

We were able to find anchorage outside of the marina in about 30 ft of water close enough to the marina to receive Internet reception. We subscribe to BBX Internet which is a marina based Internet provider and were able to log in while swinging on a hook. It was not a great connection but good to know if in a pinch for money, or if you just want to anchor for lunch and check your e-mail.

It takes us about seven hours to get to Roche Harbor. Sailboats are not about speed. We usually make it a two day trip on the way over, and a straight shot back. If it is our true destination we might spend the night at Spencer Spit which is on Lopez Island. It is a popular anchorage with plenty of space, lots of mooring balls and easy depths to anchor in. It is probably about three hours from Spencer to Roche. Otherwise, we will just go in a general westerly direction and stop off at one of our other favorite anchorages for a day or two.

We rent a slip for at least a couple days each year in the marina and always have a great time. They have one dock that is for guest moorage and so we are all grouped together Everyone is relaxed and ready for a good time. That particular dock holds about 80 boats. Boats of all shapes and sizes. There are covered floating patios located between the slips for large gatherings. They have motorized barges to take you over to the pool area. They even have a mobile pump out boat and will come to your boat free of charge.

Guest docks at Roche Harbor

This summer when we went they had a Tolly Craft Convention. The guest dock was full, although we did have reservations. Our friends, John and Bettie Perry met us at the resort and were standing at our assigned slip when we pulled up. The Roche Harbor Master ended up assigning us a slip on the opposite side of the marina in the permanent slip section. It was a nice slip but it would have been a lot more fun in the midst of the Tolly Craft's Margaritaville Convention.... =)

One of the Tolly Crafter events; Margaritaville Dingy Parade

Oh, well...we were glad the weather had just changed for the better; it had been in the high 60's, and cloudy. Summer took a long time to come this year. We were at Roche Harbor probably the hottest days of the year, June 28, and 29th, and it was in the 80's.

John, Bettie and Daisy sailing on True Blue

We planned to give The Perry's a sailing lesson. They'd like to learn how to sail, and go with us on a leg to Mexico. We took them out into Speiden Channel and hauled the sail up. Bettie took the helm, she was eager to learn all about sailing. Mitch loves to teach. He explained all the procedures and mechanics of the different instruments. He's a natural teacher, whether it be sailing, water skiing or what have you. He enjoys the technical aspects of things. The only cog in the works...nice hot weather is not condusive to sailing wind. We decided to venture out to Haro Strait hoping to find a breeze.

We eventually agreed to sail over to Stuart Island and have lunch. John was at the wheel and pulled along side a linear moorage and we tied off. The sun was blazing down on us and the “pretty" umbrella I brought was no use to us (it was too big and hit the boom and the back stays in the cockpit) Mitch had tried to tell me... but I didn't listen.We later took turns standing in the water on the ladder to cool off and after about the third rung down one was able to feel the cold begin to penetrate your feet. The water temp was about 48 degrees. Not too inviting for swimming. It was still fun to show the Perry's Stuart Island and eat lunch in the cockpit with our xm radio playing. We returned to our slip and they treated us to dinner. We'll have to invite the Perry's out again in better sailing weather. They were wonderful to us and we enjoyed our time together. Thank you!!!

Picture of Stuart Island Click to enlarge

Example of a linear moorage on Stuart Island

Roche Harbor is a great place with all kinds of ammenities: pool, small grocery store, two restaurants, art vendors, sculpture park, historic hotel, a chapel, old brick pathways, flower garden, showers, fuel dock, condos, cottages, bike rentals, hiking, tennis and ping-pong, not to mention kayak rentals and whale watching tours.

It is wise during the summer months to make a reservation although I haven't heard them turn people away. The dock crew are very accommodating. They stand at your slip while you pull in and tie your boat off for you. They'll also bring you a hose, or an electrical cord if you've forgotten one. It's a top notch marina.

The captain is on the stern of the boat manuevering the boat

along side the fuel dock by remote.

Click to Enlarge

There are a lot of mega buck yachts moored in the marina there. It is fun to walk by on the docks and look at their dingy boats that are really regular speed boats worth up to maybe $80,000. I've seen some with a helicopter aboard and many with wave runners.

The Sculpture Park is a must see. It is located on top of the hill near the airport in a meadow. A small donation is suggested at the gate, where they hand you a brochure with the names and locations of all of the sculptures. Many of them are for sale with their prices listed ( in the thousands of dollars range). It's still fun to look and get a little exercise at the same time.

View of the Sculpture Park: Mitch, Lori, John & Bettie

A few of the many Sculptures at the park

At sunset the marina holds a colors ceremony which has been their tradition since 1957. It is fun for the whole family (well...maybe not the dog = ) There is music, the lowering of state and country flags, and cannon firing.

The ferry doesn't run to Roche Harbor but friends can take the ferry to Friday Harbor and bring their car, or take a shuttle to Roche. The return trip on the ferry is free. Actually we boated over to Friday Harbor with friends in their big motor boat and hopped on the ferry back to Anacortes for free.

If you ever go to the San Juans make sure you don't miss Roche Harbor.

Anacortes

2008-09-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

Downtown Anacortes copper-pillared Arch

There are three Main Marinas in Anacortes: Cap Sante, Anacortes and Skyline.

Cap Sante Marina is a municipal marina which means it is owned by the city. Recently upgraded with new docks, aluminum ramps, and fuel dock. There is a free 24/7 pump out dock, and transient moorage for visitors. The Harbor Master is located here and is a point of entry from Canada. The facilities are nice with two sets of bathrooms and showers for boaters. It's a fun place to just walk around since all of the docks are open to the public and it is easy walking to grocery stores and downtown.

These two photos show Cap Sante on the left, and Ancortes Marina on the far right.

Anacortes Marina is private. The rates are similar to Cap Sante. We pay $290.00 to moor our 34 ft sailboat. The docks are gated and the showers and grounds are well maintained.

When entering Anacortes and Cap Sante by water you need to pay close attention to the channels. The channels were drudged out in order to make it deep enough to enter. The channel itself is usually about 24 ft deep, and quickly drops to 14 feet and below the farther outside you go. Our depth finder has an alarm below 15 ft. We have a draft of 6ft.

I think people choose between Anacortes and Cap Sante by what slips are available. I like both of the settings, although Anacortes Marina is farther from downtown. Anacortes has a fuel and pump-out dock ran by Marine Service from 8-5. They charge $4 to let you pump it out.

There are a few live-a boards in our marina. The ones we have met work close by. One of the couples were living on a 27' sailboat even through the winter and with a small dog...talk about cabin fever, no thanks.

Skyline Marina, condos on left, Burrows Island in distance

Skyline Marina is on the opposite side of Fidalgo Island, far from downtown. They do have a restaurant and a small gas station store but the marina is mainly surrounded by condos and nice homes. The entrance to the marina by water is shallow and you need to time it just right. The entire marina seems small and tight to me. Mitch sailed our boat over there to have it hauled-out in order to work on it in the work yard there. It saved us a lot of money re-painting the hull ourselves. Algae and crustacean grow continuously and diving companies hire out to clean boat hulls every 3 to 6 months but after a year or two all of the special bottom paint is worn off and needs to be redone. The work yard has day time hours only, no bathrooms and did not allow you to stay on your boat. It is one of the few yards that still allow you to work on your boat yourself. It cost us $550.00 to have the boat hauled out and for 3 days in the yard. One gallon of bottom paint was $230.00, and to replace two through hull fittings was $200.00. Can you imagine what labor would have cost?

True Blue hauled and repainted May 2008, Skyline yard

Anacortes is a nice little tourist town with kayak rentals, whale watching tours, boat charters, ferry service to the San Juans, and a quaint down town.

There is also a wonderful paved walk/bike path that runs from Cap Sante Marina up past Anacortes Marina and about all the way along Padilla Bay almost to the highway coming into town. There are two main grocery stores: Food Pavillion and Safeway. There is a big West Marine store, a few hardware stores, gift stores, Walgreen's, Bi-Rite, and some nice restaurants such as the Rock Fish Grill with it's home-brewed beers, and a few Mexican, and Seafood places.

The first time we ever really heard of Anacortes was in the fall of 2003 when we were looking for a sailboat to buy. We had driven over to the Seattle area and had looked at one in Elliot Bay Marina, it was a 1979 34 foot C&C for 36,000. It was pretty run down, and didn't even have a compass. We had then driven over to see our daughter's place in Lynnwood when I mentioned there was another boat we could see in Anacortes. We pulled out a map to see just where it was and I was able to persuade Mitch to make the hour long drive.

Our boat was listed through Straw Hat Yacht Sales. I saw this picture on the web site for the boat and thought that Anacortes must be a tiny, out of the way place where no one else would drive to in order to look for a boat. How funny!!! =) We liked the boat right away. It was extremely well kept. The décor was inviting and the price was right, only $40,000. The broker's name was Ernie we really liked him he and his family had sailed the seven seas. We made arrangements to buy it pending a marine survey, and a sea trial.

We returned in a week with a check in hand, well...it was in my purse but where was my purse?!!! We had been taking the dog for a walk along the marina path and had sat down on a bench while waiting for the office to open. We went in to the office and guess what! No purse... I couldn't believe it. I just started praying right away, and ran out of the office, so embarrassed, to back track my steps. I couldn't find it in the rest room or at the bench where we had been sitting. Then I remembered, Mitch had moved to different bench while I was preoccupied with the dog. Thank God, there it was still sitting on the original bench. Phew!! I would have never heard the end of losing a $41,000.00 check!!

We love Anacortes. The town is clean and inviting. There are 100 life size murals of early settlers on the down town business buildings. I remember parking at the post office and my dog barking at the mural of the postman on the wall. =)

The name Anacortes is actually derived from the name, Anna Curtis. Anna Curtis was Amos Bowman's wife and he named the town in her honor. Awww!=)

Pictures From Send Off

2008-08-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Michelle's Bravo Company Send Off

Michelle and best friend Lisa

End of Seasons August 2008

2008-08-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

July 4th

There are two seasons ending soon: the time we have with our daughter, Michelle before leaving for her second deployment to Iraq, and warm weather sailing.

Michelle is 23 years old and in her 6th year of service in the Army National Guard. She was recently promoted to Sargeant, E5. Her MOS is actually a Light Wheel Mechanic but she transfered to Bravo Company, unit 181 which is a part of the 81st Brigade, and she is now Bravo Leader on a gun truck. Apparently they didn't need any more mechanics and decided to train her Company to conduct convoy and base security at eight unspecified locations across Iraq.

Michelle use to string safety pins together for a necklace:times have changed

We are headed to her Send Off on Tuesday, August 19th in Yakima where our son, Daniel and Michelle's close friend, Lisa will meet us. She will be leaving for training in Wisconsin at Fort Mc Coy soon afterward.

We had a blast last weekend together. There was an underlying sadness since we knew we'd have to part soon but we tried to ignore it. We had a myriad of appointments to keep: hair, nail, eye, dr., make-up...=) and lots of shopping to occupy us.

I was so glad that Michelle had me make an eye exam appointment. We went to America's Best Contact and eye glasses. For only $69.95 you get an eye exam and two pairs of glasses. I was picking out two pairs of the glasses included in the deal but Michelle and her keen eye for style, picked out one of the pairs and treated me to the difference. (I'm just too cheap! =) Reminds me of when we had the kids to the boat last month and Daniel said, "Mom, just get the brand you like and don't worry about the price..I'll buy it." And to my amazement at the check out stand, he pulled out his debit card and paid for the whole cart of groceries! Wow! Both of our children are very kind and generous...What a blessing!

Saturday night we ate at her favorite little restaurant in Spokane, Mizuna. We chose to be seated outside on their "old world style" bricked patio under charming little lights strung overhead. Atmosphere is everything!! We ordered one of their delectable salads which include a warm loaf of french bread and a plate of herbed olive oil for dipping.

In the morning we walked to our other favorite place...Starbucks!! Have you tried their new Mango Banana Orange and Chocolate Banana protein drinks? They're amazing!!

Okay...back to sailing. We will leave for the boat after seeing Michelle and spend a week in the San Juans. Mitch will be starting a new excavation job with American Bay Construction when we return.

I'll have time to write some more of our adventures and get them posted soon!!

Sail to Canada

2008-08-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

We have our boat in Anacortes, WA. the gateway to the San Juan Islands.

I'm working part time and I actually get week blocks off at a time. It takes seven hours to drive over.

Friday night our good friends, Gene & Carol Nelson threw me a 50th Birthday party. Then the next morning we drove to the boat for a two week vacation.

The first couple days we just took it easy and got the boat ready. Our first destination was Echo Bay on Sucia Island. It's north of Orcas Island and takes from 4 to 6 hours to get there by sailboat. We planned to moor there for the night on our way to Canada. (We had never been in Canadian waters but we both just obtained our Washington Enhanced Driver Licenses which allow entry into Canada and Mexico, in lieu of a passport. )

Leaving Sucia Island...funny to receive a phone call

The next morning we decided to head straight for Pender Island instead of stopping off at Stuart Island. We were able to take a whole new route which is always fun. There was one spot where the currents and tides wanted to just randomly turn the boat in a circle. That's when I call out "Mitch!"... =) He takes everything with ease. I love the confidence he exudes, I depend on that a lot. I like to sail but I like to keep him near for that sudden blast of wind in the sail that tries to over power you.

We arrived at Poets Cove on South Pender Island. What a beautiful resort. We moored to the Customs Dock and Mitch went up. A little disappointing to find out that there are no real agents there, not then anyway, and we had to use the phone to report in. It was an easy place for entry.

Poets Cove Resort, Pender Island

Canada Border Patrol Office on dock, far right side

There was a nice marina and on the other side of the marina a mooring bay with mooring balls for $10.00 a night versus fifty something for a dock tie. Not that $50.00 is not reasonable but we already had reservations at Roche Harbor for the weekend and didn't feel the need. The hotel rooms started at $250.00 for a lodge room or 300-550 for a villa. Whether you rent a slip or a room you can use enjoy all of the emenities such as pools, spa, tennis courts and showers.

Poets Cove Marina

Amenities of Resort:two pools, spa... view overlooking Bay

True Blue on a mooring Ball : middle of photo near top

The resort was for those that just wanted to get away from the rat race because there wasn't really anything to do there. No real stores, or venues to go to. We did take a walk up the highway like hill and find a scenic overlook. The beach was pretty with stone like shells and such for sand but the water wasn't real clean looking. May have something to do with there being no pump-out facilities for boaters. That is really unusual for a marina. Apparently Canada has a problem with this sort of issue. The U.S. is great. They have pump-outs in a lot of places especially all marinas.

On way from Canada

Strange ramp on Cargo boat in Harrow Straits

We left there after a couple days and re-entered the U.S. at Roche Harbor. There they had ample custom agents, more than they knew what to do with. They came in and out on their aluminum boat with three 275 outboards on the back. They had like 6 to 8 agents on one little craft. They didn't search our boat but while anchored in the bay we saw them board quite a few yachts.

U.S. Border Patrol Boat (picture taken later at Deer Harbor)