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Sat Aug 27th – We arrived in Seattle for a few days of school clothes shopping. This is a tradition for us, we always end our big summer boat trip in Seattle getting the kids new clothes for before school starts in just a few days.

Having been out on the water for 30+ days you get used to nature and the wilderness. Seattle is always somewhat of a culture shock after the experiences on the water. As we arrived in Seattle and walked up to the city there was all kinds of city life going on. Ava took it all in then looked up to Julie and I and honestly said “how could people survive here!”.

We don’t have cable TV at home, so one of our traditions is to download the whole season of Deadliest Catch and watch it on on our summer boat trip. This year Ava and Skylar really got into it (not super appropriate for Ava but with a 15-year-old brother there is only so much you can do). They loved the new guy Sean Dwyer on the F/V Brenna A. Ava especially thought he was the coolest guy ever, and loved that he treated his deckhands nice, didn’t smoke, and “didn’t swear much”.

I knew the boat was moored somewhere in Seattle during the off season so I decided to see if it was in town. A quick search on the internet revealed the boat had just come home a week ago and was now moored at Fisherman’s Terminal. On Sunday around noon we caught an Uber to Fisherman’s Terminal to try and catch a glimpse of the Brenna A. Keeping our intentions a secret from the kids we told them we were going to lunch. After lunch at the terminal we set off on a “walk around the docks” in search of the famous boat.

Not more than 5 minutes, Julie spotted the boat! Then we told the kids what our real intentions were for coming here and Julie revealed that she spotted the boat. Ava got super excited and just stared at the boat in awe while we took some pictures. As we got closer we noticed a familiar face in the pilothouse. It was the real Sean Dwyer and he gave us a wave! A minute later he actually walked off the boat and down to say hi. Ava turned red with excitement while she told him all the reasons he was the best Capitan on the show. “Well, I just really like you because you don’t smoke, you don’t swear, and you don’t slap people in the head if they fall asleep at the wheel!” He laughed, said “thank you” then continued to talk with us for a good 10 minutes about all kinds of things. He was a very nice guy and we were grateful he took time to meet us. Ava was especially excited, she couldn’t quit talking about it, saying “I met Sean Dwwwwyyyyyer, I met Sean Dwwwwyyyyer” in a little tune.

 

 

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Thursday Aug 25th – After a relaxing morning at Spencer Spit, we decided to head for Anacortes just across Rosario Strait.  Our generator needed an oil change and Anacortes was just the place to do it.  After getting tied up, Skylar and I went into town on some rickety old bikes the marina loans you.  They have baskets perfect for loading up the supplies we needed.  Back with the goods, we got the oil changed in the generator and some maintenance done on our watermaker.

We all went for a nice walk in town and had dinner out.  That evening we decided to do a family dock walk.  We love doing dock walks, looking at all the boats, what we like about them, what we don’t, what we would change, etc.  By the end we all have our own idea of the “perfect boat”.

The next day we fired up the Cummins and headed south through the Swinomish Channel.  We were officially out of the San Juan Islands now and it was a little sad knowing our trip was about to end in a few days.  We had a quick stop at the American Tug docks where one of our refrigerators got installed after getting repaired.  Then we pressed on, cruising south down the west side of Camano Island.  Looking at the chart I saw what looked like an ok, fair weather anchorage off Camano Island called Elger Bay.  It was very exposed to the south but the weather was fairly good with 10 knots of wind out of the North.  There was not another boat anchored in the bay but we decided to spend the night anyway and got a good set on our anchor.  There were some crab pots in the bay so Skylar and I decided to set one ourselves.

At dusk we went out to pull the pot.  Lucky us, we had 2 nice size legal crabs in the pot!  We chucked them in the boat and headed back.  When we got back I decided I wasn’t up for cleaning just 2 crab and we needed to take off early tomorrow.  Back we went to the crabbing grounds to give the crab to a nice man we met out on the water.  He was crabbing himself but welcomed the addition to his catch!

We had a calm night but the next morning we woke up to building winds out of the south.  The boat was starting to get rocked around a bit so we pulled anchor and headed south for Seattle.  The south wind continued to build as we passed Langley, then Edmonds, all the way to Seattle.

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Tuesday Aug 23rd – After spending the last few days at a docks, we decided to head out of Friday Harbor for some anchor time.  Our first destination was Indian Cove on Shaw Island.  Having never been there before we scouted the area for a good anchorage.  There was only one other boat anchored in the bay so we had our pick.

After getting settled in we all jumped in the dinghy for exploration and beach time.  We made a narrow shallow passage in the dinghy not fit for a big boat.  It was fun, the water was running fast, whisking us through the channel.   After exploring the outskirts of the island we made our way to the beach.  The kids played in the sand while Julie and I relaxed.

We had an amazing quiet night anchored in beautiful bay with only one other boat.

The next day we set off for another anchorage at Spencer Spit.  The wind started whipping up some be we were able to get snugged in on the lee side of the spit.  We decided to spend the evening on the beach as the sun went down.  Ava made a fantastic work of art out of a bunch of sticks she found on the beach.  It took her a long time and she was so proud of her creation.  As the sun went down into a beautiful sunset we made our back to the boat for another relaxing night at anchor.

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Sunday August 21st – After a fun and relaxing 2 nights at Tod Inlet we pulled anchor and headed to Port Sidney for a night on the docks.  We can’t ever go to Sidney (or even get near it) without Ava begging to go to the aquarium.  It’s a tiny little aquarium but for some reason she loves it!  Julie and I took Zach and Ava while Todd and Tami took Skylar into town.  The kids had a lot of fun and even got to see the octopus that rarely ever comes out of his den.

We all had a great dinner off the boat that night, then fired up the engine to make way for a boarder crossing the next morning.  After crossing the imaginary line cutting Haro Strait in half we were back in the USA!  We saw a few signs of whales in Haro Strait but couldn’t track them down so we pointed our bow toward Friday Harbor to clear customs and dock the boat for the night.

Todd and Tami arrived way before we did and got a slip assignment.  We didn’t have reservations and had to wait at the customs dock for a while for a slip to open up.

Our friends and owners of American Tugs, Kurt and Kristin, were already in Friday Harbor on their new to them sailboat.  This was their first big trip on their sailboat and we were lucky to be able to catch them on the tail end of their trip.  We made plans to meet up with them and we all hung out together that evening, having a wonderful dinner on Todd’s boat.

The next morning, we decided to make a dinghy run over to Turn Island, 2 miles away.  Todd and Tami were missing their dinghy because a few days earlier, while docked in Victoria, some scum of the earth folks decided they should have it.  In the middle of the night they cut the line tying the dingy up and stole the boat.  May the wrath of God fall upon you, you dirty thieves!

So all 8 of us piled in our dinghy.  Riding a little low in the water it was slow but got the job done.  Kurt, Kristen and their daughter Grace came along in their dinghy for the trek over to Turn Island.  All went as planned except a couple hundred yards before the beach at Turn Island, Kurt’s engine suddenly just quit.  After a few minutes trying to restart, we just pulled him to the beach and left the dead motor while we hiked the island hoping it would start upon our return.

We all had a great time making our way around the tiny little island.  The trails on the island are fantastic and the views are awesome.  The kids ran most of it, stopping for every little thing they thought was cool.

When we got back Kurt’s engine still wouldn’t start so we prepared for a tow all the way back.  8 people in our boat towing another dinghy with 3 people against the rushing tide was slow going!  But, it was a fun adventure, and we all had a great time!

After saying our goodbyes (Kurt and Kristen had to head home as did Todd and Tami) we left Friday Harbor for a new anchorage Kurt recommended on Shaw Island called Indian Cove.

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Friday August 19th we left Victoria headed for some warmer waters.  In all the years of boating in this area we have never been to Butchart Gardens.  By car Butchart is just a short distance from Victoria but by boat you have to go up north around the Saanich Peninsula then south again.

Our destination anchorage was Tod Inlet where we were told the water actually gets fairly warm.  From Tod Inlet you can dinghy to a dock that provides a secret back entrance to Butchart Gardens.

As we entered the inlet the water turned a beautiful green color.  Todd anchored his boat and we rafted to him in the largest part of the narrow inlet.  It was a packed but beautiful anchorage not unlike many of the anchorages we experience further north in Desolation Sound.

Best of all the water was plenty warm enough to swim!  Right after we got tied up we all jumped in the water to cool off and play on the toys.  Skylar and I both stood on the paddle board and rocked it until one of us lost our balance and fell off.  He usually got me.  The kids swam and played in the water until they were exhausted.  We had a quiet night on the hook exited to see the gardens and fireworks display the next day.

On Saturday we made our way through the back entrance for lunch at the Butchart restaurant.  They got our reservations screwed up but fortunately they gave us a great outside table for all 8 of us overlooking the gardens.  We had a great meal!  Most of us got their tea which includes a bunch of delicious food samplings.  The kids really loved it.  Mid lunch the kids took our blankets out to the fireworks viewing area and laid them out to claim our spot for the evening fireworks show.  We wandered through the incredible gardens after lunch then back to the boat.

More swimming and we set a couple shrimp pots before we headed back to Butchart for the fireworks show.  The show was incredible! Much bigger and longer than we expected, we all had a lot of fun.

That evening the inlet got a little rowdy.  A few drunk boats yelling at each other kept it interesting.  Then a very drunk guy was trying to get his dog to shore on a very small blow up raft without oars.  It was very dark and he couldn’t quite figure out.  Him and his dog were trying to find anyplace the dog could get off and pee and high tide made it very difficult.  He gave the whole inlet a loud play by play encounter of all his difficulties finding a beach suitable for the dog.  Very entertaining!

 

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Tuesday August 16th – We pulled anchor from the shallows of Sidney Spit to make our way south through Haro Strait then turned west into the Strait of Juan de Fuca before making our way into Victoria’s inner Harbor. The weather was perfect with calm seas.  Our friends Todd and Tami left Sidney Spit well after we did but due to their superior speed soon caught up to us.

We docked our boats at the Warf Street Marina on a long dock that accommodated both boats.  After a long discussion with the marina office over the dates of our 3-night stay (they had everything screwed up) we all took off to explore the city.  Our mission was to see the city and do some school clothes shopping.  Its always fun seeing new stores, restaurants and other items not offered in the USA.

That night all 8 of us had dinner at Pagliacci’s Italian Restaurant. Its not fancy and you can’t even make a reservation, but this little place is famous and fun.  Many celebrities have visited, and the line usually runs out the door and down the sidewalk all evening as they pack them in this little place.  The food was good, the drinks were great, but the staff and atmosphere were fantastic!  We all had a great time!

The next couple days brought more city exploring and shopping but always a favorite for the kids is The Bug Zoo.  They had so much fun learning about all the bugs and holding some of them.  Our tour guide was fantastic, she was super knowledgeable and everyone learned more about bugs than they ever wanted.

The days got hotter as our stay continued so we decided to take a little day trip in our dinghies.  There is a long inlet running from the Victoria inner harbor inland that we wanted to explore.  Its about 4 miles long, gets really shallow in some spots and has a set of rapids in one spot that may be tricky to navigate depending on water flow but we were up for the challenge.

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We grabbed some adult beverages, rafted our dinghies together (that doesn’t sound good) and set off on a slow pace with county music in the background.  Zach and Skylar wanted to get pulled on the tube but with only a 3 knot speed they only got drug through the water.  They played all kinds of games and tricks on the tub falling off in the water several times.  The water got warmer and warmer as we got deeper into the inlet but 6’ was the deepest we could find and the water got pretty nasty with seaweed.  We didn’t really care by that point and all jumped off the boat to cool down.

We towed the kids all the way home and Tami even took a relaxing ride with Ava on the tube.  It was a seriously fun adventure!

The final day greeted us with calm conditions but with a forecast for wind later in the day. I woke up, made some coffee then went out on the back deck.  Todd was on his boat and calmly said “I think my dinghy got stolen”.  His dinghy, that was tied to the stern of his boat, was no where to be found.  It took a second to sink in but the cut line was a sure sign.  The dirty B@#$&$#! didn’t even have the decency to untie the line before taking off with the boat, they just cut it with a knife leaving evidence it was truly stolen and didn’t just float away.

Todd called the Police and filed a report.  They said there is almost no chance of finding the boat.  Apparently this is somewhat of a thing lately in the harbor.  They take the boats in the middle of the night, pull them out of the water and later sell just the engine.  The worst part is that its not even Todd’s boat, he was borrowing it from his dad.

One dinghy short, we left Victoria and headed north to Todd Inlet near Buchart Gardens.