Family Favorite
Day 25 & 26 – We left Roche to time our arrival at Jones Island for 11:00 – 11:30. We figure this is about the best time to get a spot in those crowed anchorages. Jones Island isn’t crowded so much as it’s just super small. This is one of our favorite spots in the San Juan’s but it’s hard to find space. We wanted dock space but there’s only room for about 4 boats on the dock. Pulling in we could see the dock was full, so we hovered around for a while hoping someone would leave or tell us they were leaving soon. No such luck, so we moved on through the rain squalls to Sucia Island, Shallow Bay.
There’s no dock in Shallow Bay but we were able to snag the last mooring buoy. This bay has absolutely the best sunset view in all of the San Juan’s. This island is our family favorite. We figured we’d spend 2 nights here then head south to LaConner for some repair on our boat. After lunch we cruised off in the dinghy to a little islet off Sucia called Little Sucia. Exploring the island we started walking along the beach getting further and further away from the dinghy. Soon we figured it would be faster to just keep going around the whole island than turn back but we were not sure if that was possible. It got a little dicey with the rising tide be we made it. It was a real adventure!
After dinner the weather really improved. We cruised the dinghy all the way over to Fossil bay then slowly back during the incredible sunset.
The next day it was time for long hike. We packed the backpack, anchored the dinghy in a rising tide and set off on a beautiful trail. It was about a 4 mile hike along the waters edge then through the mid island forest. We all had a great time getting some exercise.
After dinner we packed up the dinghy with everything we needed to build a fire, roast marshmallows and cook the crab. The crab we caught at Roche have been in their jail for the last 2 days. The jail is a 5-gallon bucket with lots of holes drilled in it and a lid. You tie a rope to the handle and lower them down in the water to keep them alive.
Skylar and I got to the beach and found a nice campsite to build the fire. We gathered and chopped some wood, got the crab cooking and got the fire going. After everything was rolling, Julie and Ava kayaked in to take advantage of our labor. As the sun went down the moon came up. It was the brightest, largest moon we have ever seen, it was absolutely incredible. The pictures do nothing for what it really looked like. The fire was great, crab awesome and fun to see the kids having so much fun in the outdoors. Ava was crazed for finding firewood. You would have thought she was in a survival situation with the way she searched all night for firewood. She loved the hunt!
