Orcas Island – Riveted

A Quick Trip to the Boat

Laura Domela — Sun, 05 Mar 2017 00:22:07 +0000

Guess what? We’re going to be in the Airstream for a WHOLE WEEK this month! The last time we were Airstreaming it was October 2015! That’s nuts, isn’t it? (We really REALLY like boating.) Anyway, we realized that our cool internet setup was still up at the boat, so we decided to drive up to get it so we’d have good internet for the week at the Oregon Coast this month, because…well, work, duh.

As we were heading out of Portland, I got a cool view of the water tower on top of the old Towne Storage building as we sat in traffic at a stoplight. The Towne Storage building is such a neat old building and when I first moved to Portland to go to art school I dreamed of one day having a grungy brick-walled studio in this building. Since then (I had a different grungy brick walled studio in a different part of town) I’ve had many artist friends with studios in this building and it’s sad to see it changing, but at least it’s not being torn town, right?

Anyway, we’ve had kind of a tough couple weeks, so we figured we’d keep the trip up a quick one, but rather than drive up and back in one day, we’d spend a night or two on the boat before returning to Portland.

We left Portland late on Thursday and didn’t get up to Anacortes until almost 10pm. We were hungry on the way, and I found (via Yelp) a Mexican food spot not to far off of I-5 in Centralia that sounded killer from the reviews. It’s called La Tarasca, and it was amazing! (Fun fact: the restaurant is totally gluten-free.)

Great food, super friendly service, happy/chill atmosphere…so good. We ordered the carnitas plate (their specialty, and it’s obvious why), and the steak taco plate. The tortillas are homemade and delicious. Their homemade salsa is very good as well, and is served with pickled carrot slices…no tortilla chips (which is actually a nice change…neither of us felt overly full when we’d finished our meal). We shared plates, and Kevin said it was a toss up to him as to what he liked best, but I’d have a hard time ordering anything but the carnitas next time. We took two pork tamales to go and steamed them up for lunch the next day and they were fantastic also. Anyway, highly recommended stop if you’re hungry in or near Centralia.

On Friday morning once the wind calmed down, we cruised over to a nice protected anchorage off of Orcas Island, near Double Island. There was no one out there but the occasional crab boat picking up pots. Friday was calm and gray and rainy and SO nice to have a little quiet boat time.

Double Island on the left, Alegria Island on the right:

For last night’s dinner I made prawn tacos with a lime cilantro slaw, loosely based on this recipe. They came out great!

We’re Back!

Laura Domela — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 05:09:44 +0000

We left our beautiful anchorage at Cabbage and Tumbo Islands yesterday morning (after a very rolly, sleepless night…oh well, we can sleep later) and headed for Anacortes. It was foggy a lot of the time, but on and off. Here’s Orcas Island sticking up out of the fog bank, during one of the “off” times:

Sun. Trees. Fog. Water.

Returning home after months of cruising to incredible locations is always bittersweet. Here are some numbers for you!

This summer we were on board for 150 days/nights, we cruised 3700.3 nautical miles, and we spent 625.46 hours underway.
Last summer, we were on board for 129 days/night, we cruised 3131 nautical miles, and we spent 527 hours underway.
Last night was Night #480 spent aboard since we purchased Airship on the 23rd of September 2014. That’s 480 days out of 735 days. That’s 65% of our time spent on Airship.

We’re back in Anacortes now, doing boat stuff. Cleaning the boat. Scheduling a haul out and new bottom paint and zincs for the boat. Looking at bigger boats…that kind of stuff.

Watmough Bay to Rosario Resort

Laura Domela — Fri, 15 May 2015 00:29:54 +0000

Yesterday at Watmough Bay Kevin and I took the dinghy into shore and did a little hike to stretch our legs.

Sideways tree:

Airship on its mooring ball:

Kevin grilled some delicious tenderloins for dinner, and I made a side of zucchini and cous cous and a spinach salad. It was mostly calm in Watmough last night except for the occasional mild ship wake coming into the bay.

This morning we got up and I made us some little black forest ham, egg, spinach, and gruyere frittata cups, with a side of berries:

After breakfast we cruised over to Rosario Resort on Orcas Island for our last night with Kevin's mom. We thought a little spa time would be a nice way to end a few days cruising around the islands with us.

The day morphed from gray drizzle and fog to sunny blue sky gorgeousness:

We got our slip at the Rosario marina and then walked up to the mansion to explore a bit. After that, we spent some quality time in the hot tub and the indoor saltwater pool.

We really lucked out with the weather this week!

We returned to Airship and had a little snack on the top deck and almost fell asleep in the sun. GORGEOUS OUT TODAY I tell ya!

We worked all day in between all of this, and then worked some more this evening. Kevin and I also installed a dimmer for the LED lights in the stateroom, but we had a little roadblock during the install of the dimmer on the salon/galley lights so we'll save that for another day.

Dinner tonight will be barbecued brisket and pulled pork (some of it made into tacos) with a side salad and a couple slices of zucchini. Tomorrow: back to Anacortes. Saturday we have a few last minute things to do/get before Alaska, and then at 5pm we meet up with our flotilla buddies for a happy hour potluck. And then, bright and early Sunday morning we take off for Southeast Alaska. I think we're ready!

Here's today's track: Watmough Bay to Rosario Resort, Orcas Island: 14.48 nautical miles

Bonus Night

Laura Domela — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 01:24:13 +0000

We were all set to go back to Portland yesterday (Saturday), but during dinner out with our friend Steve on Friday night in Anacortes, he convinced us to stay another night and join him and Sam out at Orcas on Saturday. We caved.

We left Anacortes around 11:30am yesterday and headed over to West Sound on Orcas Island. We were not too far behind Steve and Sam in Sam's Nordic Tug 37, and we both anchored on the west side of West Sound, near Victim Island. We quickly loaded up into the dinghies and headed out to find the trailhead for a hike that Steve found online: 3 miles up Turtleback Mountain (elevation gain about 900ft).

Steve and Sam getting Steve's dog Bella into the dinghy:

We docked the dinghies at a dock that didn't have any "private" signs, but we think it may have been private. There was no house attached to it and it was the closest place we could find to the trailhead, so we thought it might be okay, just this once:

Starting up:

The views just got better and better:

Bella and I played a tiring (for her) game of "stick' at the top:

And now, down:

This was a gorgeous hike, and definitely one to do again. Here's our route map and elevation graph (including a tiny bit of the dinghy ride back, oops):

Dinghies out at the definitely private dock (shhh):

Bella doing well getting in and out of the dinghy:

Sam has a fast dinghy. We need a faster dinghy.

We met back up over at Sam's boat and had cocktails and dinner and wine and tons of fun conversation, and Steve played/sang a song for us with his guitar, and we played Cards Against Humanity until about 1:30am. Such a fun night!

Here the track from Anacortes to West Sound (19.22 nautical miles):

This morning we slept in a bit (on account of cocktails, wine, 1:30am) and then headed back to Anacortes. We cleaned up Airship, unpacked, and made the drive back to Portland.

Next stop: North Carolina!! We get to go visit Tiffani and Deke!!

Organ Concert, Rosario History, and Dinner at the Mansion

Laura Domela — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 01:19:01 +0000

This afternoon we went up to check out the 4pm organ concert and presentation given at the Mansion by Christopher Peacock. It was pretty cool! He played a few pieces on the 1900 Steinway grand piano (the last one out of the factory, on December 31, 1900), and then he went upstairs and played the organ (an Aeolian pipe organ with 1,972 pipes that Moran had installed at the Mansion) while showing a slide show of Robert Moran's photographs of the San Juan Islands, the shipyards in Seattle, Rosario, early shots of the mansion, the Moran family, etc. Moran was a pretty good photographer! There's one photo of his that I LOVE, but unfortunatley I can't find it online anywhere. If you've been here you might have seen it. It's of a small child, with a big fish trailing behind him on a string (the child is looking at camera). It's great, and reminds me of some of the vintage crime scene photos I've seen…I know, that's weird. Whatever. I'm weird.

Robert Moran (not a selfie), with the figurehead I posted about earlier:

The Tiffany chandelier in the organ room (depicting the performing arts):

An early shot of the mansion (which is now white, but used to be maroon):

Apparently the morning wake-up alarm for the whole house (even when there were guests) was frequently something played on the organ. Something like, this:

Listen: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor – Rosario

Christopher Peacock then showed the silent film version of The Phantom of the Opera while playing the organ to accompany the film (I took a couple stills to give you a little of the vibe):

I also (since I'm on a roll with the audio) recorded more of the organ music so you know what the accompaniment sounded like:

Listen: Phantom – Rosario

The console of the organ is upstairs, hidden away from the people who might be downstairs listening to the concerts. It was a player organ, but Moran never fessed to that, and his guests in the audience would all compliment his playing and clap, and he just took it all in and said thank you. So funny!

We wandered around upstairs checking out the library. Boy I'd love to be able to peek inside this set of illustrated Victor Hugo volumes:

Love these beefy iron hinges on the doors:

After the concert/presentation, we headed down to the Mansion Restaurant for dinner.

We sat in a window seat (I think they're all window seats) on what was previously the porch of the Moran Mansion. Here it is in the early days, before it was enclosed:

Kitchen, probably just there on the right in the photo above:

Our waiter (hi Bob!) was fabulous and we had a great dinner. Charcuterie and Manhattans to start:

We shared a caesar salad, and two entrees (short ribs, a house made tagliatelle and meatballs). Both entrees were solid and fit the "warm comfort food" bill for a cold cold day.

It's still REALLY cold out, but the wind has died down substantially since this morning. We did a little research on how to reduce the squeaking of lines when tied to a dock and Kevin rejiggered us a few times this afternoon. I think we've got it now!

Oh man, I keep forgetting to post this! Downstairs in the spa, at the far end of the indoor saltwater pool…there's this photo. I tried to get a better shot of it that shows the pool and the cool mosaic tile floor, but it's hard with people in the pool…so you'll just have to deal. How hot is this lifeguard?

Figurehead from the Sailing Ship “America”

Laura Domela — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 22:18:00 +0000

Nice light on the figurehead at the marina (taken from the boat):

"This figurehead is from the clipper ship "America." She was built in 1874 at Quincy, Massachusetts by Deacon George Thomas. Her original owners were Thayer & Co. of Boston. In 1887 she was put in the Pacific coasting trade and was wrecked on San Juan Island in the year 1914. The "America" has some notable voyages to her credit. Namely, from New York to San Francisco in 89 days and from San Francisco to Liverpool in 102 days. Captain J.S. Gibson, at one time her commander, records that this figurehead was a source of much pride to him, that it had many times in many ports been remarked upon as being one of the mostartistic figureheads that ever graced the bow of a ship and there is probably no other on an American vessel that has been mentioned so many times in public print. It is carved from a solid white pine log. This is erected by me to commemorate a beautiful sentiment in ship building now becoming a lost art. Figure donated by Captain James Griffiths."
– Rosario 1916, Robert Moran [source]

24° — feels like 13°

Laura Domela — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 16:53:29 +0000

Yep, it's cold cold cold here on Orcas Island now that those winds have shifted from South winds to North winds. Early this morning as predicted (known gale warning), we awoke to the sounds of being on a pirate ship in a storm.

We both got up and went out to (1) remove the dang burgee (little flag on the bow that says "Nordic Tug" with a little tug icon, very cute) because it was blowing and clanking around like crazy (which ended up to matter NONE in the big scheme of things that made noise for the rest of the night), and (2) make sure all our lines were really REALLY secure, and that all the fenders were in the right spots between the boat and the dock.

I've been using this great app called iWindsurf for getting the winds. These panels showing wind speed are 4am, 7am, 10am, and 1pm this afternoon (forecast) and that little blue dot is where we are. Fun stuff! (Click to enlarge)

And here's what it sounded like at about 4am from bed, as the wind tossed us around a bit:

Listen: Sounds like a pirate ship, doesn't it?

Once when it was quiet for several moments Kevin said "It's much quieter now that we've broken loose." (fucker)

This morning it was clear and beautiful and the winds were still howling. Looking out into Cascade Bay it was choppy and there was spindrift on ALL of the water…hard to get a photo of it, but I tried:

We bundled up and headed to the Mansion Restaurant for breakfast (because, they have the Perfect Eggs Benedict!). Everyone was talking about the wind and the cold and the restaurant was warm and busy.

Back at the boat now doing some work (and learning about how to tie the lines so they don't creak as much).

Non-black Friday on Orcas Island

Laura Domela — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 02:17:08 +0000

Thanksgiving dinner up at the Mansion Restaurant last night was really good (a fairly typical, traditional Thanksgiving dinner buffet). We hit the spa before dinner (hot tub for a bit and then swam in the indoor saltwater pool after that to cool down). Remember how I said that for our $34/night moorage fee we also got access to the spa facilities, and how great a deal that was (and it is!)? Well, it's a bit different in the summer. I looked, and moorage is $75/night for our size slip at the marina. You can grab a mooring buoy offshore for $25, and then you pay an additional $20 for spa access if on a buoy (but that is access per boat, for up to 4 people). Anyway, turns out the off season here is a SUPER deal.

We slept in this morning quite late. Last night was windy and therefore the boat rocked a bit, and therefore the lines creaked a bit as they rubbed at the cleat that's on deck right above my head, so I didn't sleep all that well (and when I was sleeping I was having dreams about the boat coming untied and drifting into someone's kitchen).

We headed up around noon for our first meal of the day (lunch) up at the Moran Lounge. After lunch, we headed up the hill for a nice ~6 mile hike up to and around Cascade Lake in Moran State Park.

Gorgeous trails around the lake:

Cascade Lake:

I wish this fern/moss was growing all around our house in Portland. We love it! (Macro shot…it's tiny in real life):

We were going to take the 1.1 mile detour out to Cascade Falls, but realized we didn't leave on our hike until almost 2, and sunset was at 4:20pm or something, so we kept on track to get back to the marina before dark. (Also, we didn't want to be late for the 6:15pm massages we'd scheduled (Happy Birthday Week to Kevin!)

On the way back down the hill, the sun was setting and peeking from beneath the clouds, shining an amazing pink orange light on tiny parts of the hills nearby. Like this:

And this (above the marina):

The massages were great (and welcomed after that hike!) and we're snacking on a little light dinner and a glass of wine (and water, lots of water).

Here's our hike today (with elevation gain beneath):

The marine forecast for the next few days for the Northern Inland Waters including the San Juan Islands is this:

TONIGHT
N WIND 15 TO 25 KT BECOMING NE 25 TO 35 KT. WIND WAVES 2 
TO 4 FT BUILDING TO 4 TO 6 FT. CHANCE OF RAIN TURNING TO A CHANCE OF 
SNOW.

SAT
NE WIND 25 TO 35 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT.  

SAT NIGHT
NE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT.  

SUN THROUGH MON
NE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT.

MON NIGHT THROUGH WED
N WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT.

Those 4-6 ft wind waves don't sound that fun, really. Walking back to Airship tonight from the spa there was ice on the dock and a little on the top deck of the boat…it'd be fun to see some snow here!

Our plan is to stay put at Rosario until Sunday and then maybe head over to Roche Harbor or somewhere for a few days…and maybe try to revisit some of our good whale spots. Also, tomorrow at 4pm I think we're going to go to this:

Rosario Music Concert and Historical Narrative
Christopher Peacock, accomplished musician, author and Rosario historian, offers a presentation of music and photography that walks guests through the history of the Moran family and the Rosario estate. Highlights of the presentation include the historic Moran Photograph Collection, Phantom of the Opera music performed on the Mansion’s 1,972 pipe Aeolian organ with the silent film, stories of the Mansion’s most colorful residents, and Christopher’s original piano compositions played on the 1900 Steinway Grand Piano. Saturdays only at 4 p.m. Complimentary and open to the public.

Sounds quirky and fun, huh?

This place overall is kind of fun and quirky. There was a guy here in the marina the other day on a really cool wooden two-masted sailboat who looked like he'd been lost at sea for 40 years…gigantic beard, little captain's cap, big coat…the whole deal. We met a friendly marina resident this afternoon out decorating his boat with green and red Christmas lights…all the way up to the mast and back and around the rails…super festive! He said we really need to come back for the Christmas holidays…that the mansion is all decorated and festive. Sounds great! Maybe we'll make it for New Year's Eve (weather permitting!)

Thanksgiving on Orcas Island

Laura Domela — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 20:43:10 +0000

We got up this morning and left Port Townsend by about 8:30am (and not at the "crack of dawn" as we'd planned).

The wind was from the south and had been blowing pretty good all night, but by morning it had subsided quite a bit. We never saw the 2-4 foot wind waves as forecast, or any rain at all. The day turned out to be quite beautiful and our 4ish hour cruise from Port Townsend up to Rosario Resort on Orcas Island was gorgeous.

Looking back toward Port Townsend:

And then all of a sudden, clear blue skies and bright sunshine! It was like this for most of our 4 hour trip from Port Townsend up to Orcas Island:

Willow Island, just off of Blakely Island:

Something off the port side caught my eye and as I turned toward it, I quickly realized it was an upside-down eagle, diving into the water. I grabbed my camera but the action was over by the time I snapped these two shots:

Arriving at Rosario…

The marina:

And here we are:

Thanksgiving Dinner reservations up at the Mansion Restaurant are on the late side, so we're just kickin' it until then. We walked up to the resort and checked out the spa (we brought our swimsuits this time). Look at these cool safes we found down on the spa level:

And here's our route from today:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

San Juans: Rosario, (Humpbacks!!), Matia, Sucia

Laura Domela — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 22:44:11 +0000

We woke up early at Rosario this morning and I snapped the above shot from the back of the boat (outside, about 31 degrees Farenheit, brrrr). We had coffee and showered and headed up to the Mansion Restaurant for breakfast. We'd checked out the menu during our cocktail and snacks last night and it looked great. (The dinner menu also looked great, but our snacks last night ended up being dinner.)

One of the things on the sample menu was a Croque Madame, which I was really excited about (open-faced ham and gruyere sandwich, topped with sunny side up egg and creamy béchamel sauce, served with local mixed greens). However, today's menu did not have the Croque Madame on it (awwwww) so we both ordered the traditional Eggs Benedict and they were PERFECT. The eggs were perfect, the ham wasn't too thick, the Hollandaise was great and lemony…served with asparagus. Delicious.

The restaurant is on what used to be the porch (now enclosed) of the Moran Mansion and it's got a great view of Cascade Bay. That's "shadow Kevin" on the left.

After breakfast we headed back to Airship and took off toward Matia Island (the very long way, around the west side of Orcas). The weather was gorgeous, again. We are so lucky this November weekend to have such beautiful weather.

So, we're coming around the west side of Orcas, and I head down to the head, and all of a sudden Kevin yells "Whales!! Humpbacks!!" and so I bolt back up to the pilot house and holy crap! More humpbacks. Super cool! There were two in front of us and we eventually noticed a couple more behind us…

We put it in neutral and just hung out with the whales for about a half an hour. Incredible. (And this time I had my long lens with me!)

After thanking the whales for a fantastic show, we headed on our way to Matia Island. Here's another shot of the Garmin, using the Mariner's Eye view mode (our boat is in the center, toward the bottom of the screen). It's pretty neat! (The red is radar…stuff you want to avoid…but in rough water even waves show up as red.)

We got to Matia Island (Rolfe Cove) and found the two mooring buoys there as advertised, but the current was pretty bad in the cove. After we snagged a mooring buoy (the second time past it!), we decided it wasn't going to be a very chill night of sleep decided to head to our backup plan.

The next island over: Sucia Island. We are docked at Fossil Bay:

When we arrived, there was only one other boat moored here: a Grand Banks. Its owners had taken their dinghy and gone ashore, and they were returning right as we were docking. We had a nice conversation with them: they just bought their boat in September (same as us) and it is their first "big boat" (same as us). They are from Vancouver B.C., commuting South to use their boat, as we are commuting North to use ours. This was their first time at Sucia, and we told them some of the places we liked up here after exploring as much as we have since we bought our boat. (Tonight is night 30 on Airship!)

One more boat was coming into the bay as we headed back to the boat after filling out our registration, so three boats total in Fossil Bay tonight:

Sucia sunset:

Dinner: fresh halibut, rosemary fingerling potatoes, and sauteed spinach. Tomorrow morning I think Kevin's going to do some quadcopter flying/photography. Finally!

Here's today's route map (click to enlarge):