Fossil Bay on Sucia Island last night at dusk:
Sucia Island sky from bed this morning:
Fossil Bay, not from bed:
In the stateroom up front there are two portholes and one skylight, and I can usually tell by the color of the light if I should get up and see how pretty it is outside.
We got up and did some work early this morning, and I made us a smoked salmon and spinach omelette, topped with a little hollandaise and chives. It doesn't look super pretty (I usually make one omelette in a pan and we share it), but trust me, it was SO delicious:
We left Fossil Bay (headed to Friday Harbor) on the early side, since the wind was supposed to pick up significantly this afternoon/overnight and we wanted to be somewhere with good protection:
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PST THIS EVENING
GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM PST THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY
MORNING
TODAY
N WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT.
TONIGHT
NE WIND RISING TO 25 TO 35 KT. WIND WAVES BUILDING TO
4 TO 6 FT.
Our planned route took us around the west side of Orcas Island, but once outside the protection of the bay, we were in some pretty hefty chop. We were definitely in 4ft wind waves and they were pretty much directly on our beam (hitting the boat sideways, which makes for some side-to-side rolling action…not much fun). Waves on the bow or from the stern, you wouldn't notice a thing, but when the waves hit the boat on its beam, it can be a bit unnerving with all that sideways rolling. A little further out, I'd say we were now in 4-5 foot waves, mostly abeam. We got one REALLY good roll, turned into the waves immediately, and decided to change course and go around the east side of Orcas Island instead.
Here's how that one good roll rearranged the salon:
Kevin calls this look "postmodern post frat party." (That pillow at the bottom of the photo…that pillow is from the pilot house!)
Here's us, changing course:
The new course was much better, and much calmer. (Note: when in rough conditions, boating in socks is not advised. Not enough traction. Check.)
It's another gorgeous day in the San Juan Islands, and the rest of the cruise over to Friday Harbor was great. We washed all the salt off the boat (there was A LOT of it), then grabbed some lunch and a few things at the market and the marine store, and now we're back to work.
Check out the wind sock:
(That wind was not fun to dock against, by the way…but I rocked it anyway. Today was all about good practice in challenging conditions.)
