Logbook Days 28, 29,
30, 31, 32, 33, & 34
8/9/2003 - 8/15/2003
San Juans
MacGregor26x.com
Rendezvous!
8/9/2003
Cornet Bay
We left a day early for the San Juan Rendezvous I had
spent the spring coordinating.
Rather than launching in Everett we decided to trailer up to Cornet Bay
were everyone else was launching.
When we arrived at the park there was a huge "Latitudes and Attitudes"
party going on. They were rafted 3 deep on the floats and the
music was pumping out. After setup, we launched and went around to
Cornet Bay Marina where they found a slip for us.
The kids fished
and tried out the new crab snares. We had the usual Weanies and
Beanies for dinner. It was a quiet calm night. We finished
the setup of the canvas and Nick slept in the cockpit, Mike to starboard
and Sam to port in the aft berth. Bags down the center kept
everyone apart. Great sleeping arrangement. Used the window
covers for the vee berth with the divider panel. Very nice.
Centerboard shims seem to have reduced the noise.
8/10/2003
Cornet Bay
We woke to a calm morning with a little rain.
Other Boats began showing up to launch. We moved over to the main park
dock as the party boats headed out. We spent the afternoon
greeting and helping out with launches and finding space for everyone
at the dock. We squeezed in all the boats, 6 are in the
marina and 8 are at the park dock. We moved ours to the end of the
dock for more privacy in the evening.
8/11/2003
Cornet Bay to Blakely Island via Deception Pass
We all left Cornet bay in the morning at 9am and
headed out through Deception pass. Slack was at 9:33am. One
boat had engine problems and was not able to leave with us. We had
no problems in the pass and then headed north up the east shore of
Rosario Strait until Alan Island where we turned west to cross for Lopez
Pass. Once inside Lopez sound we raised sails and ran north until
Frost Island at 3 knots dead down wind wing on wing with the whisker
pole. We then started the motor and went north to the Blakely
Island marina entrance. The current is tricky at the entrance and
it is quite narrow.
Once inside we tied up at slip A7. We
had lunch, 15 boats in so far, 3 more to come. Mike managed to
slip into the space between the dock and the boat and got wet up to his
thighs. He also stubbed his toe badly. We had a big group
BBQ at 5:30 in the cabana. There were also many boat tours.
The final 3 boats arrived during dinner. All accounted for.
Great marina, Quiet Calm night.
8/12/2003
Blakely Island to Echo Bay, Sucia Island
We woke up late at 9:00 and everyone had a nice hot
shower. Once we filled the water and the fuel we were ready to go.
We left at 11am for Sucia Island. We went out through Pevine pass
and out into Rosario north along Orcas. Once we rounded Lawrence
point it was a north run up between Barnes and Clark. There were
lots of seals on the rocks. We proceeded up past Matia to Sucia.
We saw a Minki whale along the way. Once in Echo bay we looked to
the west area but found no buoys or good spot to anchor. We
decided to anchor in the NE corner.
I set the Bruce in 12.5' on
75' scope. There were 3 large river otters on the bluff just
behind us. We had lunch, inflated the dinghy and took the boys to
the beach. I then cleaned up the boat and rowed around talking to
the other boats as they arrived. Everyone came back from the beach
around 6pm and we had a shrimp and pasta dinner. We followed this with
'Piglets big movie' and popcorn. The harbor filled up with many
more boats. I set out a second anchor to shore to limit swinging
and because it seemed to me like the bruce had drug. We had a calm
night but there were rollers coming in from the south. The
centerboard still does clunk.
8/13/2003
Sucia Island to Roche Harbor
We woke to clear blue skies and a light wind from the
south. The schooner "Adventuress" moved closer in and anchored
just west of us. We went to the beach and found the otters just
off shore diving and eating. There were small squid in the tide
pools. We headed out at noon. We explored around Sucia
looking at all the bays for future reference. Liked Fox cove best
just inside Little Sucia. We then turned west and headed down
Presidents channel.
It was a smooth ride with a favorable current
that let us run comfortably at 10-11 knots at 3500 rpm. Things got
quite rough just off the south tip of Spiden in the channel. Once
through we went into Roche harbor. Circling by the fuel dock we
were given the outside end of slip J15. Craig Muma in the 26c have
the inside end. They fit two of our boats in the slips made for
one of the mega yachts. Drathmans are just across the dock
opposite us. We have 15 macs at the docks with one anchored out.
Nice large marina with great service and the price to go with it.
We have the party barge for a BBQ tonight. We all enjoyed watching
the flag lowering ceremony. Quiet calm night, again.
8/14/2003
Roche Harbor
Another clear day. We had breakfast at the cafe
then the boys went off with the Drathmans to swim at the pool.
Dawn and I had a nice walk around the grounds and up to the 'Art Walk'
field. We followed this up with some nice hot showers. We
then returned to the boat to relax, we met the boys on their way home
from the pool. We have decided not to go to Jones, but to stay a
second night at Roche. Frank was having trouble with his Tohatsu.
As part of the troubleshooting they managed to hand start the cold
motor. Nice to know it can be done.
The boys spent the
afternoon collecting creatures and creating an aquarium on the dock, 25
cents admission. We had the 3 Drathman boys join us for a BBQ
dinner and picnic on the dock while their parents got some time away.
We followed this with a movie night. The Drathmans returned and we
sat out in the cockpit having good conversation. It was another
quiet night. Both "Friendship" and "Oh Baby" got salmon on the
west side of San Juan Island.
8/15/2003
Roche Harbor to Cornet Bay
We left Roche harbor after filling the fuel and water
headed for Spencer Spit. In Spiden channel outside Roche we again
hit some rough water. We were motoring at 6 knots. One large
wave on the rear quarter caused a broach. Lifted the engine clear
out of the water and we heeled quite a bit to port. Once clear of
the rough water and in nearer to shore we headed down San Juan channel.
We turned west through Wasp passage under Yellow island. The way
wound into Westsound and Harvey channel then past Humphery Head and
through the narrow pass west of Frost island. The wind is up with
rain sprinkles. We found a buoy at Spencer and almost stayed, but
we then decided to go back inside as it looked like the weather would
get worse. We went out through Thatcher pass and south west of
James Is. then across Rosario to Allen Is.
We had to dodge many
fishing nets on the way to Deception pass. We topped up the fuel
from our spare can before entering the pass. Deception was running
at max flood current of 7 knots according to the table. We
proceeded in dodging around the whirlpools which the boys loved.
Inside we tied up to the park dock.
We were getting ready to pack
up to leave when Dawn decided she wasn't ready to go yet. Instead
we headed out and went over to the north side of Hope Island, I
set two anchors as there were no buoys. The wind is up over 25
knots and we are dragging some. This convinced us it was time to
go. Dawn took the boys to beach while
I packed the boat for pullout. When we had dragged as close to the
boat behind as I wanted to be I got everyone back from shore and we
pulled the anchors and headed back to the ramp. Dawn drove through
the driving spray back around the point. We pulled the boat out,
tore down and headed for home.
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