Final Days

Tuesday August 28th – We abandoned the big city for 2 more nights in the wilderness. Leaving Seattle, we headed for Blake Island just a short distance away.

It was nice to get back to the outdoors for the last part of our trip. Actually, it’s a tradition. We always leave Seattle after school shopping and stay a couple nights at Blake before heading home.

After arriving in a snug little spot on the dock we hung out watching all the boats come and go. We spent the next couple days just relaxing on the beach, doing some fishing and prepping the boat for our arrival home. But of course, Blake wouldn’t be complete without our annual hike all the way around the island which is about 5 miles.

Thursday August 30th – After 53 days on the boat it was time to go home. You get used to it. It becomes your home, like everyday life with lots of chores and things to fix. None of us really wanted to go home, I felt like it would be so easy to just point the bow north again and stay out for a few more weeks. But those pesky kids have to start school. Speaking of pesky kids, I can’t say enough how difficult and rewarding it is to be stuck on a boat with your kids for 53 days. It creates a bond that’s hard to achieve when at home everyone does their own thing. Julie and I wouldn’t trade it for anything and amazingly the kids feel the same way, at least most of the time!




The City

Friday August 24th – We left Roche and headed south again across the Strait of Juan De Fuca. It was a beautiful crossing in what can be a nasty piece of water. Our destination today is Seattle’s Bell Harbor for 4 nights.

But first we stopped by Port Townsand’s Fort Warden state park and had some fun playing on the beach. Then we were off, motoring south for a nice cruise through Admiralty Inlet.

The goal in Seattle is to have some fun but also get some school clothes shopping done. By the time we get home school will start in just a couple days and we won’t have much time to get the kids ready.

Skylar loves this company called Evo. It’s a mostly online, outdoor equipment company that sells a lot of skiing stuff. They have one retail outlet that we found in the Ballard area and Skylar just had to go. It was a great store and we actually found some nice school clothes for Skylar.

Our friends Todd & Tami who left us to head home when we were up in Desolation Sound found their way back to Seattle to meet up with us for a couple days. The 8 of us walked south to the tallest building this side of the Mississippi. Ok maybe not now, but in 1914 when the Smith Tower was built it held that title. We all had a lot of fun exploring the old building that has been beautifully maintained and lunch at the top was fantastic!




The Sea Lion

Tuesday August 21st – The anchor came up off the Canadian sea floor and locked into place on the boat. Free to put the engine in gear now we pointed our bow toward the US and crossed Haro Strait. After clearing customs in Roche Harbor, we made our way to our assigned slip for the next 3 nights.

Skylar and I went hiking and fly fishing in the nasty little ponds above the harbor but didn’t catch a thing. Then we all tried some salmon fishing just outside of Mosquito Pass but once again we struck out. The smoke continued to be super thick and was now getting extremely annoying. Not only did it make you feel terrible, but all the beautiful scenery and sunsets were blocked by a blanket of smoke.

Sometimes at Roche yacht brokers will have boats open for you to tour. One such boat was the “Sea Lion” a beastly boat stretching 70 feet long and what seemed like almost as tall. Built in the 80’s with a complete interior remodel a few years ago it was a really cool boat that made you feel like you could go anywhere and do anything. Skylar and Ava loved it. They wouldn’t quit talking about it. Trying unsuccessfully to get us to buy it they devised an elaborate dreamy plan to buy it themselves and live on it together. They talked about it for days.