Summer adventure - Alaska and San Juan's

Sounds like it's the same temps we had late last month. :-) And also sounds like the Orcas are staying in pretty much the same place. Wish we had the wallas stove when we were there. Ended up buying a nice small portable electric unit at the local hardware store. The hike to Turnpoint Light Station was nice, but when we were there we couldn't see inside, and the time we spent hiking there might have been better spent elsewhere. Although then my wife would never had seen that privvy that she was so excited about! (:-) BTW, enjoying your postings here. Fun to compare your travels with ours in the Islands there. Colby
 
One of many reasons to have a small boat. On the way into Friday Harbor last night heard the 'you are #4 on waitlist' to another boater. We radioed in -22' do you need power? Nope, just a spot to tie - no wait list for us and $24 later we were good to go.

Today quite windy, but we are anchored in 4ft water right behind Guss Island in Garrison Bay. Everyone else is anchored in the wind as we float around.

Just another couple of examples why buying the smallest boat you can afford is very true!
 
Cruised the west side on San Juan island today looking out for whales. None were seen but the water was basically flat. Ate our 4 crabs on the way to Anacortes where we are docked for the evening.

Saw the largest West Marine ever in Anacortes- had just about everything. Tomorrow we'll stay for the farmers market in the morning and to 'tour' the large "antique " marine store - looked like a lot of fun from what we could see thru the windows. Sunny nice day.

We have gotten fuel 3 times over the 10 days and each time took on 22 gallons. We have cruised approximately 45hrs.

Also, the other day I loaded Opencpn on my Acer W700 Windows Pro tablet. I've used Nobeltec in the past and was not happy overall. Opencpn is awesome. Very customizable setup was easy and it allowed me to load the free ENC charts. Plus it was FREE...
 
OpenCPN does not run worth crap on my MacBook Pro under OSX. Guess it works better on Windoze, but since I have Coastal Explorer on the Windoze boot side of my Mac, which is really incredible, no need. Still looking for something that works well on the Mac side...

BRAZO":tjl7ojlf said:
Cruised the west side on San Juan island today looking out for whales. None were seen but the water was basically flat. Ate our 4 crabs on the way to Anacortes where we are docked for the evening.

Saw the largest West Marine ever in Anacortes- had just about everything. Tomorrow we'll stay for the farmers market in the morning and to 'tour' the large "antique " marine store - looked like a lot of fun from what we could see thru the windows. Sunny nice day.

We have gotten fuel 3 times over the 10 days and each time took on 22 gallons. We have cruised approximately 45hrs.

Also, the other day I loaded Opencpn on my Acer W700 Windows Pro tablet. I've used Nobeltec in the past and was not happy overall. Opencpn is awesome. Very customizable setup was easy and it allowed me to load the free ENC charts. Plus it was FREE...
Click to expand...
 
We saw your boat while you were in Friday Harbor (Joan commented about your bimini - nice!), but no one was around the boat. Sorry we missed meeting you. Sounds like you had a good time in the San Juans. :D

Jim B.
 
JamesTXSD":1adgj85h said:
We saw your boat while you were in Friday Harbor (Joan commented about your bimini - nice!), but no one was around the boat. Sorry we missed meeting you. Sounds like you had a good time in the San Juans. :D

Jim B.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was a bit wet day. We were probably at Kong Fu pizza or out for ice cream. Would have enjoyed meeting you guys as we've followed your blog for a number of years. Just might be back in Friday Harbor again on this trip, if so we'll look for you. Have a great day on the water.

Robert & Gaye
 
Sitting on a mooring ball ät Clark Island. Beautiful flat sea's with a great view of Mt. Baker (at least we think it's Mt Baker). A bit of fog this morning to test our the radar and a bit of paddle boarding around the island. Another great day on the water.

The plan is to pull the boat in time so that we can spend 2 nights in Glacier National Park and do the Highline loop hike (12 miler) and an afternoon in Seattle.

Most likely Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
 
After a bit of a rolly night on the mooring ball at Clark Island we decided to cruise down the west side of San Juan Island. Made it to the lighthouse on Stuart Island and saw the Orcas coming our way. Spent the next number of hours floating around as the Orcas circled. Many breaches, full out of the water jumps, tail slaps, swimming on their backs, etc. It was crazy cool. Decided to head to Friday Harbor for a good run, shower, a great dinner at Golden Triangle, and another round of ice cream.

After the great day we decided we'll pull the boat tomorrow morning and put it back in storage. A bit nervous about pulling the boat out with the motorhome, but I really don't think it'll be a problem pulling it up the ramp. We launched at low tide and I tested pulling the boat up the ramp and all seemed good.

We'll then head out on the motorhome.

Great way to end the boating!
 
Cruised from Friday Harbor to Blaine this morning - 25kts on COMPLETELY flat water. No boat traffic and no tide waves - completely flat the entire way. Backed the motorhome up, loaded the CD22, and without effort the motorhome (Winnebago View) pulled it out of the water - no issues.

Spent a few hours emptying our stuff back into the motorhome, put the Honda's on the muffs and ran fresh water through for about 45 minutes. Did all the "storage" items for the Honda's and the boat and drove it to storage. Now covered in storage waiting for our 2015 return with the initial plan of going to SE Alaska thru the inside passage.

Now headed to Port Orchard where we'll stay in the Walmart tonight and take the ferry into Seattle tomorrow.
 
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