SUNDAY – Fathers Day! The wind whipped up the next morning blowing 15-20 out of the northeast directly into the cove we thought we were nestled in.  At about 9:30am after getting rocked around for a while we decided to make a short run across to Sucia Island’s Ewing Cove that seemed to be more protected from the wind.  We loaded everything up but decided just to tow the dinghy for the short almost 2nm run. 

Getting into Ewing cove is a little tricky so while I was concentrated on finding the best route the kids of course couldn’t stop asking questions about all the fun things we were going to do today.  Tying up to a buoy in 15-20 knots of wind can be a challenge but luckily Julie and I had no issue.  Every time we get to a new spot Skylar feels like he is going to die if he doesn’t start fishing the minute we get there.  Even before we were fully tied up Skylar had his pole in the water.

As Julie and I come back from the bow of the boat I notice our dinghy floating a little further back than the towline allows.  We race to the stern only to watch as our dinghy is bing ripped across the water in the raging wind, tow line trailing behind.  SKYLAR, what happened?  Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I don’t know!  With the big boat secured to the buoy the only way to catch the dinghy is with the kayak, the one tied to the top of our pilothouse.  We all worked together getting the kayak down as our dinghy narrowly misses the boat behind us and careens toward a reef a few hundred yards away.  I was finally able to jump in the kayak and paddle as fast as I could toward the dinghy.  About half way there I notice a tour boat full of people watching the train wreck, pointing and taking pictures.  No time to care, I got to the dinghy and hoped in just before the reef.  Motoring back in shame towing the kayak Julie took pictures right along with the tourist.

With an eventful start to Fathers Day behind us, we decided to leave the boat in the wind and go for a hike.  We had a nice 3-mile hike all the way to Echo bay and back.  Ava complains at first but then kicks it into gear to make it happen.

That evening the wind died down so Skylar decides to pitch his tent on top of the boat.  He has the first of 2 tent poles in when the next one slips out of his had and torpedos of the side into the water.  With another look of  “what just happened” on his face, he looses another important item to the sea.  No tent tonight and unfortunately for the rest of the trip.

SATURDAY June 20th – We all slept in the next morning until about 8:30 (very late for our family) then fired up the generator so we could make some hot water.  A few minutes in, the generator suddenly stopped. Not good.  Generators have safety controls built in that will shut the engine down should there be a problem.  After 10 minutes or so I fired it back up to find raw water not flowing to the engine.  The engine was getting too hot and automatically shut down.  I took apart the raw water pump and found the impeller in bad shape – so much for the diesel mechanic that said it was in good condition a month ago.  Luckily I had a spare so I was able to put a new one in and get everything going again.  Always a fun adventure on a boat, but there’s something so gratifying about fixing your broken boat yourself while anchored far from any services!  It pays to be prepared.

We all went to shore for a hike and relaxing on the beach.  We met some campers with a double kayak and they asked Skylar if he wanted to paddle around the island.  He was excited and had a lot of fun while the rest of us played paddleball on the beach and searched for treasures.  Ava is starting an interesting junk collection of things she finds on the beach.

Skylar got his tent all setup at a campsite for a night alone on the island.  I still can’t believe at 13 years old he loves to do this all by himself, but I think it’s awesome.  Skylar and I went fishing that evening and we watched the sunset over Sucia Island.  A beautiful night.

FRIDAY  June 19^th –  Our cruising plans this summer have us spending most of August in Desolation Sound – about 220mi north of Tacoma.  The kids have been begging to go back since we were last there the summer before last.  The plan is to spend 3 long travel days getting there so we can maximize our time up north.  Now, with the kids just out of school we decided to take a quick 12-day trip to the San Juan’s since we will be skipping by there later this summer.

Thursday June 18^th we spent the day at home doing final preparations for the trip.  We figured we would spend tonight on the boat in Tacoma so we could get an early start tomorrow.  By the time everything was packed and ready to go it was 10:30pm.

4:00am my alarm goes off.  I feel miserable but drag myself to the galley to make some coffee. Luckily and unexpectedly Julie gets up with me.  We shove off at 4:25am, coffee in hand and well before the sun peaks over the horizon.

I absolutely love early morning departures but this time I was so tired I could barely stay awake.  Julie felt the same way so after a couple hours she went back to sleep!

We were planning on a really long run today.  We figured we might as well bust out an all day run to Matia or Sucia Island 100 miles north of Tacoma.  We had a beautiful calm run up the inside of Whidbey Island, through the Swinomish Channel, past Anacortes and through the San Juan’s to Matia Island.  Matia is one of the most north islands in the group.

At 3:10pm and 10 hours 42 minutes run time we arrived to find the lone buoy in Matia’s Rolfe Cove available for us to snag.   As tired as we were we knew the kids had to run, so we took the dinghy to shore for a little hike around the island.  Dinner and bed could not have come sooner!