July 19, 2013

 

July 13th   anchored Deer Harbor:  Deer Harbor on Orcas Island is accessible by ferry. We have been here before but seeing places from the water instead of the shore adds a new dimension.  It is a beautiful little harbor and quite busy with a well run marina and (from what we can tell) a steady stream of float planes landing and taking off right beside our boat.  Aiden, you can look up Deer Harbor Washington on Google and show Sophie where we are staying.  We have arrived in time for the Islander Rendezvous.  Islander is the brand of sailboat that we have.  We have an Islander Freeport which is like saying you have a Honda Civic.  The Freeport is a heavier model designed more for ocean cruising than its sister the Islander.  We are the only Freeport here and are glad to represent our ‘group’.  We enjoy a tasty potluck and rousing white elephant exchange and we are more than ready to take the dinghy back to ExTerra.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 14th anchored Deer Harbor:  after a nice shower at the marina and coffee with the rendezvous folks we take a nice long hike.   There is one ‘resort’ which is a series of nice cabins undergoing renovation.  This is where we stayed last time we were here.  We hike to the historic Deer Harbor Inn then loop down to the channel and the other side of the harbor in search of “Mondo” Odile’s first sailboat.  We do not find her but we do go past the Deer Harbor Boat Works yard where Walt and Odile worked on their current boat B Mondo.  We take in the local floating photography gallery and while talking with Peter Fromm, proprietor and photographer, we discover that he knew Odile and knew what had happened to Mondo.  Mondo is currently being sailed by a young Canadian naval member somewhere around Vancouver Island.  Odile will be glad to know that she is still an active sailboat.  Then it is back to the boat for an enjoyable evening.  Carl fishes from the boat, catching one crab.  He has to throw it back since the season does not open until tomorrow.