Reid Harbor

Writing on Friday August 12:

We had a leisurely Thursday morning in Fisherman Bay, waiting for the tide to rise.  About noon we pulled anchor and departed, passing Friday Harbor with the traffic there amazing us once again.  Friday Harbor is host to a 'Latitudes and Attitudes' cruise this weekend and sure to be a crowded loud (drunken?) party we (ed.  We?) are anxious to avoid!

We moved on to Reid Harbor instead, site of a pumpout station we know is easy to reach.  On the way we passed Speiden Island.  Al was on course to pass south, but I read a guide book in time to change to passing it on the north instead.  Yes, there were areas of tide rips, but it was SO much smoother than we were experiencing south east of the island.

In doing so, we missed passing Sentinel Island, home to June Burns, writer of a book I read just days earlier at the Lopez Island Library.  She and her husband homesteaded Sentinel Island, and cruised the San Juan Islands in the 1940's when for 100 days she wrote a daily article for a newspaper.  The book I read was a collection of those articles.  She is known for fighting to preserve the San Juan Islands, in particular Jones Island, which is one of our favorites.

We arrived at Reid Harbor in the mid-afternoon, lucky to find an empty buoy near the docks!  This makes for a short ride to shore to register or hike, and means that we have front row seats for what we call 'The Dog Parade'--cruisers taking their dogs to shore for their morning/evening 'walk'.

We took our books and dinghied to shore to register, deciding we would sign up for three nights to avoid San Juan Island this weekend.  (From here we plan to go to English Camp on Garrison Bay, San Juan Island)  Ashore we met a nice lady being walked by her Scottie dog.  She and her husband had anchored across the island in Prevost Harbor, where we had stayed a couple of weeks ago when our friends, the Youngs, were visiting.  It was fun to chat with her and hear of her adventures shipping their sailboat, Sundazzler, from Ft. Lauderdale to Nanaimo.  They have been in the tropics for the past ten years and have 'come back' to the NW for their 'last couple of years' of cruising.  She said it has been 25 years since they have been to Stuart Island.  It would have been fun to chat longer, and meet her husband too--we will look for them when we go to shore again to stretch our legs.

It is a beautiful sunny day!  Here it is quite protected from breezes, so the sun actually warms us up a bit!  After dishes and laundry, I will probably take my book out to the back deck and soak up some of that sunshine!

At anchor in Reid Harbor

Moonrise, Reid Harbor

Writing on Saturday August 13

The sun was fabulous, and today is supposed to be sunny with a high of 72.  Maybe I will take another shot at sunbathing.  It will have to last me....Sunday and Monday forecasts call for rain.

Okay, I am going to bore they guys now by talking about makeup.

I have begun a new behavior, for me.  Since junior high, I have found it difficult to leave the house without, at the VERY least, a coat of mascara.  I have always said that I wear make-up for myself.  It helps me feel better about myself, and I like to always put 'the best foot forward'.  But most days, over the last month, I have worn NO makeup.  Only when we are 'going to town' have I done my makeup routine.

Maybe it's because I no longer have a 'house'.  Maybe it's that the women I run into up here are so casual, even at the Episcopal church on  Lopez.  Even Al noted on one of our trips to the village 'Do you feel like you put on a month's worth of makeup?  (He said fully knowing I usually do not use very much makeup!)  Most women here look like they don't wear any!'  Perhaps any worn is merely covered by sunglasses?

Could the absence of mirrors have anthing to do with it?  Other than the hand mirror in my makeup kit, there is only one mirror on our boat--a poorly lit one on the front of our medicine chest.  The pit toilets we find at most of the places we go to shore certainly have no mirrors!  Has our more natural environment made me more comfortable being 'natural'?

On another note...We have observed small fish jumping in the evening hours.  And one evening a seal and baby, last evening just one seal.  And an addition to the 'sea life' last night?  A pair of young men in wet suits and snorkels.  This morning, we are watching a few sail boards being unloaded from the boat the snorkelers originated from.


Al is changing his clothes to begin some projects today.  He made sourdough pancakes for breakfast.  Yesterday he prepared four boards for overheads in the aft cabin.  Today I think he plans to work on replacing some bung plugs.  I better get to those dishes...



Writing later the same day, as the Beef Burgundy simmers fragrantly on the stove:

What an entertaining day!  The windsurfers turned out to be a brother and sister, beginners having lessons from their parents 'who are experts'.  Their father was out with the dinghy giving advice and encouragement, and a place to rest when needed.  They passed by Viking Star once and he asked if we had any gasoline they could buy--their dinghy was using quite a bit of fuel!  Turns out they were chartering for a week, and today was their last day.  Their son was just entering medical school and their daughter was a high school sophomore.

A helping had from dad

Brother did fine on his own

She had lots of practice doing this!

In the early afternoon the wind really kicked up.  Al had turned on the radio to listen to the weather report, and there were some interesting conversations going on, so I continued to listen for several hours.  Seems there were a couple of sailboats buddy sailing, and apparantly one couple was a bit more inexperienced.  The woman sounded quite anxious to me, so I hope they arrived at their destination okay.  Another woman was exasperated that the men on the boat she was calling had not come in when they said they would.  'Lunch was ready an hour ago, and I am NOT going to re-do it!'  And a man asked once 'Is anyone else out there running into the 'humpies' around Roche?'  Don't know if he meant rough water, or whales!

The easterly wind has been blowing most of the afternoon, swinging  and rocking us around.  Seems Reid Harbor is pretty protected, EXCEPT from an east wind.  Though it WAS a sunny day, the wind made it too cool for sunbathing.

We were down to our last 30% of water in our tank, and plan to spend the next several days in an area where we do not expect to be able to take on water from a dock, so Al fired up our watermaker.  I assisted with the taste test, and I have to say that it tastes better than the last water we picked up!  We generated enough to do another load of laundry, and for three days worth of dishes, cooking and showers.

Both Al and I are in the midst of thick paperbacks and are enjoying plenty of time for reading.

Al mentioned something about our being 'out of touch', so he must be having a bit of anxiety also, as I am.  No phone service, no internet, the only channel we can receive on TV is MeTV, old re-runs.  Has Lindsay had her baby yet?  Al wants to talk to Michael about his plans to come and visit.  How are my facebook friends who have not been feeling well?

It's nice to 'unplug' once in a while, but we are missing 'our people' too.