Thurs, Day #5. Roche Harbor (again), Sucia Island

Escape, circled, from up on the hilltop

       The morning is bright and glorious!  Michelle dons her wetsuit and does her sunrise swim.  Upon returning to the boat, she reports that a couple of seal pups swam over to check her out.

       Everyone else sort of sleeps in.  It's a lazy morning.  But once we're all up, we fix a huge "country-style" breakfast and chow down.  Yum!

      We have all eaten quite well on this trip.  Credit goes to our Galley Queens:  Joan, Michelle, and Caroline.  In particular, kudos go out to Caroline for taking control of the food logistics and ensuring we have the right provisions, in the right quantities.  It bears noting that, at the end of the week, all of the leftovers had been consumed. 

Michelle & Joan off to explore Stuart Island

      Each morning, we hang out wet laundry on the lifelines.  I know we probably look like trailer trash or something, especially with the underwear and socks out there, but hey, you do what you gotta do.

       Everyone loves the companionship and camaraderie;  but it is, shall we say, a bit crowded aboard with seven people.  Not much personal space.  Those of us who have lived aboard catamarans are spoiled big-time.  The area around the foot of the companionway steps practically needs a traffic light.  And climbing into and out of bed requires a bit of acrobatics, as there is hardly any headspace above in that so-called "cabin". 

Party of ocean kayaks in Reid Harbor

       Mitch has never had a cabin to himself, not on any of our sailing charters.  He ALWAYS has to sleep on the salon settee.  But, he's a trooper, and can sleep anywhere, anytime, regardless of the commotion all around.  He has also resumed his role of Dinghy Captain.  The boy truly has a touch with that sometimes-ornery 3 HP motor, and can always get 'er to start right up.

      We have great music aboard, too.  Everyone brought portable devices with all the classics, especially Jimmy Buffet, Zach Brown, and those guys.  Someone even brought "I'm On A Boat", a rather vulgar rap song (if you can really call rap "music"), filled with obscene profanities every other word.  Totally outrageous, yet somehow, hilarious in a goofy sort of way.

Robert, Michelle, and David, on the trail

       Today we explore Stuart Island by foot.  Hiking trails go up to the old schoolhouse, and on beyond to the old lighthouse.  Another trail leads up to a high, barren hilltop with a gorgeous panoramic view of the harbor.  Great photo-ops all around.  On the hike, we meet a 92-year-old gal who sails often with her son and his wife.  She told us that the couple recently completed a circumnavigation.

"Polar bears" Robert, Emily, & Caroline, before the jump

       That afternoon, Robert, Emily, and Caroline decided to go for a swim, polar bear style, to cool off after the long hike, or something like that.  I think it was one of those Double-Dog-Dare things, possibly even a Triple-Dog-Dare.  So they donned their swimsuits, counted to three, and jumped.  They didn't stay in the water long!  Caroline said it was "refreshing".

And after the jump.  Love that water heater!

       Once again, we are running low on water.  Damn.  How in the heck are we going thru so much water?  I suppose we need cut back our usage even further.  In the meantime, we have little choice but to fill up the tanks again, and the closest place is Roche Harbor.  Fortunately, it's not too much out of the way to our next stop at Sucia Island.

       But, I'm just a tad anxious here.  It will be mid-afternoon when we leave Reid Harbor, and we still need to get to Roche, fill up the water, and make it to Sucia before the sun sets.  I do NOT want to attempt to anchor in a dark, unfamiliar place, with boats and rocks and other hazards all around.  Hope everything goes smoothly and quickly at Roche.  At least we know where to go.

       When we arrive at the fuel and water dock at Roche, there is no space!  So we have to sit and "hover" near the dock, and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  These guys at the dock sure are taking their sweet time.  I see the sun getting lower in the sky.  More boats stack up behind me, waiting for space at that same blasted dock.  Minutes tick away.  This is not good.

      FINALLY, a boat leaves.  I flip Escape around and do a perfectly-executed maneuver to kiss the dock with my port side.  Captain Ron (a movie character played by Kurt Russell) would be envious!

Joan compares local brews

      A quick water fill-up, sewer pump-out, a bag of ice, and we're off!  My crew performs their assigned tasks with flawless perfection.  Also, we recognized one of the boats there at the dock - we had met them back on Stuart, with their two boat dogs.

       The wind is dead.  Dead as a doornail.  Zip.  Zilch.  Not a single riplet on the smooth-as-glass water surface.  Looks like it's gonna be engine-power all the way to Sucia, about 13 nautical miles.  I always feel like such a failure when I resort to the "iron genny".  You know, our sailing ancestors explored the globe without that noisy, vibration-inducing, fume-spewing mechanical contraption. 

        But, no one on the crew is complaining.  After our hair-raising jaunt up the Haro Strait yesterday, they are all perfectly content with a nice, gentle, flat, lazy stroll up the President Channel - as the sun sinks lower and lower.  Also, this gave the Galley Queens an opportunity to do most of the food prep for supper in advance. 

Mt. Baker, always a good landmark!

       As we clear the northwest corner of Orcas Island, good ole' Mt. Baker slides into view.  Mountains are always in view, of course - 360⁰ of picturesque majesty!  But Baker is truly a stand-out.

       Near Sucia Island, we pass another group of ocean kayaks.  These kayaks are extremely long, and hold two or three people, plus gear.  We see them out everywhere, even out in the open water between the islands.  I dunno - that much paddling seems like an awful lot of work.

       We pull into Echo Bay on Sucia Island just as the sun touches the horizon.  Anchor down.  Whew - just made it!

       Echo Bay is glorious!  Well heck, ALL the places we've visited are glorious, although each has its unique charms.  It's a bit larger than Reid Harbor, and Mt. Baker is visible to the east everywhere.  Sucia's unique characteristic is the five long, narrow "fingers" of land that run roughly east-and-west.  Some of them are technically islands, some are peninsulas.  We couldn't really see this feature approaching from the south like we did, but when viewed from the east (which we saw when we left the next day), we could clearly see that this is one weirdly-shaped island.

Sucia's five "fingers", visible from this offshore shot

      Sucia Island is our furthest point from civilization.  We are WAY out in the northern reaches of this archipelago.  Like everywhere else, there are lots of boats here.  And kayaks.  We are never alone.

Looking down a channel between "fingers"

      After the sun went down, the real show started.  Way out here, far from the lights of civilization, you get to see things you can't see elsewhere.   In the water, there was amazing bio-luminescence.  Any kind of disturbance would make the water sparkle.  The best way to see it was to kayak away from the boats and their sea of mast-top anchor lights.  Even the kayak's bow wake would glow!

Echo Bay at sunset