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| Distant fog bank |
Fog!!!
They don't call August "Fogust" around here for nothing. Rolling fog banks cascaded down the nearby
islands and hills. We kinda chilled out,
waiting for the fog to lift. No hurry to
go anywhere.
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| Michelle getting suited up |
Michelle did a different kind of
"chill". She is an avid
triathlon athlete, and vacations do not interrupt her training regime. She brought along a friggin' wet suit, for
gosh sakes! So bright and early, she
dons her wet suit and goes in, with Robert following close behind in a kayak.
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| The town of Olga |
After the fog was gone, the first stop
of the day was Buck Bay Shellfish Farm, located in the tiny village of Olga on Orcas
Island. Joan had found it sometime back
while Googling around for interesting places to visit that were off the beaten
track. We ferried everyone ashore in two
dingy runs, walked about a half-mile, and had a most awesome lunch of oysters
and steamed crabs, under the shade of a willow tree. The lady that runs the joint gave us all a
quick lesson in the fine art of oyster shucking. I had never eaten fresh oysters like
that. You're never too old to learn new
stuff. And eat it.
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| Michelle & Caroline chowing down on oysters and crabs |
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| Deer in downtown Olga |
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| Not exactly a fancy place |
We also bought some salmon fillets for
supper that night, and hauled it all back to
Escape.
Leaving Olga and heading southward, the
wind starts to pick up. And pick up some
more. And pick up some more! It hits 20 knots apparent. Our heading is about 80⁰ off the wind, on a close reach. Escape
is heeled way over and is absolutely FLYING. The leeward rail is just
inches above the water. So THIS is what
a monohull can do, given decent wind! I
direct the entire crew to sit high on the windward rail and put as much body
weight out as possible. I am, of course,
totally exhilarated, having the time of my life. I think I was screaming like a lunatic. I like this boat! But a couple of the crew are a bit
white-knuckled, mumbling something about: this is scary, is there anything I
can "do" about this? Eh,
they'll get used to it.
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| High winds made for one exciting sail |
The high winds lasted about 20 or 25 minutes,
and then faded away as quickly as it came.
Well, all good things must end, I suppose. But this, um, episode showed me that Robert,
Mitch, and Emily are getting to be pretty darn good crewmen. It's pretty cool, being able to focus my full
attention on helm, navigation, and observing sail trim. I just bark out a command to pull this string
or that string, and it just happens!
There was, however, one additional
"lesson learned" from this high-wind episode. It seems that, while heeling heavily, a few
items in the galley and salon below were not as secured as they should have
been, and thus there was a bit of crashing around. So now, even before RAISING the sails, the
skipper must give the command "Secure the galley!", and may not
commence further until receiving back the reply: "Galley is secured!"
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| Mitch indulges |
One of the things we're experiencing out
here is mind-blowing tidal currents. The
water is like a hundred feet deep, sometimes two hundred feet deep, sometimes
even deeper than that, yet the surface would be roiling and churning like
crazy. You could see it from far, far
away. Currents of 3+ knots were as
common as day. I learned to always have
the engine running when I come up on currents like that, regardless of which
way it was flowing, so that I have extra control, if necessary.
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| Roiling, churning currents |
At around 5:30 we cruise into Friday
Harbor, one of the biggest in the SJI.
There is a huge marina, ferry dock, a seaplane dock, and another
thousand boats moored or anchored in the well-protected channel.
Escape
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| Friday Harbor Marina |
First stop is to fill up the water and
pump out the holding tank. Where exactly
is it, in this sprawling marina? I had
to call the harbor-master on the VHF to find it. He directs me to the end of a long, very
narrow lane with lots of really big boats berthed in docks that were way too
close. While I try to "hover" Escape there for quite a while to wait my turn, the wind picks up. Much adrenaline-fueled fending took place over the next several minutes, as my crew valiantly averted collisions in these tight quarters.
Finally, a slot opens up, and we squeeze up to the water docks. It is AMAZING how much water we have consumed
over the last two days. Where has it
gone? We are all very conservative with
our water usage. I remember the same
phenomena happened aboard Rainbow's End two years ago, and the "Come to
Jesus" meeting we had to have. Are
we really using that much water? Well, I
suppose even tighter conservation will be required when we head up to Stuart
Island and Sucia Island later in the week.
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| channel outside of Friday Harbor |
Finally we exit the marina and tie up to
a mooring out in the channel, then sit back to admire the scenery. It is absolutely beautiful here. Magnificent homes, villas, and condos climb
all the way up the hillsides. Boats,
boats, and more boats are everywhere.
Ditto for the kayaks. And as an
added bonus, we're well-protected from the wind, which means it isn't so darn
cold at night. Clearly, I could stay
right here for a month.
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| Washington State Ferry has a dock in Friday Harbor |
That evening, we grilled up the salmon
we'd purchased earlier at Buck Bay. Extra-extra delicious! I keep saying:
"It doesn't get any better than this." But it does!
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| Dinghy makes a good place to relax |
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