San Juan Islands 2013 - Days 6 & 7 & headed home.

Thursday, August 1st found us along side the dock in Roche Harbor.  Bill had mentioned wanting bacon for breakfast so we went to the restaurant at the head of the dock.  The lines out the door were a hint that we'd chosen the right place.  Awesome bacon and the pancakes were really good too. 

After breakfast Scott S left, headed for Cypress Island and eventually back to Bellingham; he checked in via radio later as he was entering Pole Pass.  We followed Bill & Sue out of the marina, then led the way to Speiden Channel.  Scott Reed left sometime after we did(!) 

The wind was blowing nicely so we raised the main and motor sailed down the channel.  The closer we got to San Juan Channel the stronger the wind and the larger the waves, even with the reef in we were getting pounded.  We were beating directly into the wind after we made the turn toward Friday Harbor so we dropped the main and just motored our way there.  The wind was still howling but at least there was less fetch so the waves were smaller.

We got to Friday Harbor in the early afternoon; Lou and Rochelle met us outside the entrance to the marina, then went off to anchor.   Our slips were ready so we went to tie up.  We had a bit of an issue getting tied off, as the girl on the dock wasn't able to catch the (tangled) bow line and we nearly ended up running into Windsong who docked at the same time.  No harm no foul, though so it was all good.

Deborah and I went into town to get lunch and ice.  We saw Bill and Sue headed out for a geocache while we were eating at Blue Water Bar & Grill.  After lunch we walked up the hill and Deborah bought some supplies at the lavender shop, then we went to the grocery store to get ice and supplies.

Scott Reed came in a while after we got back.  Things were just getting started for Happy Hour on Windsong when Lou and Rochelle portaged their dinghy across the dock and joined us.  7 people in a Capri cockpit is tight but do-able. 

I wanted to go see Captain Jim while we were in Friday Harbor so I walked over and hailed Wild Blue.  I've been talking to him on the Trailer Sailor bbs for a couple years.  He and Joan come up from Texas and work for one of the whale watch operations during the summer.  They already had a guest, the managing editor of the Waggoner Guide who'd just finished a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island in a C Dory 22 (I thought a Catalina 22 at the time).  After visiting for a bit I returned to Windsong for more snacks & visiting.

Friday, August 2nd.  Cloudy with a forecast of 10-20 knots, 1-3 foot seas and rain.  Not really what I was hoping for with a long run from Friday Harbor to Anacortes.  Worst case, we could sit out the weather at Spencer Spit if Rosario Strait was too bad.

We got an early-ish start, leaving Friday Harbor between 8:30 and 9:00 am.  That put us on target for relatively light currents through Upright Channel and hopefully across Rosario Strait.  This time it was Bill & Sue, Scott Reed and us.  About 15 minutes out Scott's motor conked out but he quickly figured out that he'd been running on the internal tank.  Whew.

There was a bit of wind so we motor sailed through Upright Channel with a bit of push from the current. 

Then it started raining . . .

Once we got around Upright Head we dropped the main; the wind was going light and I wanted it down in case the 20 knots materialized in the Strait. We managed to avoid the ferries going through Thatcher Pass and motored into Rosario Strait.  Nothing else going on there, though, except the rain and Navy fighters flying just above the clouds.  Noisy!  No wind and maybe a knot of current pushing us north.  Super!

The run across the Strait was pretty uneventful.  The current was really running through Guemes Channel and we hit over 7 knots on 1/2 throttle!   We went around the point and I called Cap Sante for our slip assignments.  That was when the fun started. 

The radio was busy with 3 or 4 boats arriving at the same time we did.  First, they couldn't find Bill & Sue and Scott's reservations.  Since I made them all together it shouldn't have been hard.  We had a slip, though, so I said I'd dock and walk up to the marina office to work it out.  Except there was a boat in my slip. Just like several other folks had reported.  Luckily Jim Lee had let me know that the Left Coast Dart was out of town and his slip was available.  We docked in his slip and I headed to the office.  Scott found his reservation and let me know what his number was.

The office was mayhem.  They were finally able to locate the reservations for Bill and Scott and I relayed the info.  Ha.  I'd barely made it 30 yards from the office than Scott radioed that both of their slips had boats in them.  Back to the office.  End result was that we stayed in Jim's slip on J dock, Bill & Sue were sent to C or D dock, and Scott got to share a slip with a power boat on G dock.  Apparently they had 4 boats that were supposed to leave that had mechanical failures and were unable to do so.  Later on Bill & Sue moved to the end of J so we were at least close.

After everyone was settled in their overnight locations Bill and I helped Scott lower his mast for an early-morning departure.  Then we walked down to Pier 61 where Bill & Scott treated us to a very nice farewell dinner.    

Saturday, August 3rd, we started prepping the boats for retrieval.  We got things organized then motored over to the "loading zone" by the lift.  I went and got  the truck (it wasn't blocked in!) while Deborah started putting boxes on the dock.  We got everything off that we could, then I shoved the main, still on the boom, into the cabin.  Bill and Sue pulled Windsong while we were ferrying stuff to the truck.  They got the boat settled then met us at the small boat hoist and helped drop the mast. 

Dropping the mast turned out to be more of an adventure than I expected.  First we couldn't find our way there - there was a covered slip hiding the dock.  Then we put the 50 pound ball and cable from the crane on the wrong side of the mast.  My windex may never recover from the thrashing it got.  In the end we were able to get things sorted out and the mast came right down.  Way safer than the ginpole.  I think.  :)

Once the mast was down we motored back to the lift and practically right onto the sling.  I went to hook up the trailer while the attendant got Verboten ready to lift.  After a 1 inch adjustment she was exactly where we wanted her.  We strapped everything down, said bye to Bill and Sue, and were ready to go in about an hour. Record time to get road-ready.

The drive home was much better than the drive up.  Not nearly as much traffic, though there were a couple bottlenecks.  About 7 hours total with stops.