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| Mt. Baker in the background |
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| Patches of fog on our way back to La Conner |
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
The last leg of our trip back to Shelter Bay
Aug. 27th - Home!!!
Well, I wasn't planning on blogging today but... It was almost 66 when I got up about 7:00 this morning & another sunny day.
Mr. Cat decided to wake us up at 5:00 this morning. After listening to him meowing forever, Rod finally got up. He usually feeds him at 6:00 & thought he was out of food because he does let us know if he has an empty bowl. That was not the case today...he did have food so he was NOT in our/Rod's good graces. I always try to go back to sleep but once Rod is up he's up.
Then as I was sitting in the salon having my first cup of coffee, we heard the swallows chirping. They started flying by the windows & our poor, old, arthritic kitty was standing on his hind legs with paws on the window trying to watch them. He was chattering & I'm sure he was thinking he was going to catch & eat one!!! That all lasted about 5 min. It was quite entertaining. Then, of course, he needed to take a nap to recover.
We left Henry at 7:45. It's usually about 5-1/2 hours to home. When we got to Rosario Straits, it was very foggy. The Captain put on the radar, but the biggest problem was that we were also going into the sun, so he couldn't see his navagational screens. Those were adjusted so they were turned sideways & that did the trick. When we got into the fog, it was actually above the water which made it much easier to see things on the water, boats included. There was quite a bit of ferry action before we got into the straits so the Captain was also adjusting our position to get out of their way! For awhile the fog lifted, but then we were in it again, with the fog horn on as well. We could only see the water right around the boat but the radar alerted the Captain about other boats coming towards us. We were out of the fog by 10:00 & had a beautiful view of Mt. Baker. Winds got up to 20 knots, but did not affect us.
As we were approaching the La Conner channel, there were many seals sunning on the sand bars on one side & birds, herons, sea gulls, etc. on the other side. I am sure they were all there to welcome us home.
We arrived home at 12:30. I managed to get on the dock from our swim step, as Finch's boat is getting some work done on it. That gave us the whole dock to maneuver in, which was great! Tide was out & our ramp is very steep going up so I decided to have lunch on the boat & start taking things off the boat once the tide comes in. That might include Mr. C. It's been a super summer!!!
Mr. Cat decided to wake us up at 5:00 this morning. After listening to him meowing forever, Rod finally got up. He usually feeds him at 6:00 & thought he was out of food because he does let us know if he has an empty bowl. That was not the case today...he did have food so he was NOT in our/Rod's good graces. I always try to go back to sleep but once Rod is up he's up.
Then as I was sitting in the salon having my first cup of coffee, we heard the swallows chirping. They started flying by the windows & our poor, old, arthritic kitty was standing on his hind legs with paws on the window trying to watch them. He was chattering & I'm sure he was thinking he was going to catch & eat one!!! That all lasted about 5 min. It was quite entertaining. Then, of course, he needed to take a nap to recover.
We left Henry at 7:45. It's usually about 5-1/2 hours to home. When we got to Rosario Straits, it was very foggy. The Captain put on the radar, but the biggest problem was that we were also going into the sun, so he couldn't see his navagational screens. Those were adjusted so they were turned sideways & that did the trick. When we got into the fog, it was actually above the water which made it much easier to see things on the water, boats included. There was quite a bit of ferry action before we got into the straits so the Captain was also adjusting our position to get out of their way! For awhile the fog lifted, but then we were in it again, with the fog horn on as well. We could only see the water right around the boat but the radar alerted the Captain about other boats coming towards us. We were out of the fog by 10:00 & had a beautiful view of Mt. Baker. Winds got up to 20 knots, but did not affect us.
As we were approaching the La Conner channel, there were many seals sunning on the sand bars on one side & birds, herons, sea gulls, etc. on the other side. I am sure they were all there to welcome us home.
We arrived home at 12:30. I managed to get on the dock from our swim step, as Finch's boat is getting some work done on it. That gave us the whole dock to maneuver in, which was great! Tide was out & our ramp is very steep going up so I decided to have lunch on the boat & start taking things off the boat once the tide comes in. That might include Mr. C. It's been a super summer!!!
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Aug. 26th - SYC Henry Island
Woke up this morning to another beautiful day! We went over to Roche Harbor by dinghy for lunch (cod fish & chips) & looked at the stores (3) while we were there. After we got back, Rod got a call from Dale Henley who invited us over to their house for drinks & appetizers at 4:30. 2 other couples at the outstation are going as well.
Until then, I did some reading up on the flybridge. It got up to 78' today - a gorgeous day for our last stop for the summer!!! Tomorrow we are heading back to Shelter Bay.
We had a great time at Dale & Nancy's. Rod knew both of the other couples. We had a variety of cheeses, smoked salmon, guacamole & wine. They have such a beautiful property - they have 26 acres & much of it is beautiful gardens that Nancy has planted over the years. I got to ride in Dale's John Deere Gator from the dock to their house as my limp is getting worse. Everyone else walked up & took a tour with Nancy. It was still 73 when we got back around 7:30.
The outstation was full both yesterday & today, even though boats came & went. The caretaker came down & asked us & other boats to put fenders out in case anyone else came in & wanted to raft. We did before we left but no one ended up coming in after we left to go to Dale's.
It's been a great boating summer - sad to see it end. But...we have one more trip with the Shelter Bay Yacht Club to Sucia in 2 weeks to look forward to.
Until then, I did some reading up on the flybridge. It got up to 78' today - a gorgeous day for our last stop for the summer!!! Tomorrow we are heading back to Shelter Bay.
We had a great time at Dale & Nancy's. Rod knew both of the other couples. We had a variety of cheeses, smoked salmon, guacamole & wine. They have such a beautiful property - they have 26 acres & much of it is beautiful gardens that Nancy has planted over the years. I got to ride in Dale's John Deere Gator from the dock to their house as my limp is getting worse. Everyone else walked up & took a tour with Nancy. It was still 73 when we got back around 7:30.
The outstation was full both yesterday & today, even though boats came & went. The caretaker came down & asked us & other boats to put fenders out in case anyone else came in & wanted to raft. We did before we left but no one ended up coming in after we left to go to Dale's.
It's been a great boating summer - sad to see it end. But...we have one more trip with the Shelter Bay Yacht Club to Sucia in 2 weeks to look forward to.
Otter Bay and Henry Island
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| Canadian Grand Banks moored off Otter Bay Marina (note interesting flora) |
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| Sailboat at sunrise off Henry Island |
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| Early morning looking North from Henry Island |
Monday, August 25, 2014
Aug. 25th - SYC Henry Island (by Roche Harbor)
We woke up this morning to fog that burned off by 7:30 - another beautiful day! It was in the high 50's & as soon as the fog burned off it shot into the 70's. It was 75 at 8:30!
Rod called Customs to clear through the US border with our Nexus cards, from the marina. That is such a great way to cross both the Canadian & US borders. Not to mention the fact that we can use it at most airports now & to go through customs when travelling abroad.
We left the marina at 9:00 - there was a sail boat behind us that left around 7:30 & we needed that extra room to get off the dock as we couldn't go forward. Another GB tried to come in as soon as that boat left but decided to tie to a buoy until we left. Good decision as it would have been almost impossible for us to leave with them there. They came into the dock as soon as we left. It was a Canadian boat with palm trees on the flybridge, hanging pots everywhere & a lot of seaweed hanging from their anchor. Rod took some pictures, hopefully they turned out as he was looking into the sun.
Our next door neighbors in Shelter Bay (Nancy Graham & Dale Henley) have a beautiful place on Henry Island where the SYC outstation is. I emailed Nancy yesterday & they are both there so we hope to see them. We got to see their place when Heather & the granddaughters were here in June when we went to Henry for a short boat trip during the week they were here.
Arrived at 11:00 & it was 72'. The outstation was full by evening.
Nancy & Dale came over for happy hour (which turned into our dinner). It was a beautiful evening & we sat up on the flybridge. We had crab that they brought (& caught), brie cheese with a fig jam on top, artichoke antipasto, a tomato brushetta, salmon candy & a red pinot noir wine that Dale brought (he & Rod drank that) & white wine.
Rod called Customs to clear through the US border with our Nexus cards, from the marina. That is such a great way to cross both the Canadian & US borders. Not to mention the fact that we can use it at most airports now & to go through customs when travelling abroad.
We left the marina at 9:00 - there was a sail boat behind us that left around 7:30 & we needed that extra room to get off the dock as we couldn't go forward. Another GB tried to come in as soon as that boat left but decided to tie to a buoy until we left. Good decision as it would have been almost impossible for us to leave with them there. They came into the dock as soon as we left. It was a Canadian boat with palm trees on the flybridge, hanging pots everywhere & a lot of seaweed hanging from their anchor. Rod took some pictures, hopefully they turned out as he was looking into the sun.
Our next door neighbors in Shelter Bay (Nancy Graham & Dale Henley) have a beautiful place on Henry Island where the SYC outstation is. I emailed Nancy yesterday & they are both there so we hope to see them. We got to see their place when Heather & the granddaughters were here in June when we went to Henry for a short boat trip during the week they were here.
Arrived at 11:00 & it was 72'. The outstation was full by evening.
Nancy & Dale came over for happy hour (which turned into our dinner). It was a beautiful evening & we sat up on the flybridge. We had crab that they brought (& caught), brie cheese with a fig jam on top, artichoke antipasto, a tomato brushetta, salmon candy & a red pinot noir wine that Dale brought (he & Rod drank that) & white wine.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Aug. 24th - Otter Bay Marina
This morning we woke up to a beautiful day - 62 at 7:30. Rod made our corned beef hash from Market House Meats with eggs for breakfast.
We left Ganges at 10:45, heading for Otter Bay. We've never stopped there & heard good things about it. It sounds like a great stop for the grandkids so we'll check it out. Our Shelter Bay Yacht Club has gone there on some of their cruises which we always miss because we head north for the summer.
We arrived at noon & it was 71 degrees. We walked around & think this is a fun place. There are many places to sit & look out at the bay. They have 2 pools - one for families & 1 for adults, a little playground & small restaurant & grocery store.
We're docked on the outside of the marina so the Lido deck will be our first choice for seating!
Sat up on the flybridge reading - forgot to check the temperature but think it was mid- high 70's. Rod came up just before happy hour to do cross word puzzles.
Happy hour was Jon's smoked salmon, cream cheese & capers with pinot grigio for me & scotch for Rod. We heard people talking about whales & saw 3 orcas with the binoculars from our flybridge. Most people had to go to a great viewing area at the marina (with cocktails, cameras, binocular & dogs), by our boat. There are several ferries going by during the day & one was waiting while the whales were going by...maybe they have rules about that. We saw a whale watching boat stopping to watch the whales too.
Dinner was barbequed chicken & jasmine rice. We definitely enjoyed being here.
We left Ganges at 10:45, heading for Otter Bay. We've never stopped there & heard good things about it. It sounds like a great stop for the grandkids so we'll check it out. Our Shelter Bay Yacht Club has gone there on some of their cruises which we always miss because we head north for the summer.
We arrived at noon & it was 71 degrees. We walked around & think this is a fun place. There are many places to sit & look out at the bay. They have 2 pools - one for families & 1 for adults, a little playground & small restaurant & grocery store.
We're docked on the outside of the marina so the Lido deck will be our first choice for seating!
Sat up on the flybridge reading - forgot to check the temperature but think it was mid- high 70's. Rod came up just before happy hour to do cross word puzzles.
Happy hour was Jon's smoked salmon, cream cheese & capers with pinot grigio for me & scotch for Rod. We heard people talking about whales & saw 3 orcas with the binoculars from our flybridge. Most people had to go to a great viewing area at the marina (with cocktails, cameras, binocular & dogs), by our boat. There are several ferries going by during the day & one was waiting while the whales were going by...maybe they have rules about that. We saw a whale watching boat stopping to watch the whales too.
Dinner was barbequed chicken & jasmine rice. We definitely enjoyed being here.
Otter Bay Marina
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| Lots of boats at the marina |
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| Lynn enjoys a drink on the Lido Deck of Lady Lynn |
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| Kayaker's heading out into the sunset |
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| More marina views showing cabins in the background |
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| Nice day in Otter Bay |
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