Part One
We left Portland on Tuesday and popped up to Anacortes to do a little cruising around the San Juan Islands. We've been busy catching up with friends since we got back from Alaska and this week we decided to combine that with some boating!
Our friends Bob and Sissy from Bodega Bay happened to be up on Whidbey Island celebrating their 10 year anniversary, and they decided to meet up with us for a little cruise. (Bob and Sissy own a wine shop called Gourmet au Bay that you might remember if you've been following along for a while.)
Leaving Anacortes on Wednesday morning:
We went over to Rosario Resort on Orcas Island and stopped for lunch. There was a bit of fog when we first got to Rosario, but it was still pretty (and it burned off during lunch).
Our original plan was to head over and grab a mooring ball at Spencer Spit State Park on Lopez Island. Our friend Sam was going to meet us there late in the afternoon (in his Nordic Tug 37) and we'd all have dinner together. We had some time to kill so we opted to go out San Juan Channel a bit toward Cattle Pass and look for orcas before heading to Spencer Spit.
Hey what do you know?? We found some!
It was perfect! Sissy and Bob had never been to the San Juan Islands, nor had they seen orcas in the wild. We scored for the vacationers, yay!
We texted with Sam and decided to meet over in Brigantine Bay on Decatur Island instead of Spencer Spit. We got there a bit after Sam and rafted up with him for easier dinner party back and forth access.
Just in time for a pretty sunset:
We grilled some salmon, roasted some baby potatoes with rosemary, and made a spinach salad, and Sam made some yum brownies for dessert. And wine. Sissy and Bob brought wine, of course. It was a fun evening!
Sunrise this morning:
I made breakfast tacos for everyone, then we said goodbye to Sam and headed back to Anacortes so Sissy and Bob could catch their flight back to California.
Decatur Island back to Anacortes (12 nautical miles, 1 hour 48 minutes):
Oh yeah, porpoises:
Tomorrow, we'll head out with some more friends for a few days. Our plan is to cruise over to Patos Island for a lighthouse hike and lunch, then to Sucia Island for the night (meeting up with Sam again!). We'll hike around Sucia on Saturday morning, then cruise over to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island for Saturday night (and have dinner at McMillin's). On Sunday we'll head back to Anacortes (with some dilly dallying and whale scouting in there somewhere).
Fun!
