Day 3 With Ryker

Lots more beautiful pictures! We are happy to visit Matia again! I think it's nearly 4 years since we've been here. There is a lot of treefall and greenery that has fallen onto the path, guessing from the recent winds.

Papa giving a talk about old-time logging.

Ryker didn't believe we could fit INSIDE a tree...

It's a Grandpa tree.

Ryker scampering down to the beach.

Facing east, late morning.

These reminded me of angels' wings

That's just a good start on a sea glass collection.

We call these 'squeaky birds'. Officially, they are pigeon guillemots.

Another view of Turtleback Mt.

Sparkling water and a tired boy

Canada in the distance!

The 'gator log!

A robin pretending to be an eagle?

Ryker's Visit

Ryker's mom drove him up to Anacortes yesterday. We all had lunch together, then Ryker learned about provisioning. Then we moved on to Eagle Harbor on Cypress Island.

The eagle has landed? Bigger-than-goose prints.

Beachcombing

Stump boat?

Ryker's driving!

Bronson makes a good co-pilot. Waves are rather big. The wind plus our speed brought the gauge up to 42 knots. But the orientation was good, so it wasn't uncomfortable.

The tower at Moran State Park (zoomed in)

No zoom. We wondered if our friends Dave and Patti were up there, so we waved just in case. They are visiting Orcas Island this week.

We are at the dock in Fossil Bay, Sucia Island. Ryker wanted to go on an expedition to search for fossils. This rock appears to have a shell embedded in it.

And here's one ...

A heart-shaped rock, and Turtleback Mt. in the distance. We see it from the other side when we are in Friday Harbor.

Another shell!

LOTS of shells! And interesting honeycomb/lattice erosion.

Ryker next to what appears to be the Sphinx of Sucia?

The best picture of the otter we saw ashore, who went to sea when we got too close. We saw it in several places, and watched it eat it's catch. It was HUGE, and kind of golden colored.

A young eagle flew over. We also saw harlequin ducks near the dock.

Lots of hearts....

... gotta love the beach!

Papa says 'It looks like a set of railroad tracks!'

There was a large area where every crack was filled with smaller rocks.

Wow, two walks today and we might go for another before sundown. After supper we look forward to ice cream and a movie!

OUT!

We left the dock at Friday Harbor on March 2  to begin our 2016 cruising season!

A series of storm with high winds were expected, so we went to our favorite hidey hole, Blind Bay, and had a good old time! In two and a half weeks we only got off the boat twice, for an hour each time, when we went across to Orcas Landing for some fresh groceries.

When the weather settled, we moved to Eagle Harbor on Cypress Island for a couple of nights. Then we went to Anacortes for a day. And we sure made the most of that day! We went to Starbucks twice, Lucky Chopsticks for lunch, and Village Pizza for, yes, pizza.  Al also got and installed a new fuel pump for our Hurricane hydronic heating system.

Then back to Blind Bay for another storm.

Yesterday we came in to Friday Harbor. I needed to re-stock for some knitting projects. I finished SIX small projects in a month, and I was worrying that I would run out of things to keep me busy over the summer. Hard to believe I have only really been knitting just over a year.  And Al had an appointment for regular bloodwork.

That done, we did some house-keeping -- taking several books and other items up to the 'give and take'.  And just 24 hours after coming IN, we went OUT.

We took just a VERY short trip to Turn Island. It's hard to believe we haven't stopped here before. And maybe today's weather has much to do with it, but it is a very delightful place!

What a great start to the day! Bright sunshine, clear blue skies, just a touch of frost on the dock, and glassy water. 

Two of the newest ferries in the fleet -- Salish on the left is doing the inter-island route. Pronounce that Say-lish. Samish is on the right, heading for Anacortes.  That's Sam(the man's name)-ish.

The best day we've had yet, we MUST put the dinghy down and go explore. Viking Star on the left, with a sailboat neighboring, while a ferry approaches Friday Harbor.

The dinghy cover needed a good scrubbing and then we draped it over the barbeque to dry in the sunshine. But Viking Star sure looks pretty anyway.

We packed our books and a snack and found a picnic table on the lee side of the island. Here's our view.

Ah, THIS is the life!

Fridge

Now that we've been enjoying it for two months, I thought I'd show you the installation of the new fridge!

Having large boxes take up prime 'real estate' provides motivation to install as soon as possible!

'The Space'
We used to store quite a few things alongside the old fridge -- a folding table, broom, fire extinguisher, rechargeable batteries, etc. The new fridge will take the WHOLE space.

The old fridge all cleaned out and ready to go. I posted  on the San Juan Trading Post, and it went quickly!

Bronson has to supervise everything.

AAaaaaah, the SPACE! Easily twice as much as the old fridge. Room for lots of eggs and salad fixings. Now we can even have condiments! 

Because the compressor is at the back, the freezer volume is about equal to the old fridge. We find it does not keep ice cream at our desired hardness, however. We decide we will only do short-term storage of ice cream here -- usually not a problem -- and no meats.

After two months of use, I can say I LOVE the new fridge. Not only is it larger, the fridge compartment is much colder than the old one, which keeps our food fresher longer! The freezer is a little disappointing, but it DOES do okay making ice. We have an Engel freezer in the aft cabin where we freeze our meat.

Cost to Cruise Feb 2016

Another month comes, another month goes - and where is what it cost us:

February was the last month we were 'In Port', having depart for the summer on March 2nd (and are now snugly huddled down in Blind Bay waiting out a series of spring storms as they pass over).

Big hits for this month?  Mostly maintenance as we upgraded our aft head.  Outside that about typical I think - though this month medical was not the biggest expense for us.  (But wait, there is more to over the next couple of months...)