cruising: anacortes and sucia
Date: June 28, 2019
Time Start: 10:20 a.m.
Time Finish: 2:45 p.m.
Cruise From: Coupeville, Whidbey Island
Cruise To: Anacortes, Cap Sante Marina
Engine Hours Start: 980
Engine Hours Finish: 984
After morning coffee and pastries at the Salty Mug on the wharf, we take a brief walk along the pier to town, taking in views of the morning low tide.
Time Start: 10:20 a.m.
Time Finish: 2:45 p.m.
Cruise From: Coupeville, Whidbey Island
Cruise To: Anacortes, Cap Sante Marina
Engine Hours Start: 980
Engine Hours Finish: 984
After morning coffee and pastries at the Salty Mug on the wharf, we take a brief walk along the pier to town, taking in views of the morning low tide.
Will and Marcine from Seattle give us a tour of their beautiful 65 foot cruiser, Tahoe, a 55 year old Cris Craft in beautiful condition. It is an award winning boat, furnished with decor from the 50's.
Danielle, our dock master, gives us a friendly farewell, and we get final views of Suva and of Coupeville as we leave. We need to return to this wonderful place!
The cruising is calm in the Skagit Flats and through the Swinomish Channel to Anacortes and Cap Sante Marina. NORTH STAR gets docked near the "for sale" boats, where there are several Ranger Tugs and Nordic Tugs. This is a provisioning stop for us, with laundry and shopping on our list of things to do.
Date: June 29, 2019
Cap Sante layover day
Weather: Sunny, mid 70's, breeze, nice
It's Saturday, and the local farmers market is open next to the old train depot, the perfect place to pick up some fresh berries and other produce. With live music and booths for food and craft vendors, the market is a lively gathering place. We have to check it all out. One of the booths that catches my attention has jewelry made from old silverware. Forks, knives and spoons are fashioned into tasteful bracelets, rings, and other objects. What a great way to reuse, recycle, and save some memories of times gone by. Don't we all have some of those old pieces of cutlery from our parents or grandparents that just sit unused? Very creative!
Cap Sante layover day
Weather: Sunny, mid 70's, breeze, nice
It's Saturday, and the local farmers market is open next to the old train depot, the perfect place to pick up some fresh berries and other produce. With live music and booths for food and craft vendors, the market is a lively gathering place. We have to check it all out. One of the booths that catches my attention has jewelry made from old silverware. Forks, knives and spoons are fashioned into tasteful bracelets, rings, and other objects. What a great way to reuse, recycle, and save some memories of times gone by. Don't we all have some of those old pieces of cutlery from our parents or grandparents that just sit unused? Very creative!
I leave Dan to his work, taking a stroll through the marina and out to Seafarers Memorial Park to visit my favorite statue of the lady with the lantern, waiting for the return of her loved ones from the sea. There is a memorial for those who have not returned next to the statue. (Click for vertical photos).
There is a lot more to the park. A pavilion is hosting a wedding today, and there is a new dock extending out to a float where a group have gathered for remote controlled sailboat races. The park has a nice beach, good signage, and the trash cans sporting labels from the days of the salmon canneries in Anacortes add a historical and artistic touch.
It is great to see that efforts have been made to protect the eelgrass beds in the area, and there are signs of restoration work with new riparian plantings.
What's for dinner? There are so many choices for eating ashore within walking distance. We opt for the Rockfish Grill tonight, craving their wild salmon sandwich with pickled ginger. It never disappoints us! A live band is playing, too, the Stacy Jones Band, serenading us with a bit of the blues.
Date: June 30, 2019
Time Start: 11 a.m.
Time Finish: 2:30 p.m.
Cruise From: Anacortes
Cruise To: Sucia Island, Fossil Bay
Engine Hours Start: 984
Engine Hours Finish: 988
Weather/sea conditions: Sunny, wam, calm, mid 70's, breeze later
It's a bright morning in the land of mainly white boats here at Cap Sante where we have clear blue skies and flat calm water. Breakfast is in the cockpit, enjoying some of our fresh berries with yogurt. Water and groceries have been replenished, fuel tank is full, laundry clean, and we are ready for some time in the San Juan islands.
Date: June 30, 2019
Time Start: 11 a.m.
Time Finish: 2:30 p.m.
Cruise From: Anacortes
Cruise To: Sucia Island, Fossil Bay
Engine Hours Start: 984
Engine Hours Finish: 988
Weather/sea conditions: Sunny, wam, calm, mid 70's, breeze later
It's a bright morning in the land of mainly white boats here at Cap Sante where we have clear blue skies and flat calm water. Breakfast is in the cockpit, enjoying some of our fresh berries with yogurt. Water and groceries have been replenished, fuel tank is full, laundry clean, and we are ready for some time in the San Juan islands.
We pass Cap Sante, the beautiful shoreside homes, the marine industrial area of Anacortes, making our way through the Guemes Channel to the Bellingham Passage between Guemes and Cypress islands. We pass small islets, enjoy water patterns through tide rips, see a bit of Mt. Baker in the distance, have some white caps, and then Sucia is visible off our bow.
The docks in Fossil Bay look like they are full, but a couple on the innermost dock wave at us to come in, and there is a space that is just our size to slide into with use of the thrusters. Surrounded by friendly boaters, we are on an island we love to visit over and over again. It never gets old here! So much beauty . . .
Date: July 1, 2019
Sucia layover day in Fossil Bay
Weather: Sunny and nice!
To all of our friends to the north, Happy Canada Day! We have a lot of activity on the dock as boaters leave, including the C-Dory next to us. We are amazed as seven people load all of their camping gear aboard, and there is still room for everyone, too! A water taxi brings a group for a day of kayaking. And watching it all is an eagle in a nearby treetop.
Sucia layover day in Fossil Bay
Weather: Sunny and nice!
To all of our friends to the north, Happy Canada Day! We have a lot of activity on the dock as boaters leave, including the C-Dory next to us. We are amazed as seven people load all of their camping gear aboard, and there is still room for everyone, too! A water taxi brings a group for a day of kayaking. And watching it all is an eagle in a nearby treetop.
Hiking is on our agenda for the day, with visits to Echo Bay, Shallow Bay, and Lawson Bluff. Trails take us along the shorelines, through forests where ocean spray is in full bloom, and we take advantage of low tides to explore exposed shelves and sandstone formations. We start with the sandstones, so fantastically sculpted by the power of wind and water. Using our imaginations, we see everything from teeth to toes to fish to a Mt. Rushmore type head! What do you see?
From Shallow Bay, a trail continues to Lawson Bluff, a wonderful rocky point with pools that are exposed at low tide.
When not along a shoreline, we are in wooded forest, and the ocean spray blossoms make some of the pathways look like lovely veiled bridal aisles. We're here at a beautiful time of year.
From the Echo Bay beach, Mt. Baker is visible. There seems to be plenty of room for boats today.
Evening at Fossil Bay, so special.
Date: July 2, 2019
Sucia layover day in Fossil Bay
Weather: Windy night, rainy morning, cool, upper 50's
Hikers arriving on the water taxi this morning huddle in the shoreside shelter, waiting for the rain to subside. It is one of those mornings to linger inside, fix a good breakfast, read a bit while the rains taper off and then stop.
Sucia layover day in Fossil Bay
Weather: Windy night, rainy morning, cool, upper 50's
Hikers arriving on the water taxi this morning huddle in the shoreside shelter, waiting for the rain to subside. It is one of those mornings to linger inside, fix a good breakfast, read a bit while the rains taper off and then stop.
Dan takes advantage of the weather to get some of his work done. I wander over to Fox Cove to see the sandstone mushroom formations, then explore the nearby beaches and camping areas.
July 3, 2019
Sucia layover day in Ewing Cove
Weather/sea conditions: Gray and cool, 60 degrees, super low tide (-3.1)
We leave Fossil Bay for a short cruise to Ewing Cove, our favorite scenic anchorage on Sucia. The mooring buoys are empty. We select the buoy closest to shore, between the Cluster Islands and Ewing Island. We are anxious to go ashore as the tide today is super low (-3.1), low enough that all of the Cluster Islands are connected by the exposed shorelines. Looking along the faces of the islands, the algae is revealed in layers of color. We can see sea stars, anemones, red rock crabs in the shallow water areas. What a fantastic time to explore!
We're having a love affair with our surroundings. Getting to shore means passing along and through lots of algae. We drift through the shallows so that we can observe the life there. And, once ashore on the Cluster Islands, the sand sculptures are bigger than ever, with so much more of them revealed by the tide. Shell debris includes varnish clams, butter clams, cockles, and barnacles. There are some very large barnacles that Dan, our shellfish expert, says would be harvested for food to eat in Chile. (He had two visits to Chile this past year, both for shellfish programs.)
Sucia layover day in Ewing Cove
Weather/sea conditions: Gray and cool, 60 degrees, super low tide (-3.1)
We leave Fossil Bay for a short cruise to Ewing Cove, our favorite scenic anchorage on Sucia. The mooring buoys are empty. We select the buoy closest to shore, between the Cluster Islands and Ewing Island. We are anxious to go ashore as the tide today is super low (-3.1), low enough that all of the Cluster Islands are connected by the exposed shorelines. Looking along the faces of the islands, the algae is revealed in layers of color. We can see sea stars, anemones, red rock crabs in the shallow water areas. What a fantastic time to explore!
We're having a love affair with our surroundings. Getting to shore means passing along and through lots of algae. We drift through the shallows so that we can observe the life there. And, once ashore on the Cluster Islands, the sand sculptures are bigger than ever, with so much more of them revealed by the tide. Shell debris includes varnish clams, butter clams, cockles, and barnacles. There are some very large barnacles that Dan, our shellfish expert, says would be harvested for food to eat in Chile. (He had two visits to Chile this past year, both for shellfish programs.)
Lots of photos! This is what happens when you have two people taking photos together! And, of course, we think Ewing Cove is the most fantastic place to be today. The fun continues on our row back to NORTH STAR. We watch rock crabs hide in the algae and bury themselves in sand. Blades of eelgrass and fronds of algae are teeming with bits of life - egg cases galore, tiny nudibranchs, small crabs. Schools of small fish swim below us. And there is kelp, beds of the flowing fronds drifting with the current. We like the pull of the current in the small channel between Ewing Island and the shore. We are in no rush to get back to the boat.
Boat time, time to relax and enjoy our views of Ewing Cove.