Sucia Island – Riveted

Shallow Bay at Sucia Island

Laura Domela — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 17:39:21 +0000

We’ve been in Anacortes for a few days gathering spares and checking things off our “projects to do on Airship before heading to Alaska next month” list, but we got enough done and the wind finally stopped, so yesterday morning we left the slip and cruised out to Sucia Island.

The wind was forecast to pick back up and be from the SE, so we briefly checked out Fossil Bay, but ended up moored over in Shallow Bay instead. Kevin was itchin’ to try out the new outboard and it was a little choppy in Fossil Bay for that. We dinghied around (“Vrooom!!”) a bit, then went for a walk on shore.

Echo Bay, on the west side of the island:

Bone on the beach:

Airship, from the beach:

Back at Airship, Kevin took the Mavic up for some aerial photos:

Last night for dinner I made Thai chicken lettuce wrap/taco things and they were delicious! (I marinated some chicken breast for an hour in soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce, lime, garlic, shallots, cilantro, and then grilled it, then put that in some butter lettuce shells topped with a gochujang slaw made with cabbage, apples, gochujang, sesame oil, and apple cider vinegar, then topped with a little lime and sour cream.) I should have taken a photo but I didn’t.

The wind had calmed down quite a bit so we motored over to Fox Cove in the new fast dinghy, then walked over to Fossil Cove to say hi to fellow Airstreamers and new American Tug 395 owners Dorsey and Bruce (here from Rhode Island to take delivery of their new boat). We met them in Anacortes after communicating online for some time. Their new boat is just beautiful and it’s been fun getting to know them.

It was pretty calm over here until about 3am and then the wind came back. The slappy, rolly waves tossed us around a little and made for a few hours of…well, not sleep. Turns out it wasn’t so sheltered in here after all. But now the sun is out and the clouds are not quite as thick. There are a few eagles in the trees nearest us on shore, and occasionally, a seal surfaces. All is good!

Happy Monday!

More from Sucia Island

Laura Domela — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 17:32:44 +0000

The sunrise yesterday looked exactly like the sunrise today. It’s cold (28 degrees Fahrenheit) and perfectly crystal clear out. It’s gorgeous out!

Yesterday Kevin and Sam and I had breakfast on Sam’s boat and then hiked out to Ewing Cove to check out the sea conditions. Snowy mountains in the distance, from Echo Bay:

Rough water out past Ewing Cove. It’s hard to tell just how rough it was by these photos…but we would not have wanted to be out there yesterday!

Back on Safe Harbour, the three of us got to work on more webcast material. We’re excited to share these next ones with you!

Some clouds moved in yesterday afternoon and gave us a beautiful sunset:

I cooked dinner last night on Sam’s boat (shrimp tacos, and rice and beans). Here we are…at the dock in Fossil Bay, with the whole island to ourselves:

Here’s one of Sam’s drone shots from the other day (the day it was not gusting to 40 knots). This gives a good perspective. We’re docked in Fossil Bay, and the land that’s at the far left toward the top of the island is the outer edge of Ewing Cove:

Roche Harbor to Fossil Bay

Laura Domela — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 21:19:37 +0000

We left Anacortes on Sunday morning a little after 9am. The plan was to meet up with Sam over in Roche Harbor and then walk up to the San Juan Island Distillery (open Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm to 4pm) to pick up some more of the delicious shrubs I bought at the Christmas market in Friday Harbor when we were there for Thanksgiving — Kari’s Island Elixers. I bought a Sweet Summer Tomato shrub and a Spicy Rhubarb squash. They’re so great to mix into fizzy water for a non-alcoholic cocktail, or to add to cocktails…and as soon as I tried it at home I wished I’d gotten more. You can’t order them online (but you can order her bitters online), but apparently she sells some shrubs/squashes at the distillery…so anyway…where were we? Oh yeah, leaving Anacortes:

It was a little windy out, but not bad at all. We anchored over near Henry Island, near where Sam was docked at the Seattle Yacht Club outstation, and then we all dinghied into Roche Harbor for a walk up to the distillery.

Awwwwwwww. So sad. We’re here, but they’re not.

We’ll be back in Friday Harbor this weekend…maybe I’ll just give Kari a call and see how I can get us more of the delicious elixirs. We out to be able to work something out…it’s not a huge island.

Back in the marina we stopped to visit with some friends of Sam’s and they invited us all to stay for drinks and dinner aboard their 48′ Tollycraft. It was a super fun evening with great folks!

The docks were frosty and a bit slippery as we walked back to Sam’s dinghy. Hotel de Haro reflection under the dock:

The dinghy ride back to Airship was cold but short.

On Monday morning we headed for Sucia Island (photo taken from Airship, Safe Harbour up ahead):

The wind was supposed to pick up (gale warnings and such) so we thought we could hunker down and get some work done in Fossil Bay for a day or two.

Snow on Mount Constitution, Orcas Island:

At the dock in Fossil Bay:

We got some work done and then before it got dark we went for a hike out to Fox Cove:

Snow on Orcas Island:

Back at the dock…we’re still the only boats here! Winter boating is awesome!

Halloween on Sucia Island

Laura Domela — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:29:38 +0000

Yesterday morning we did some boat projects (oil and oil filter change, fuel filter change) and then around noon we headed up to Fossil Bay on Sucia Island. We had about 20+ knots of wind from the north and some chop, but it was a pretty day to be out on the boat. We stopped at Matia Cove (on Matia Island) to check it out as a possible anchorage, and though it was pretty, we opted to continue on over to Sucia (for some increased hiking options). It was pretty cold out by the time we arrived (around 4pm) so we just hung at the boat and later made dinner (chicken piccata over zucchini noodles), and watched a couple more episodes of Black Mirror (Season 3…we’ve seen up to Episode 4 now). It rained most of the night and until this afternoon, so we just stayed cozy on Airship and worked.

Once it stopped raining, we dinghied to shore and then hiked over to Echo Bay and around out to the point. Even gray and cold, it’s still beautiful here.

Maybe because they’re all wet from the rain, but the bark on the madrone trees is just electric today!

We thought we might head back to Cypress Island today, but we’re staying put. It’s nice here, and we’re getting a lot of work done (and there are otters!). We’re the only boat on a mooring ball here…there were two boats at the dock last night (one sailboat, one Nordic Tug 37) and today only the Nordic Tug remains….a pretty quiet Halloween!

K-dubs and the Po-Po

Laura Domela — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 22:50:14 +0000

This morning when I picked up my iPhone, I saw that I had a text from a friend and concerned blog reader, after yesterday's post. If you aren't caught up, read that post here first, and then come back.

She agreed to let me share our text conversation here, keeping her anonymous…I offered, she didn't ask.

Her: Hey. You could have some company this morning.

Me: What, who? Where are you?

Her: Well….I called the San Juan Sheriff's office and let them know they may want to check out that little hideaway.

Me: I think they already are checking out this little hideaway. That's what I think these guys are doing…monitoring this cove.

Her: So you think they are good guys?

Me: No judgment on good or bad, but I do think they are probably law enforcement, stationed in the lighthouse, watching the cove for suspicious activity.

Her: Well…the sheriff didn't seem to know about it if they are…but they did ask for your blog.

Me: Oh good. Now the sheriff is going to read my post.

Her: He did read the post. While I was on the phone with him.

Me: Awesome. What did he say?

Her: Thanked me for calling…took all my contact info…asked for the name of your boat…and said he would phone it into the marine unit.

Me: Well if this is all legit they're gonna think I'm a total troublemaker.

Her: That's why I gave you the heads up….

Me: Um, thanks?

Her: BTW, I don't think the popo are going to think you're a troublemaker. What if you just broke up an international trafficking ring???

Her: You're going to be a hero…

Me: It certainly makes for a weird state park experience here.

Her: …you'll prob get an award or something…

Her: …get on 60 minutes…

Her: …maybe even meet the President…

Me: You're such a dork.

Me: Remember, the San Juan Sheriff AND the Coast Guard were sitting in boats RIGHT in front of the lighthouse watching us as we arrived. The guys at the lighthouse have to be part of the whole thing. This is a very small island.

We left our mooring ball in Active Cove right in here somewhere, opting not to go hike back out to the lighthouse before leaving. Here are some sleepy sleepy seals on Little Patos as we exited the cove:

Meanwhile, the text conversation continued.

Her: I had my whole team [at work] read about it this morning.

Me: What did they say?

Her: They all think u are wise to get out before gunfire erupts. They can't believe you stayed there overnight.

Me: There was another boat. And it's a state park. (And we were surrounded by law enforcement who watched us come in and didn't tell us to leave or anything. If there was something dangerous going on, you'd think they'd have sent us away.)

As we continued on, we spotted some black dots in the water about a mile away. We got out the binocs and learned it was the group of 10 kayakers we'd seen arrive in Shallow Cove the morning we left. They were headed toward Patos Island.

Me: There are 10 kayaks headed to Patos now from Sucia. Kayak campers.

Her: Or…drug runners disguised as kayak campers.

Me: Right. Or that. At least they know how to dress the part…unlike the lighthouse cops.

As we made our way closer to Orcas Island, I was certain we'd be intercepted, but we weren't. We only saw one other boat and it was a police boat, but they never came toward us. At first I was a little freaked out that the San Juan Sheriff's Department read my post and might be passing it along to other law enforcement agencies, etc., but now I figure if they're trying to discourage illegal activity near the border, then having some blogger with 45,000 followers writing about how the place is teeming with all flavors of law enforcement would be a total bonus for them. (You're welcome, guys!)

p.s. We looked for more orcas today on the cruise. Nothin. Party's over folks.

Orcas near Patos (and a whole lotta law enforcement)

Laura Domela — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 23:42:02 +0000

Wow, today on the water was weird! Cool, but also weird. Sam left Shallow Cove on Sucia Island about an hour before we did. As we were leaving, he texted us and said he'd been boarded by the San Juan Sheriff. They inspected all his safety gear and documentation and stuff (he passed) and then they were on their way. We joked back and forth that maybe they'd be on the lookout for us next!

We headed off toward the west side of San Juan Island to look for orcas, but pretty soon we noticed five or so boats over near the Canadian border.

Where there's this, there are probably whales. I looked on my Marine Traffic app and one of them was definitely a whale watching boat, and after binoc'ing them, we confirmed: whale watching boats. So off we went. A few minutes later a Department of Fish & Wildlife patrol boat came zooming toward us. Hey! It must be the day to be boarded in the San Juan Islands! We slowed down and then idled as they came up on our port side and asked for our identification. We handed over our IDs as they asked us where we were going, if this was our boat, where we kept it, whether we lived on it, and if we were going to Canada. We told them we had been planning to go look for orcas on the west side of San Juan Island, but that we spotted all those whale watching boats over there so we thought we'd go see if we could see some whales. We were just out cruising around. No we weren't going to Canada, yes this is our boat, etc. They copied our IDs and let us carry on our way.

The whole time that was going on, there was also a sheriff's boat stopped not too far away, watching us:

As soon as we got back underway, it seemed like the sheriff's boat was heading to intercept us, but then it didn't. We continued toward the orcas, and spent a half an hour or so with them from a pretty good distance. There were a couple of large adults, and quite a few young feisty ones. Pretty sweet!

The whole time we were watching whales (just across the border in Canadian waters), the sheriff's boat was parked at the border, watching. Maybe they wanted to make sure we came back, but it was a little weird.

The orcas were heading north, and we thought we'd gotten a pretty good show, so we turned to head back and decided to go over to Patos. The sheriff picked up speed and looked like they were coming to intercept us. They parked right at the entrance to Active Cove on Patos. We slowed up, assuming they were going to want to chat, since that seems to be the kind of day it is up here, but they just sat and watched us as we went into the cove and grabbed the mooring buoy. Just past the sheriff's boat, there was also a Coast Guard boat, sitting on the other side of the point where the lighthouse is. Also this morning, a Coast Guard helicopter flew really low over the cove we were anchored in. All in all, the vibe out here is certainly as if something is UP. I was hoping the sheriff would follow us into the cove here so we could ask him what the heck was going on, but he didn't.

Maybe this has something to do with those two guys with no boat we saw the last time we were here on Patos!!!

So, the orcas, the San Juan Sheriff, the Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the Coast Guard. They're all here. Where's the party?

Cypress and Sucia

Laura Domela — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:41:14 +0000

Yesterday morning, Cypress Island:

We spent Tuesday night at Cypress Head with Sam. Sam now has a drone too and got a nice shot of our two Nordic Tugs tucked away in the cove:

Here's Sam on his bow, in his robe, bringing in the drone:

We left Cypress and were headed to Griffin Bay on San Juan Island, but Sam heard on the radio that there were some K dubs (killer whales, orcas) out near Sucia Island, so we changed our plans and headed out to Sucia. We never saw any orcas though.

We moored in Shallow Bay on the west side of Sucia Island. Before we headed to shore for some hiking, Sam took the drone up again and got some great shots of us in the bay, with the rest of Sucia Island and Mount Baker in the background. So cool!

Dinghy on shore, Nordic Tugs (and a sailboat) in the background:

Kevin and Sam on a makeshift teeter-totter in Echo Bay:

Dinner on Airship last night was grilled chicken, zucchini and risotto.

This morning is calm and gray. Kevin's working, and I'm making breakfast tacos for us before we head out.

We don't know where our next stop is yet because…that's how we roll.

Yesterday at Sucia Island

Laura Domela — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:03:13 +0000

Yesterday we spent most of the day working and going through the cabinets and bins in the boat and getting rid of stuff we don't use or want on the boat (thinking about the additional stuff we'll be bringing for the next Alaska trip). Feels good to streamline things even more! Then at around 3pm we went to shore and hiked over to Ewing Cove. From Fossil Bay it's just under 6 miles round trip. There was only one boat in Echo Bay with its own personal view of Mount Baker. So lovely!

Heron on the shore:

Hollow Madrone:

Sunset:

This morning after breakfast we're going to head over to meet some friends at Turn Island on the east side of San Juan. There are a few light clouds today and the wind picked up a little this morning, and we're now the only boat in Fossil Bay.

Ev Henry Point, Sucia Island

Laura Domela — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 21:29:00 +0000

We cruised the short cruise from Patos Island to Fossil Bay on Sucia Island this morning. (We never saw those Carhartt guys again, by the way.)

It's just us and two sailboats on the mooring balls, and one power boat over at the dock. I can't even imagine this place in the summer, with every mooring ball filled (sometimes with more than one boat each) and every campsite occupied…that place is probably a zoo!

Once moored, we did some work for a bit, had a little lunch, and then went ashore for our favorite Sucia Island activity: hiking.

Fox Cove:

We decided on the hike out/up to Ev Henry Point. This is a gorgeous (short and steep…maybe 2.5 miles?) hike. The last time we hiked up here we surprised a couple of eagles that were in the trees just 20 feet above our heads or so. No eagles this time, but what a beautiful day.

You can see on this map, Ev Henry Point is at the bottom of the map:

Looking back towards Fox Cove:

Ooooh, artsy:

Moss-lined trails:

Nice of this tree to grow a little arch over our path, huh?

The view from Ev Henry Point:

The bark of a madrone tree:

Back at Fossil Bay:

We may stay here another night and do some more hiking tomorrow. Dinner tonight is either going to be chicken curry, or spaghetti squash spaghetti with a bolognese sauce. Haven't decided yet.

Happy Wednesday!

Hiking to Johnson Point, Sucia Island

Laura Domela — Sat, 02 Jan 2016 21:21:17 +0000

This morning's sunrise (taken from our moorage in Fox Cove, looking toward Fossil Bay) was tough to capture in a photo. The glow coming from behind that forested hill was much cooler in person.

After breakfast and a bunch of work, we dinghied into shore to do some hiking. Sucia Island is one of our favorite hiking destinations in the San Juan Islands.

We headed for Johnson Point today, since we hadn't done this hike in a while. The weather today (again) is sunny and cold and gorgeous. The trail was a little icy and crunchy in spots:

Approaching the point:

Beautiful view from Johnson Point:

Smooth, colorful Madrone trees:

Here's a trail map of Sucia Islands (via Mobile Maplets). We took the trail out to Johnson Point, and then on the way back we took a (maybe non-official, low-tide-only) trail along Snoring Bay and Mud Bay back to the homestead and then joined up with our original trail back across to Fox Cove.

Heading back to Airship to get warm:

I think I'll make a pot of soup for dinner tonight, because….brrrrrrr. The high today was 39F and the low will be 25F. Our heater is working hard out here.

We're not complaining at all though, because this:

And this, 5 minutes later: