Hope Island – Riveted

Decatur Island, Hope Island, and Deception Pass at Max Ebb

Laura Domela — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 23:44:56 +0000

We left Jones Island early on Saturday morning so we could pick up Anna (Sam’s girlfriend) in Friday Harbor. She was flying in from Seattle by float plane, but her flight left an hour late from Seattle so we went out to breakfast and shopped for some more groceries to kill the time. Gorgeous light on our cruise from Jones Island to Friday Harbor:

We left Friday Harbor and headed for Decatur Island. Decatur Island is a private community and only homeowners and their guests are allowed to use the mooring balls. Sam’s family has a cabin there, and we were the guests!

We moored in Sylvan Cove and then did some work before going to shore with Sam and Anna to check out the frozen lake. The big chunks of ice floating in the foreground are about an inch thick, and we had some fun picking them out and throwing them onto the frozen part of the lake. Makes a great sound as the shards slide across the ice!

Icicles on the rocks:

Airship and Safe Harbour, in Sylvan Cove:

We cooked dinner on Safe Harbour…I made this Mexican beef recipe in the Instant Pot, and we made tacos and black beans and zucchini for dinner. In the morning, we dinghied to shore and took advantage of the community hot tub and had a nice long soak before breakfast. Not a bad way to start a Sunday.

Early morning light:

On Sunday we cruised down to Hope Island, just inside Deception Pass. Nice view of the mountains:

We knew we were going to arrive at Deception Pass right around max ebb, and that it would likely be 5-6kts of current against us, but Sam’s been through before at max and wasn’t worried. Here’s where the semi-displacement hulls come in handy! We increased power to about 64% and were mostly making about 4kts over land (with 6-7kts against us). Deception Pass has fairly even laminar flow, so it wasn’t much drama. Kevin took the helm and was a good “pass pilot” while I took video and photos:

We rafted with Safe Harbour on the north side of Hope Island and recorded two more of our “Gates of the Inside Passage” series of videos we’re doing for Slowboat. (See, it’s not all fun and games…we’re actually working out here!)

Dinner on Safe Harbour: salmon that Anna brought back from Alaska this summer, gnocchi with a homemade alfredo sauce (this was so good Anna!), garlic bread, and caesar salad.

This morning, Sam and Anna took off for Seattle, and we moved to a mooring ball and slept in a little bit more. After breakfast we headed for Swinomish Channel and then on to Anacortes.

LaConner, looking charming as ever:

Our original plan was to stop for the night in LaConner, but starting tonight it’s supposed to get super windy (30-40kts) so we thought it might be nicer to be in a protected slip, so we carried on.

We saw quite a few eagles today! (We also saw a tree on Goat Island with maybe a dozen herons in it!!)

We’re going to hang here in Anacortes for a couple days (since Portland appears to be iced over at the moment) and get the boat all cleaned up (Well, if the water ever gets turned back on! Enough with these cold temps and no water at the marinas!)

Hope Island to Olympia

Laura Domela — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 20:12:00 +0000

Today's office view (starboard side):

Port side:

It was pretty choppy last night on our mooring buoy over at Hope Island (felt like we were under way all night!) It's remarkable how loud even teeny tiny waves can be slapping against the hull right next to your head. I dreamt of giant floating logs (and the night before, anchored in the very protected Oro Bay, I dreamt of bunnies, just FYI). This morning I was positive we were banging against the mooring buoy, but when I went out and looked, we weren't even close. It was just little waves, and shockingly quiet as I stood there on the bow in the middle of it all. It rained all night and was pretty blustery this morning when we got up. We cruised down to Olympia and then got back to work.

It's been stormy all day, and then about 20 minutes ago the sky opened and the sun is shining and it's gorgeous out. I don't think it's gonna last though…supposed to rain all the way 'til Tuesday. Oh well…we're enjoying being out in the boat anyway!

Last night's dinner came out great. I cooked up a bit of Italian sausage, then added garlic, shallots, oregano, and red pepper flakes, then added white wine, butter, a bit of milk, and the clams we picked up at the market at Boston Harbor yesterday and covered until the clams all opened. In another pot, I cooked a package of truffle pasta that I picked up at the market in Seattle, drained the noodles and returned 'em to the pot and then added a bit of olive oil and shaved parmesan, gave 'em a good stir and then served, topped with clams and broth, with a spinach salad and a glass of Ott & Murphy Viognier (a bottle we picked up in Langley on Whidbey Island a couple weeks ago). Yummy!

For dessert we opened the little package of Sugar Hill Cayenne Pumpkin Seed Brittle and OMG that stuff is incredibly good! A one pound tin?? Noooooo.

Our (short) route this morning (about 10 nautical miles):

Oro Bay, Boston Harbor, Hope Island

Laura Domela — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 22:51:21 +0000

It was very rainy all night last night in Oro Bay (but we slept well at the hands of our new Rocna anchor). This morning after some work, we pulled up anchor as we readied to head out. It's working well! Look at all that mud:

We stopped at Boston Harbor for some fuel and to see if they had any guest moorage for tonight, but they were full up with some larger fishing boats on the guest dock, and we were a little too big to fit in their smaller boat spots, so we just got fuel and walked up to check out the general store.

Fishing boats on the other side of these slips:

Heading up to the Boston Harbor general store:

Creative dock-fixing:

The general store is pretty great. They've got a great selection of beer and wine, and a bunch of staples and canned goods (as well as some local yummy things), fresh seafood, and some cute gifty items. We picked up a couple bottles of beer, one bottle of wine, some smoked salmon, a couple pounds of fresh manila clams, a dozen Pacific oysters from Chelsea Farms (a local family shellfish farm), and a small package of Cayenne Pumpkin Seed Brittle from a place called Sugar Hill in Port Ludlow (can't wait to try it!)

And then, back to the boat!

Our guy helping us fuel up told us that Hope Island was a cool spot, so we decided we'd head there for the night. We grabbed a mooring buoy and went ashore to register and get a little hike in while it was just drizzling.

Looking back at Airship:

Hope Island is a 106-acre marine park, and part of the Washington State Park system. It is reachable only by boat, and is covered with old-growth forest and a couple miles of hiking trails. It's small and quiet and we're the only ones here.

The original inhabitants of Hope Island were (of course) Native Americans, but the first (white) family to make Hope Island their home was the Louis Schmidt family (founders of the Olympia Brewing Company). They built a home and a windmill, planted vineyards and orchards, and brought a few cattle, horses, and a fox to the island. (Why a fox?)

Anyway, we LOVE cruising in the off season. Honestly…it might be rainy and gray, but this Nordic Tug is the perfect boat for the Pacific Northwest. It's seaworthy and comfortable and we LOVE it.

We had a nice (albeit soggy) hike and then headed back to claim the Zodiac before the incoming tide did. The rain was coming in pretty heavy (and the tide had come in about a foot) so it was good timing.

Airship in the rain:

We shucked our oysters and made a champagne shallot mignonette, and they were delicious!! Another oyster on the "favorite oyster list" — Pacifics from Chelsea Farm.

Oh, and we just opened one of the bottles of beer we picked up at Boston Harbor, and it's good! It's this:

Tonight's dinner will be clam linguine (with the Chelsea Farms clams we picked up) and a spinach salad. Recipe and photos will follow (if it's good, and if I get good photos).

Here's our route from today — Oro Bay on Anderson Island, stopped at Boston Harbor on the mainland, and then moored at Hope Island for the night — 19.8 nautical miles. (We circled Hope Island because it was small and we wanted to pick our spot.)