Obstruction Pass

A HERON at sunrise this time.

We have decided to stay another night on the buoy here at Obstruction Pass State Park. But this morning we take the dinghy on an excursion to Lieber Haven, where we hear there is a store.

Al is steering and I am a bit uncomfortable with the distance from shore, it seems we are near the center of the pass, when around the corner comes a ferry! Wow. We were under the impression that the ferries take the straighter Peavine Pass. Obstruction Pass has an 'elbow'--hence, Obstruction. We move a bit left and brace for the wake. They are large swells, though, not the big curling wakes some power boats generate.

We arrive to find the grounds of the resort deserted but for a cat. She tolerates a petting, which loosens a good amount of her thick fur. A peek in the store window shows that there is not much there that we need.

She's a bit shy to welcome us

Al is admiring the marine railway, upon which the sailboat Lieber Schwan is resting. A small group arrives to rent kayaks and then the store owner arrives, apologizing for the late start.  He has company whom he has not seen in 30 years and they have been catching up.

77-year-old David Baxter is an interesting man.  He is the builder of Lieber Schwan and has sailed it around the world with his family.  He purchased Lieber Haven 29 years ago.  He used to live in California, where he built and skippered yachts.  He drops the names of Burt Lancaster, Dick Powell (I admit I will have to look that one up), and Liz Taylor.

Al discusses our boat and finds out Dave KNEW Ed Monk, Sr!  He invites us to anchor in front of the resort anytime, and next spring after they splash the Lieber Schwan again, may make the marine railway available for hauling out Viking Star! As we ready to leave, Al hands him our boat card, and Dave says 'Viking Star?  I think I know that boat.  Was it out of Port Townsend?'  YES!  The former owner was an Alaksan ferry boat captain, lived on it in Juneau during the summers, and wintered at Port Townsend.

After lunch at the boat, we take books to shore to sit in the shade and read.  I also collect rocks to send to a couple of grandsons.  The flat and rounded stones remind me of coins--we would be rich if they were!  And I find a tiny crab, deceased, but complete.  I pose him on a beach log for a photo and the macro makes him look fierce!

Actually, he's only an inch from claw to claw

It's yellowjacket season!  They are really annoying, but so far we have not been stung.  Al has a theory that the northerly wind on Orcas has driven them all to the south and into our neighborhood.  He is anxious to see if they will be as much of a problem at our next stop.

Tomorrow we will head to Orcas Landing to buy produce.  We expect to find room to tie up on the short dock while shopping since it is now off-season, but we will head to Blind Bay to anchor for the night.  Al will probably throw out a crab pot or two.

Cypress to Blakely to Orcas

(Wednesday, Sept 7)

Another 'Sailboat at Sunrise', but this time I want you to notice the fog bank.  It is not as thick or long-lasting as Monday or Tuesday's fog.  We are on our way, turning right around this point, at about 10:30

Yay!  We are moving today!  Though Cypress Island seems to be one of our favorite islands this summer, especially after our Eagle Cliff experience, I am ready for new vistas.  Following our 'no plans' itinerary, we are going the opposite direction from the one we talked of going the day before.  We had talked of going north to Clark Island for a day or two, then around to Matia, Sucia and Patos--somewhat more primitive islands.

This is Eagle Cliff.  We sat upon the crown.  The slope to the right was the mile-long climb.

BUT we are running low on eggs and produce, so we are going to round Cypress to the south and cross Rosario Strait to Blakely Island Marina on Peavine Pass.  The guidebook says they have a well-stocked store with a lunch counter.

Well, the only thing they have that's on our list is eggs.  And the lunch menu consists of hotdogs, or any of the microwavable foods in the store, and ice cream.  We have hotdogs and ice cream.  (Massive Servings.  Al overheard the counter girl comment about the large servings 'I need to get rid of it before we close up for the season')

The wind has picked up.  We cross north to Obstruction Pass State Park where we pick up a buoy.  The winds are whipping down from East Sound, but this park around the point and to the east is sheltered and calm.  We go to shore to register for the night, and end up hiking 1.5 miles to the parking lot and back on cliffside and hill trails.  Back at the beach, we have a nice conversation with 'Dale' who has been out with his rowing boat for two months today.

Returning to the boat, we have a nice view of children and dogs playing on the beach.  It is one of the most pleasant evenings on the boat this year, even though the big boat on the next buoy swings uncomfortably close, and a small boat with 4 young men and a dog has difficulty anchoring.

Buoy at Obstruction Pass State Park, Orcas Island

This is the life!  Slippers and a sunset.

Al pauses from a good book to watch the sunset color fade, and the moon to rise.

The Most AMAZING Day!!!

(experienced on Sunday Sept 4)

Blogger Kristi at work, wearing a summer robe--a kimono my sister brought me from Japan.

Oh, the things we go through to share with you!  The phone is on the upper deck because that is where it gets the best reception, and I am directly below it in the main cabin because that is where the bluetooth between phone and computer works the best.  This means I must stand at the refrigerator and face into the sun.  I don Al's hat to shade my eyes so that I may have both hands free for typing.


Patience!  Re-boot phone, re-boot computer, take a shower to keep from 'watching the pot' overly much. It took over an hour and a half to post the morning's entry, AFTER editing photos and writing!

The jellyfish are numerous in Eagle Harbor today, and I take a few long moments to observe these delicate purple creatures rolling and floating in the tide.

Upside down, it looks like a flower!

Time for a hike!  And Al is like the Energizer Bunny!  He had two cups of 'real' coffee this morning and he is raring to go.  The beach is a kind one to inflatable dinghies, made up of pea-size stones and worn chips of shells.

Viking Star is on the left way back there

We hiked the 2.2 miles to Eagle Cliff, the last mile nearly all UP.  But it was well worth it, for the spectacular view, and the quiet moments together, once I calmed down from a heart-racing screaming-with-excitement-or-is-it-fear flyover of a plane at what seemed just FEET over us! These photos just cannot do justice to the experience.

I enjoy another moment in the shade while Al moves to the 'crown' of Eagle Cliff

Wow!  Truly a breath-taking view!  I drop to my knees before I reach Al

And before I can recover my bearings, I hear an airplane.  Imagine an airplane in the center of the photo--yes,  in the center of the 'trees'.  I don't know if Al is looking in this direction, so I squeal 'Oh My God!  He's going to buzz us!' And I give a frantic wave 'Hello!' and then brace for the brush I know is coming! After he passed over us, continuing to climb, he waggles his wings.  AWESOME!  (By the way, Eagle Harbor is below the notch on the right)

The view (read 'heights') is so breath-taking that I have to face the other way, and just turn for peeks.  Al took all the photos up here.  He took a series of photos and we hope to meld them into a panorama.

A geodetic marker, 'Eagle Nest'

James Island really IS shaped like a dog bone!

The hike down was a tenth of a mile shorter by going past Duck Lake, filled with cattails and lily pads.

Sailboats at Sunrise

The past two mornings have been a rare treat for me.  I normally do not wake before 6, but two days in a row now I have.  It is so peaceful.  The water is still.  No one on other boats is yet stirring.  Open the door and you can hear the small fish jumping.  Today I thought I heard seals grumbling, but could not see any. The glow on the horizon brightens and intensifies

We remember it is a Sunday morning, and we acknowledge our wonder at God's creation.

Yesterday morning

And today

Sailboats, so graceful and angular, so photogenic, do not detract from the beauty of the moment.  But another man-made object does.  A plastic bag is floating in the water.  I am thankful it is near enough that we can reach it with our extended boat pole, and Al fishes it out.

Laboring

We are back at Cypress Island, but this time at Eagle Harbor, where we holed up with friends a little over a month ago to wait out a storm  This time it is beautiful weather!  I got a taste of sunshine yesterday, but the breeze chased me in after about 45 minutes.  Today?  I think I enjoyed the sun just a bit too much.  I may be paying for it tomorrow.

We listened to the weather report this afternoon and were gladdened by the news:  for the next few weeks, expect higher than normal temperatures with lower than normal precipitation.  Hurray!!!

Since it is Labor Day Weekend, we thought we should do some labor!  Al washed the upper cap rail and applied a coat of Cetol.  I washed the windows inside, vacuumed, dusted, mopped and scrubbed the shower.  It wore me out so much that I fell asleep on the couch after lunch--a rare happening for me!

Tomorrow more labor.  Al needs to repair the air horn feed, and do some touch-ups on the exterior paint.  I will be washing the windows outside.

Oh, we did see a bald eagle this morning--appropriate for Eagle Harbor!

What does it cost to Cruise? August

Time for the Crass Cost summary again.  I know that when  we were still in the ‘Dreaming’ stage we wondered a lot about what it would cost to cruise and hard information was difficult to find.  So, we will do our bit to help fill the void.

August was perhaps a typical cruising month for us, we just bummed around the islands and enjoyed the days.  We did however have a trip back to Portland one weekend to visit, and that has shown up on some of the extra costs  as we had ready access to places like Lowes and great marine stores here in Bellingham.  And some more will show up next month as we do not actually PAY the moorage, nor the rental car until Sept! Ha – Just Push it out!

OK, here is our August summary.

Maintenance:      $378
Fuel:                   $-15
Moorage:               $0
Groceries:           $619
Dining Out:          $275
Personal:             $297
Insurance:           $314
Transportation:      $24
Communication:    $166
==========================
Total:               $2,058

Communication was up a bit as I purchased a used Nextel phone, and am going to give it a try using the Boost pay-per-day plan.  Talking to a few folks who live and work up here (as opposed to visit while cruising) – they say the old Nextel (iDEN) network seems to work the best.  Will give it a try.  And stay tuned for more changes in the Communication Front as we seek out solutions that work, as well as avoid the recent actions from T-Mobile that will increase our current approach's costs.  (more later)

Dining Out is about 1/2 from our trip to Portland, the rest of occasional Lunch and Coffee :-)

Transportation was a day-ride ticket on Orcas Island bus for Kristi and I.

And yes, that is a Negative $15 in the Fuel column!   A weekend charter had run out of gas for their dinghy and pressed $15 into my hands when we gave them a couple of gallons.

Overall we made our goal of $2-3K this month.  Next likely will not as the week's moorage and car rental will show up.  And it does seem Groceries is a bit high, but then food can be expensive in the islands.

Back to the Boat

Well, that was a fast visit!

We had good times with family and friends, though much shorter visits than we would have liked!

We stopped for groceries and Al made multiple trips with the dock cart to bring our haul down, while I sorted and stuffed, and began a load of laundry.  On the way down the dock, we noticed Shatoosh, a boat whose blog we follow.  (http://shatooshandpashmina.blogspot.com/) No one was home, so we finished our unloading, and by the time we were done, Hira was home.  We had a nice visit, and she told us about the FBRs (Faceless Blog Readers) coming out of the woodwork, and here we were, two more!  We look forward to perhaps running in to her again as she cruises the San Juans for the next month.

Today we will be doing MORE SHOPPING!  Al is getting anxious to 'get out of Dodge' so we can quit spending money!  Gotta fill the propane tank, and make another round of last minute items to pick up.  Tomorrow we will be back out there!