Back to Anacortes and then home

September 28th: It is hard to believe that we have now spent 30 days on the water. This has been quite an adventure, and one we want to repeat many times in the future. We have barely begun to explore the area, as there is so much more to see. Donna and I covered 255 nautical miles, which translates to 293 land miles!

Altogether, there were 12 nights at anchor, with the balance at marinas. We visited 12 islands within the San Juan and Gulf chains, which included 22 ports of call. There were so many highlights, it is impossible to state what we enjoyed the most. Our time with family was definitely a highlight, as was meeting and getting to know so many other people, both cruisers and hikers.

We hope you have enjoyed following our journey. On October 1, we will be home again. It's now time to take down the mast and rigging and get the boat on the trailer for the 600+ mile trip home.

Bye for now!

Sailing to Watmough Bay in search of Orcas, Lopez Island

September 27th: We changed our itinerary to go in search of orcas off the south coast of Lopez Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After a rapid ride on the ebb tide through the San Juan Channel, we entered Juan de Fuca Strait. Again, the whales were hiding from us, but we did see many sea lions and dolphins. We will have to come back here and try to find the orcas again. Headed to secluded Watmough Bay which is situated in an undeveloped area on the southeast corner of Lopez. Watmough is tucked in beside a 500' cliff on one side and wooded hills on the other. After anchoring, we rowed the dinghy to a pebbly beach at the head of the bay, and found a hiking trail to the top of Chadwick Hill, a 500' climb over a very steep and gnarly trail. The views from the top were breathtaking. The tiny white spec you see in the pictures is our tiny boat. The views of Mt. Baker and the surrounding mountains were unbelievable, the beautiful sunset and sunrise not withstanding! We spent the following morning leisurely waiting for the tide to change so that we would have a favorable current to take us back to Anacortes.

Fisherman Bay & Lopez Village, Lopez Island

September 26th: We left Friday Harbor in the fog and then navigated an intricate course through shallow water to enter Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island. The entrance to the bay was narrow and scary (for Donna). The GPS never lies, so I just followed the course and got right in (without grounding the boat). We dinghied to a nearby marina and then hiked to quaint Lopez Village, with its organic grocery store where we bought a circular loaf of medieval-appearing sourdough rye bread which turned out to be outstanding. Also, found a bakery that had the intoxicating aromas and delectable fare of those we visited in Europe. Couldn't resist the pear-white chocolate-hazelnut Danish!

The real estate prices on Lopez are breathtaking, as they are in all of the San Juan and Gulf Islands.