August 10- 18th Garrison Bay then back to Discovery Bay for squid jiggin

Garrison Bay is popular yet quiet.  We row the dinghy clear over and into Wescott Bay in search of the Wescott Bay Shellfish dock.  Carl is in hot pursuit of oysters, one way or another.  Since most of the areas we have been have been closed due to biotoxin issues we have opted for hand picking oysters at this local oyster farm.  Carl selects his dozen; I buy a freshly baked, still warm baguette. The baguette is devoured before we even get into the dinghy for our hour plus rowing back to ExTerra.  

We pull the anchor and mosey up narrow Mosquito Pass, passing the posh Roche Harbor marina.  We decide that we would prefer to explore this area more by land next time we are in the area with a car.  There is some interesting history here but we are not interested in putting in at the marina.

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The currents are OK for us to head to Deer Harbor. We like this small, out of the way marina.  We have stayed in the resort on a land trip and anchored here for the all Islander Rendezvous three years ago, Islander referring to the brand of our boat, not the San Juan Islands.  We decide to take their last guest slip so we can cleanse our bodies and our laundry.  The marina is well run and there are two dock hands standing by to help “squeeze” us in.  We walk up past the resort which is now fully Worlmark.  Years ago we stayed here with Barb (Pam’s sister) and Craig (her husband and Carl’s best friend from college).  At the time Carl and I stayed in a quaint if not lopsided little cabin.  That cabin has since been replaced with one that is level yet still quaint.  We have a very generous portion of ice cream at the dockside store.  While enjoying that we watched a 133’ schooner, the Adventuress pull up and tie off at the fuel dock.  She stuck out a good 25’ in front of the dock and another 30 plus at the back, having to pull her back boom to the starboard at quite an angle to miss spearing one of the other docked boats.

This morning we are headed for Sucia, one of the outer ring of small islands between Orcas and the mainland.  We poke our noses into a couple of bays but decide they are either too crowded or too shallow.  We opt for the outer edge Echo Bay with a great view across Rosario Strait and the other small islands in this outer ring.

Morning brings just another day in paradise!  Today we are going to change the impeller on the raw water pump.  We think the seal has blown since we are getting a lot of salt water sprayed around inside our “engine room.”  Our nice cabin quickly becomes a workshop with every space covered in tools.  Carl takes the pump out and we decide that it also needs new bearings.  Thankfully we have two new bearings and all the parts we need in our “spares” tub.  We set about dismantling the pump.  Pam learns how to pull bearings using the bearing puller for the easy one and the hammer and cold chisel for the uh……Stubborn One! 

 Carl meanwhile is manufacturing a 6mm hex head wrench out of a ¼” hex head wrench.  Our inventory says we have a 6mm but we cannot find it.  Everything comes together, hoses and filter are flushed and refilled, ignition on, and it all works!  Yippee!  As we put away tools we find that dad burned 6mm hex head.  We put it in the tub with the spare parts for next time.  This one hour task has stretched into 5:30 so we decide on early and simple dinner since we worked through lunch.  Carl dines on his other six oysters and lots of crab, Pam….a big salad and peanut butter and sweet potato crackers.

Today we are headed to tiny Clark Island, another of the outside islands in the San Juans.  We are looking forward to meeting with Walt and Odile on their aluminum sailboat B Mondo.  They have been with us off and on during our sailing escapades, teaching us the ropes and sharing some of their favorite spots with us up in the Salish Sea and the outside of Vancouver Island.  After they arrive and anchor we tie up to B Mondo.  Lots of great visiting and catching up to do.

The next morning we pull anchor and go in search of anchorage along Cypress Island.  After looking at many we settle into a small nook on the northeast side.  Carl and Odile quickly depart for fishing, Carl in ET and Odile in her kayak.  While they are peacefully exploring and fishing Pam looks up to see one of the large Washington state ferry boats plowing through the very small passage.  We have looked and decided that there are no ferry routes anywhere close and decide that he must have been lost.  It certainly gave some of us a few moments of concern to see such a large vessel going at such a high speed through the small passage with Carl and Odile on their small craft.  Thankfully no huge wakes caused any problems.  

Over 90% of Cypress Island is protected from development.  An earlier attempt at developing a mega resort has left a series of very old overgrown roads that now make great hiking trails.  Pam, Odile and Carl enjoy a nice hike through the forest, past Duck Lake and back to the boats.

The next morning our normal process of untying from each other’s boats and safely separating goes awry.  Before we are quite ready B Mondo’s anchor comes loose and we are quickly drifting towards the rocks.  Waves crashing, boats thrashing, teeth gnashing…..but everyone does what they need to and we safely separate.  The two boats, still tied together but adrift are expertly skippered by Carl and Walt, synchronized skippering at its best.  Odile and Pam work to get the three ropes undone, Carl maneuvers our 20,000+ pound behemoth out from between 13,000 pound B Mondo and the rocks and we give B Mondo as much room as we can so Odile can pull anchor.  Thank goodness for cool heads and some common sense.  The only thing we can think of as we rehash this is that the anchor chain must have somehow wrapped around a rock and popped off at just the wrong time.  Off to Lopez Island we go.

Enroute to Lopez we share little Peavine Pass with the beautiful 133’ schooner Adventuress that we first saw in Deer Harbor.  We put in at Swift’s Bay NE corner of Lopez and set about to our boat chores and another lovely evening dining in the cockpit.  Walt has introduced us to the card game “Golf” and we play nine holes before turning in.  Pam, Carl and Odile try their hands at clamming the next morning only finding a few horse clams for bait.  The hike to the spit is spoiled when what must be nearly inevitable if you boat and carry a cell phone happens……Pam determines that she has lost her cell phone to the briny deep somewhere along the way.  Most likely it was after she waded out to the dinghy and was trying to shake all of the seaweed off of her shoes before hoisting herself into the dinghy.  The only real loss is some of the photos but thank goodness for Google Drive which has backed up most all of the photos as we go.

Pulling anchor we head for Fisherman’s Bay to pump out both boats.  The entrance to Fisherman’s Bay is a well marked, narrow, shallow, picturesque channel that has only 5’ of water at a zero tide.  We enter with a few feet of tide under our keel and only a couple of times see depths on the sounder that indicate that we could very easily go aground.  The dock hand cheerfully brings their portable pump out to the breakwater dock and we are quickly back on our way.  

Today Carl and Pam will anchor and Walt and Odile will tie up so they can spend their day in paradise working on their anchor well and chain.  Our destination, Griffin Bay on the south end of San Juan Island.  Entire books have been written about the history of San Juan Island including English Camp, American Camp and Cattle Pass.  At Griffin Bay we are just off of American Camp.  Our scenic hike however takes us up Mount Finlayson out towards Cattle Point Light House and back along the shore in the area of the lagoons.  Our history lessons will be for another trip.  Another nine rounds of Golf after a fine dinner and we end another day.

August 18th we make our jump back across the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  We take Cattle Passage on the end of the ebb tide sharing this passage with Adventuress as well.  We have a banner day crossing the Strait, NO fog, NO large container traffic in the fog and enough breeze to set the sails on one long tack across the Strait, right into Discovery Bay and our anchorage for the night.  Dinghy deployed Pam, Carl and Odile take off for an evening of squid jigging off the dock.  Odile is looking forward to this new to her form of fishing and Carl is happy to have found someone else to squid jig with.  They catch quite a few and Pam enjoys her book and listening to the banter of the fisher folk along the dock while Walt enjoys the solitude of two boats anchored out under a full moon in Discovery Bay.  Under a full moon at 11:00 PM we dinghy back to the boats.