Sunday August 27th – On the way back south from every summer boat trip we have made it a tradition to spend a few nights in Seattle for some school clothes shopping.

We had a nice cruise south from Port Townsand to Seattle’s Bell Harbor where we arrived to a boat occupying the slip we were assigned. After getting situated in a different slip we left the boat for the big city. We spent the next couple days having nice dinners out at all our favorite places and lots of shopping for the kids.

Tuesday August 29th – Our last day in Seattle I devised a plan for a dinghy adventure. Julie thought I was a little nuts but the plan went like this. All 4 of us would take the dinghy out of Bell Harbor, into Elliot Bay and head north to the entrance of the locks. The locks lead you from Puget Sound to Lake Union. I thought it would be fun to take our little 13′ dinghy through the locks and I wanted to go to Fisheries Supply and have lunch somewhere on the lake.

We took off cruising like a little speck in the open Elliot Bay then stopped at the Elliot Bay Marina to top off the fuel tank. Cruising around West Point things got a little rough. We continued on, but it made me a little worried about our return where we would be headed into the waves rather than going with them. As we headed into Shilshole Bay a huge salmon jumped right in front of us. We stopped for a while and fished but no bites.

We kept on to the locks, but the trek took quite a bit longer than expected and we still had quite a way to go after getting through the locks. After waiting for about an hour for the locks to open our direction, we piled in with all the boats towering above our little dinghy. Up we went to the lake level then the gates opened flowing us into the fresh water.

The canal getting to Lake Union and the lake itself is a no wake zone. So, we had to slowly motor along all the while the passengers were getting more and more restless and cranky. Hot sun, no food, and the trip taking about 3 times longer than expected didn’t help. We were not prepared. I had severely underestimated the time it would take, and Julie was now giving me the evil eye knowing that as far as we had come we still had to go back. “Isn’t this fun” I said, “look at all the boats”. The heat was getting to them, no response.

We finally made it to Chandlers Crab House where we revived ourselves with some food and beer for the adults. All Ava wanted to do is see the crab boats from Deadliest Catch, so we got back in the hot sun and at 4 knots made it to Fisherman’s Terminal. None of the boats were back from Alaska yet so another detour just caused more heat stroke. Although we did our good deed for the day by rescuing a lady’s umbrella that had blown in the water and floating away. She was very grateful and invited us to see her old Tollycraft houseboat that was all done up mid-century modern style.

After another long wait at the locks we made it back out to the Puget Sound to find calmer seas and a nice trip back to Bell Harbor. All together it was a 7-hour tour and I didn’t even make to Fisheries Supply! No one talked much, we were all exhausted from the sun. It wasn’t all that fun at the time, but it was an adventure that crated fun memories! Julie and I had a nice dinner alone that night at Etta’s.

Saturday August 26th – Today we are crossing the Strait of Juan De Fuca and making our way south to Port Townsand. Port Townsand doesn’t have a customs dock so a few days ago we requested that the local customs agent meet us at our slip at Point Hudson marina and clear us there. He had to get special authorization and request overtime because it a Saturday, lucky for us he got the go ahead.

Todd and Tami were right behind us so at least he would have two boats to clear. I called the agent on the phone just before our arrival. Just as we pulled into the marina Ava yelled out “I lost a tooth!”. If you want Ava to lose a tooth, just clear customs. This is the second time its happened. Last time I was on the radio with the customs agent when we heard the excited screaming.

After the easiest border crossing of our boating career we lowered the dinghy for a run around Point Hudson to Fort Warden park. We said our good byes to Todd and Tami as they continued on to Tacoma in time for school events starting soon. We had a great summer trip with them and their family!

Fort Warden has a nice sandy beach that we played and relaxed on for a couple hours then Julie and I abandoned the kids on the boat and went to town for a beer. The whole family had dinner at Doc’s Marina Grill that evening while we talked about all our adventures the last few weeks.

Thursday August 24th – Skylar and I started a little business where we designed and manufactured what we call the Killer Crab Knife. It’s a tool used to kill a crab just before you cook it. Our company is Scout Trading Co. check out our website. Roche Harbor has a little store that sells fishing supplies, so Skylar and I introduced ourselves to the manager. She was nice enough to buy 6 of our knives and put them for sale in the store. It was super fun getting the sale and such a great experience for Skylar.

Today we are headed back to Canada to visit Victoria. From Roche you need a fairly good weather window to make the trek across Haro Strait and out through the Juan De Fuca Strait before arriving in Victoria harbor on the south end of Vancouver Island. Today that window was short. Wind in the morning, a brief calm mid-day then wind in the late afternoon. I don’t really like forecasts like that because things change too quickly but we took the opportunity. The weather was a bit unsettled but nothing we couldn’t handle.

We cleared customs about 1pm then made our way to Ships Point for our slip. Todd and Tami right behind us we both got settled in right next to each other. We all went shopping in town and Todd bought 2 deck chairs that we all carried back to the boat from about a mile away. Nice thing was that when we got tired we had a place to sit! Dinner at Pegliacci’s that night, always a fun experience.

Friday August 25th – Julie and I took a long walk in the morning then packed the calories back on with lunch and beer at Irish Times. Tea at David Tea, then more calories at Dutch Bakery (we happened to meet the owners out boating). Todd’s parents Bruce & Gloria joined us on their boat and brought Todd’s sister Emily and her husband Tim with them.

Skylar and Zach signed up for a spot at the art fair to try selling crab knives. They were excited at the prospect of lots of sales, but it turned out that all the attendees were off a cruise ship. Not quite the demographic you want when trying to sell a crab killing tool. Needless to say, they didn’t sell a single one but not for a lack of trying. They were persistent, talking to everyone as they walked by trying to get their attention. Super proud of their effort but sometimes things don’t work out.

All the adults went to nice dinner at El Terrazzo then back to the boats for the evening. About 12am I heard a noise on the back of our boat. Stumbling out of bed I made my way out of the stateroom to see what was going on. We had left a bunch of extra crab knives and other items on the back of our boat in a bin. To my surprise this guy was on our boat going through the bin. I charged to the back of the boat and I think scared him as much as he scared me. He jumped, then slowly walked to the head of the dock like nothing had happened.

This is the second time we have had a problem with thieves in Victoria. Last year Todd got his dinghy stolen right from the dock.

Tuesday August 22nd – We wanted to show my brother and his family some San Juan sights, so we left our Roche Harbor slip and cruised over to Stewart Island’s Reid Harbor. After getting anchored in the bay we lowered the dinghy and piled in. Todd and Tami cruised over in their dinghy and we all made our way to shore for a hike. We had a great hike to the old schoolhouse and back down to the beach stopping at the famous homemade swing tied to a tree branch. Rogue did especially well on the hike. Every few minutes he would complain he was tired but just kept going strong!

Leaving Stewart, we took the long way back through Mosquito Pass but not before stopping in Open Bay to try without success for a salmon. Back in our slip at Roche we cooked up the remaining crab and had a feast! At 6pm Skylar’s friend Johnny caught the Kenmore Air flight back to Seattle. We all said our goodbyes and watched him take off. The rest of the evening was spent with all of us relaxing and cooking dinner on Todd’s boat. A fun evening filled with great food, too much to drink and lots of laughs.

Wednesday August 23rd – We woke up and took Ava and Hannah on a fun dinghy ride through the harbor. David, Celeste and Rogue all came down from their hotel room and we all went to Madrona for late lunch. The kids had fun playing in the grass then at 3pm they flew back home on Kenmore.

It was great spending time with family especially after recent events and Julie and I loved getting to know the kids better. Such nice kids and it was fun showing them a part of the world they don’t typically get to experience. RIP Jeff Morris.

Sunday August 20th – Ok, so as I’m posting this it’s obviously not Sunday August 20th 2017. I am WAY behind finishing up our summer boat trip blog from last year. Go back in time a bit and pretend like it’s still summer. Here’s where I left off, and there’s more to come.

Back to Sunday August 20th – We pulled anchor from Sucia after 2 eventful nights & blazed back to Roche Harbor. My brother and his family are flying in tomorrow and we had to get ready for their arrival. Roche dock hands guided us into a great slip close to everything on the newer docks. Well, it was great until we settled in and realized the vacant boat next to us spewed loud splashing water into the sea for hours on end while Julie and I tried to relax on the upper deck. Who runs the A/C for days while the boat sits empty? They do apparently.

We all went out and set the crab pots then toured the docks looking at all the huge boats. Dinner at Madrona was fantastic then a check of the crab pots yielded 2 nice keepers to add to the stockpile.

Monday August 21st – After we had another delicious fattening breakfast at the grill it was fun to see all the people abuzz over the eclipse that was about to happen. Having been out of reality and retail for a few weeks we were not prepared. Apparently, we needed special glasses to see it. As the full eclipse drew closer the temperature fell, light dimmed and there was an eerie feel in the air. Some nice people on the dock loaned us some glasses and we all took turns looking at the eclipse.

David and family flew in at noon, and we met them as they piled off the seaplane. It was great to see them. As mentioned in a previous post David’s dad Jeff Morris passed away just a couple weeks ago. We were glad to be able to spend some time with family and pull them out of the day-to-day for some time on the water.

We put all that crab to good use in the form of crab cakes for their arrival snack. David, Celeste, Rogue and I took the dinghy out to check the crab pots. It was so fun to see Rogue out of his element, he loved being out there and didn’t even care about having to wear a lifejacket, which most kids throw a fit over. Our friends Todd and Tami came in on their boat and we all hiked to mausoleum. After checking David and Celeste into their hotel we all had a late dinner at Madrona. Hannah stayed the night with us on the boat and the girls got a serious case of the giggles, there was no stopping them.

Friday August 18th – Today we are headed to Sucia Island. Leaving Roche Harbor we pulled the crab pots one last time yielding 2 more legals.

After arriving in Echo Bay on Sucia, Skylar and his friend Johnny packed up the kayaks with all their camping gear and paddled to shore in search of the perfect camp spot for the next couple nights. Skylar came back very disappointed. “No fires”! he said in an angry voice. “what’s camping without a fire”. And what’s worse he forgot to bring his Jet Boil to even cook any food. I actually agree, camping without a fire is just not the same. But they made the best of it and we gave them our portable BBQ so they could at least cook some food.

We set out the crab pots then the boys went hiking on the island. After a few hours we checked the pots but nothing but rock crab. Another pull later and nothing again. Then I remembered a spot we would set the pots as kids. We took the pots over where no one else was and set them in the secret spot for a nights soak.

The boys slept on land while Julie and I kept a watchful eye on a large boat that had a hard time anchoring. After trying to set the hook a couple times they finally settled in way too close to us. They realized and moved again a good distance away.

As the current changed direction, they started getting closer to us. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if perspective just changed or someone’s anchor is slipping. At about 10pm I chalked it up to perspective changing. At about 11:30pm it sure looked like they were really close but in the dark, it was hard to tell. We went to bed but something didn’t feel right so at midnight I got up again knew for sure they were slipping! During the next 5 minutes, they dragged at least 100 yards right past our boat narrowly missing us. As they came by I got out my high-powered flashlight and shined it all around their boat trying to wake them up. They finally got up and realized what was happening. Luckily, they were able to pull the anchor and get re-anchored (away from everyone) without incident.

The next morning our secret crabbing spot had 2 large keepers! The boys cleaned the crab then they kayaked over to Fossil Bay with Julie, Ava and I following in the dinghy. The kids went on a hike while we scoured the beach for treasures.

That evening Johnny, Skylar and I took all the cleaned crab to the beach and cooked it. Then we shelled all 15 crab until our fingers ached! The boys spent one more night at their fireless camp while we stayed anchored in the bay. A fun 2 nights at Sucia Island!