It Isn't Wind Dancer, But It is Definately Cruising August 20, 2017

This year, in August, while visiting our son, James and his family, we added a cruising adventure to the trip. We had always wanted to visit the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound. August is absolutely the worst time for sailing in the sound, but you can do a wonderful motor sail and see it all. Our grandson, Justin, and son, James, accompanied us on the first three days of the trip. We started at Anacortes and were treated to seals quarreling over a salmon for lunch .

 It was a foggy start to the trip as we left Anacortes Island for the San Juan's. James and Justin kept a lookout of the bow of our chartered Beneteau.

Like Dylan, grandson, Justin, enjoyed being Captain and did a great job steering the boat.

Our first stop was Rosario Resort on Orcas Island. At Rosario, you can visit the old Moran estate, swim in the resort pool, eat in their restaurants, hike and kayak. Rosario was a nice stop. Our next port of call was Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Lots of charming homes, restaurants and museums in Friday Harbor, plus the Seattle Ferry stops there. James and Justin caught the last ferry out to return home after 3 days on the boat. We hated to see them leave, but at Friday Harbor, they boarded a ferry for a return trip home to Seattle.

We traveled on to the other side of  the island to Roche Harbor. Roche Harbor was originally a Salish Native American community. In later years it was the site of a booming business in Limestone. Massive kilns are still visible as are the scarred cliff like quarries. Some of the original churches, stores and residences still survive. Currently the harbor is undergoing a new boom as a residential and resort area.

 

Lots to do in Roche  Harbor. In addition to fabulous food in multiple restaurants, stores, sunset flag ceremonies, and music, there is lots of woodland hiking and a nearby 20 acre sculpture park, with exhibits in meadows, on ponds and shorelines and in the woods. The park is well worth a visit. As the conclusion to the San Juan visit, we moved on over to an adjacent harbor to anchor in view of an old British garrison there. Lots of history and interesting buildings, in this state park, which have remained pretty intact. The last owner of the land never disturbed the garrison, planting orchards and grazing animals around the garrison buildings.

On to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island Park. This island is as far northeast as you can sail in the US and is accessible only by boat. The island offers docks, floating docks, and a linear mooring system, which was new to us. Small looking in the picture, the structure offers room for about 10,  30 to 40 foot boats, on each side of the line. From there, it is a short dinghy ride in sheltered water to a park with excellent hikes on craggy cliffs overlooking the two primary island harbors. The journey there from the British garrison also offered our only opportunity to actually sail in the San Juans. Gentle 6 knot breezes pushed us slowly toward the island.

Our final day took us back to Orcas Island past beautiful marine scenery.The Washington State ferries crossed our path in several places as did other boats, and even a few sea kayaks. The trip left us wanting another cruising visit to the area.