SATURDAY June 27th– Moring we woke up and prepped the boat to take off.  Not sure of our exact destination but it was time for a more seclusion.  We headed south along the east side of San Juan Island then across the north end of Lopez to Spencer Spit.  After we tied up to a buoy we headed for shore in the dinghy to explore the narrow sand spit.

There was this crazy bird on the beach screeching at us as we walked along.  We couldn’t figure out what it was doing until we noticed a tiny nest right in the sand where everyone walks.  It was a really bad place to put her nest but four cute little eggs filled it up.  All the squawking was because she didn’t want four cute little crushed eggs.

We let Skylar take the dinghy out by himself.  He had a blast, cruising around for quite a while making big circles.  As the sun went down we went back to the beach for some paddleball and beachcombing.

THURSDAY & FRIDAY June 25th & 26th – The next two nights were spent relaxing at Roche Harbor.  We all had a great time (the kids did not want to leave) eating out, swimming in the pool and walking the docks looking at all the boats.  We gave the boat a good cleaning inside and out and performed some maintenance items.  The Tolly Craft rendezvous was going on so it was fun looking at all the restored old Tollys.  We went on a fun 3.91-mile loop walk along Garrison Bay.  Along the way is a cool little distillery called San Juan Island Distillery.  They make hard cider using apples from their own orchard.  Some of it they sell and some they distill to make Gin and other spirits.

The weather this whole trip so far has been awesome – 70-80 degrees everyday and lots of sunshine.  We still can’t believe it’s the end of June.

WEDNESDAY June 24th – Time to Explore Little Sucia before heading off to Roche Harbor.

Fox Cove is one of our favorites because a tiny island called Little Sucia forms part of the cove.  We love exploring Little Sucia because not many people venture out there.  There’s always some treasure to find and this time Little Sucia gave us a piece of wood that looks just like a whale, as long as we can find the perfect tail. 

We cast off bound for Roche Harbor when in the distance we could see another American Tug just off the North end of Orcas Island.  Through the binoculars it looked like they were just floating along.  Then behind the boat it looked like I could see smoke.  After a second confirming look I gave the binoculars to Julie to see if I was crazy.  It was kind of hard to tell but she thought so as well.  We made a rapid course change and headed for the boat.  As we arrived the Skipper came out and let us know they had a fire onboard.  Their alternator had burned up and caught on fire but luckily did not cause much damage and quickly went out.  The engine however was now dead and could not be restarted.  He was on a fairly slow drift, headed for open water.  We stayed with the disabled boat for a while until they had an ETA from Vessel Assist.  The skipper then told us he felt like he was in no danger and was comfortable with us leaving.  We carried on to Roche Harbor happy we could provide help if needed.

We arrived in Roche Harbor and immediately filled up with water so we could all take showers.  We had a great dinner out at the Madrona Grill, then came back to the boat for an early night to bed.