Roche Harbor – Riveted

Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, No Whales

Laura Domela — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:33:21 +0000

We arrived at Roche Harbor yesterday afternoon after a nice cruise over from Sucia Island. We coordinated with Bruce and Dorsey (American Tug “Esmeralde”) and decided to meet up at McMillin’s later on for dinner (photo above taken from our table in the restaurant…not a bad view!) We had a lovely time with many hilarious stories and laughs (and delicious food!) Back on the dock behind Airship, the moon was rising behind the “Our Lady of Good Voyage” chapel:

This morning we went up to the Lime Kiln Cafe for breakfast and then left around the same time as Esmeralde. It was sunny and even a little warm out!

We both decided to take the long way around the west side of San Juan Island in hopes of seeing some whales, but no such luck. We listened to the “whale watch channel” (78) but it sounded like the commercial outfits weren’t have much luck either. One captain said they saw a Minke whale for a little bit, but that’s it. (Truthfully, as far as whale sightings go, Minkes are kind of boring. I know, I sound snooty and all “Oh, so zillions of humpbacks surrounding your boat in SE Alaska has jaded you or something” and you’re right. It has.)

Here’s a photo of Esmeralde with the Cattle Pass Lighthouse and Mount Baker (but no whales):

Anyway, it was a great day on the water. We went all the way back to Anacortes to pick up a thing we ordered (a storage seat for the dinghy…we’ll report in after we have it fully installed) and we might head out again for the night…maybe just somewhere close like Cypress Island. We’ll see. It’s getting late and our projects here are not yet finished. Gotta go with the flow!

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!

Airship to Alaska | Day 2 | Roche Harbor to Newcastle Island, BC

Laura Domela — Tue, 10 May 2016 10:22:47 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016

We left Roche Harbor this morning after a lovely evening with near perfect weather. Check out the light on the chapel last night!

At sunset, the Roche Harbor Color Guard does a flag ceremony where they take down the flags (the Washington State flag, the Canadian flag, the British flag, and then the United States flag), complete with soundtrack: Oh Canada, God Save the Queen, Taps, etc. Oh, and a canon salute. They don't mess around here in Roche Harbor…they take their pageantry seriously. We watched from the top deck of Airship:

We popped up this morning and headed for Canada!

Totem pole on the shore (from the back) as we left Roche Harbor:

We called in to Canpass to get cleared through Canada Customs. (Canpass is cool! You get pre-approved as a low risk traveler, and most of the time you can just call in, answer a few questions, and get your clearance number and you're good to go.) We didn't have to stop at Customs or anything. Super convenient!

We headed for Ganges Harbour on Salt Spring Island for a little more provisioning (okay, for wine). You can't bring more than two bottles each across the border, so we stocked up for the next couple weeks. On the way into Ganges Harbour we saw this seal just hanging out like this. I'm not sure what he was doing…maybe getting a little sun on his fins?

We did a run through Mouat's but didn't find anything we needed (which is weird, because they have everything), so headed over to do our grocery and wine shopping. The public dock is so convenient for this!

After groceries we stopped for a burger at the Burger Bar. Delicious, with a terrific view of the harbour:

After our short stop in Ganges Harbour, we headed north toward Nanaimo. We figured we should make miles while it was calm.

We timed it so we could arrive at Dodd Narrows a little more than an hour before slack. The current was still running about 4.9 knots (with us) when we got there, which was no big deal. We just sort of coasted on the current and weren't too affected by all the swirlies. I took some video, but there's no way the internet will let me upload video right now, so I may add that to this post later.

Nice rock:

We decided to stay across from Nanaimo at Newcastle Island Marine Park. There are a bunch of mooring balls out front (and some dock space). We grabbed a mooring ball for twelve bucks Canadian for the night.

View across to the BC mainland from our moorage:

We took the dinghy to shore to pay up and explore a bit. We were here a couple years ago (with the Airstream, and our bikes) and highly recommend a stop.

Newcastle Island is populated with MANY purple martins. (Note the little birdhouses on most of the pilings.)

Baby geese! (Nanaimo in the background.)

We didn't go hiking this time on the island because it was getting late and we wanted to take the dinghy over to the Dinghy Dock Pub on Protection Island before dark.

You can grab a ferry over here from Nanaimo…sounds like they come back on the hour every hour to take you back to town.

We had a nice quiet evening…leftover risotto and caesar salad for dinner. I tried to get this blog post done but it wasn't happening. Internet was there, but super slow. So I'm finishing it up now as we head across the Strait of Georgia toward Lund. Another day with glorious weather (and calm seas)…we figured we should make miles while we can do so in such comfort!

Today's track from Roche Harbor to Newcastle Island BC (with a stopover in Salt Spring Island). 7 hours 54 minutes, 54.1 nautical miles:

Airship to Alaska | Day 1 | Anacortes to Roche Harbor

Laura Domela — Sun, 08 May 2016 16:18:34 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska 2016 – Here we go again!

We were finished with all of our boat projects and provisioning a little sooner than we expected, so we decided to head out a couple days early. We left Cap Sante in Anacortes and cruised over to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island today. We figured we'd rather do the one load of laundry we had left over here instead of at Cap Sante. It's beautiful here, and now we're just that much closer to Canada.

The weather started out a little dreary, but morphed into a gorgeous day.

Airship, all expedition-ready!

I guess we've never been to Roche Harbor in the "On Season" (which started Friday, apparently). The moorage was $65 for tonight…not $30-something as it normally is when we're here (in the Off Season). But we did have the very charming Hailey come out to our boat to take our payment right there, rather than having to go over to office to pay. Also, there are now trash cans right ON the dock…no walking up to the top to take your trash. So there's all THAT going for the On Season. :)

We did Mother's Day festivities with my mom last Sunday (brunch, some copter aerials of her home in Kelso, WA, etc.). Here are a couple of the copter shots (that's my mom in the second photo, throwing the ball for her three White Shepherds):

Kevin flew the copter while I used my iPhone and the other controller to control the camera and take photos. It was fantastic! We'll do more of this on our trip north (and show you the setup next time…it's very cool!)

Hawk on a mast, back in Anacortes:

We're going to cook dinner on Airship tonight (risotto, kale, mushrooms) and probably before dinner we'll head to the upper deck and sip an Aperol Spritz while enjoying the sunset, and the first(ish) night of our second trip up the Inside Passage to SE Alaska. We're super excited, and glad to have you along with us again!

The plan for tomorrow is to clear customs in Bedwell Harbor on Pender Island, and then stay tomorrow night in Ganges Harbour on Salt Spring Island.

Today's route from Anacortes over to Roche Harbor. 4 hours 27 minutes, 27 nautical miles:

Roche Harbor in the Winter

Laura Domela — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 20:27:05 +0000

We cruised over to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island yesterday (from Fox Cove on Sucia Island) — about 20 nautical miles. We needed a couple things at the store and figured we'd skip a night of cooking and have dinner at McMillen's.

We were at Roche Harbor with our friends Jake & Patti on New Year's Eve last year. It's always decorated so festively for the holidays:

We ate in the bistro/bar (the little rounded room on the right) and had a few small plates (oysters, wild mushrooms in butter and garlic, a caesar salad, and then shared the lobster risotto with a side of green beans). It was all delicious.

It's still quite cold up here, and a few clouds have moved in, but it's such a lovely time of year to be cruising the islands.

Here's yesterday's map:

Hanging with Friends in the San Juan Islands

Laura Domela — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 14:28:41 +0000

Part Two

We said goodbye to Sissy and Bob on Thursday morning in Anacortes and spent the day working and doing a few errands. Our friends Becki and Stephen drove up from Portland and met up with us on Thursday night. On Friday morning we headed out for Sucia Island where we'd again meet up with our friend Sam in Fossil Bay.

Anacortes to Fossil Bay on Sucia Island (21 nautical miles, 3 hours 15 minutes):

Hiking around on Sucia Island:

Shallow Cove:

Echo Bay panorama:

Saturday morning sunrise at Fossil Bay:

After a late breakfast we headed over to Patos Island for a little hike out to the lighthouse. I took no photos of the lighthouse this time, but you can click here or here if you need a refresher.

Dinghy on shore in Active Cove (where there used to be two mooring balls, but now there's only one):

The paved part of the trail to the lighthouse:

Looking out toward Orcas Island:

After we'd hiked around and watched the seals for a while, we headed back to Airship and continued over to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island.

Sucia Island to Patos Island to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island (21.5 nautical miles, 3 hours):

Roche Harbor Resort:

We walked up to the sculpture garden, which is kind of neat overall, but this was definitely NOT my favorite sculpture there. At all. (Apologies to whoever made this…but for some reason it feels more like a nightmare than the happy childhood moment I think it's supposed to represent.) Eeek.

Okay I can't look at it anymore.

Chapel on the hill:

We had a delicious dinner at McMillin's Dining Room on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning after breakfast we hiked up to show Becki & Stephen the trippy mausoleum in the forest:

Here's a link to a past post about Roche Harbor and the mausoleum, if you want more info.

The weather was a bit foggy and gray on Sunday morning as we left Roche Harbor and headed back to Anacortes.

Chapel reflection:

We saw lots of porpoises, many seals, all kinds of birds, but no orcas or humpbacks.

Roche Harbor back to Anacortes (27.4 nautical miles, 3 hours 53 minutes):

We said goodbye to Becki and Stephen, washed off the boat, and then decided that since we still had a few hours of daylight, we'd head over to Eagle Harbor on Cypress Island for the night (or maybe two) before heading back to Portland.

Anacortes to Eagle Harbor on Cypress Island (8 nautical miles, 1 hour 9 minutes):

It was so quiet here last night, and there's only one other boat moored on the other side of the bay. Today it's foggy and gray and a little drizzly, but it's a perfect day for getting a lot of work done (and maybe putting out a couple crab traps).

Happy Monday!

Patos to Sucia to San Juan

Laura Domela — Wed, 13 May 2015 02:42:27 +0000

This morning we left Patos Island and headed over to Sucia Island to do another short hike with Kevin's mom. I think Sucia is my favorite of the San Juan Islands. We stopped at the main dock and hiked out to Fox Point.

Gnarled tree up on the bluffs:

Kevin, showing his mom the way:

Trail:

Tree texture:

Viewpoint:

Sad (dead) octopus, being dined on by a lucky seagull:

And here's my arty series of tiny rocks with barnacles growing on them:

That last rock there is about 1 inch x 1 inch. Tiny!

We had dinner tonight at McMillin's at Roche Harbor (delicious!) and I took this fun photo from our table, with the reflection of the ceiling lamp behind us:

Back at Airship's slip, the little chapel on the hill was looking particularly photogenic:

Tomorrow's plan is to cruise the west side of San Juan Island, around the bottom of Lopez Island and to Watmough Bay for the night.

Here's today's cruise:

Happy New Year!

Laura Domela — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:28:24 +0000

On Sunday (the 27th) we headed north to the boat with our friends Jake & Patti (visiting from San Diego) to do a little cruising in the San Juan Islands. The weather was supposed to be great except for Monday (25-35 kt winds, wind waves 5-7 feet), so we left Portland early on Sunday morning so we'd have enough time on Sunday to cruise from Anacortes over to Rosario Resort on Orcas Island. We could happily wait out Monday's wind by staying put at Rosario through Tuesday, kickin' it at the spa.

Rosario mansion from the water:

Airship in its slip at the Rosario Marina:

The outdoor pool, viewed from the Mansion museum:

View into the bay:

This was a great first stop. We all got some great chill time with gorgeous scenery and good food and conversation. Here's what the windy Monday looked like in our little bay:

On Tuesday morning all was calm again in the channel, so we headed out (after a second round of delicious eggs benedict in the Mansion Restaurant). The weather was gorgeous, with a nice clear view of Mt. Baker:

We stopped at Fossil Bay on Sucia Island for a little hike:

Fox Cove:

Jake and Patti on Sucia:

From Sucia we headed over to Patos Island where we spent Tuesday night. We had just enough time to take the dinghy ashore and do a quick hike out to the lighthouse for some sunset photos.

For dinner we grilled some halibut and I made a bernaise sauce with fresh crab meat and spooned that over the top of the fish, then topped it with some skinny asparagus spears. It turned out great!

We were the only ones on the island at Patos. Again.

Sunrise on Wednesday, New Year's Eve (Orcas Island off in the distance):

We had some breakfast and then got underway for a cruise over to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island where we planned to spend New Year's Eve. We kept an eye out for orcas and humpbacks, but had no luck.

New spot at Roche Harbor:

Looking back at the marina from town (we're over there on the right somewhere):

We grabbed a bite for lunch at the Lime Kiln Cafe, wandered around town a bit, and then hiked up through the graveyeard to the kooky mausoleum again. (See previous entry about Roche Harbor and the Mausoleum here.)

New Year's Eve dinner was up here at McMillin's.

The restaurant was serving a prix fixe 5-course menu for New Year's Eve and it was delicious. We started with a cocktail and a duck potsticker, then came the house salad, then a Maine lobster tail, then Chateaubriand. We finished with some house-made chocolate truffles and headed back to the boat. We opened a bottle of champagne and played cards and laughed until midnight. Great evening!

In the morning we headed out for a nice day of cruising back to Anacortes. We went south around the west side of San Juan Island, looking for orcas and just generally enjoying the spectacular weather. Seriously! The weather!

The water was calm, the sky was a beautiful mix of clouds and sun, and you could see for miles.

A tanker with two tugs on our way back into port at Anacortes. (Do It Right. No Smoking):

Here's our route…each day is a different color. Anacortes to Rosario (black), Rosario to Sucia and then Patos (orange), Patos to Roche Harbor (neon green), Roche Harbor back to Anacortes (turqoise):

We got back to Portland late last night, and took our friends to the airport this morning. It was such a fun trip, and a great visit overall!

Happy New Year everyone!

Roche Harbor to Patos Island

Laura Domela — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 22:39:29 +0000

Roche Harbor this morning was frosty cold and sunny! We went up to the Lime Kiln Cafe for a little breakfast, and then filled up the water tank on Airship before heading out.

Frost on the Flemish Flake (look mom, just like grandpa taught me!):

We decided to go to Patos Island, via President Channel (the back side of Orcas Island) again, in hopes of catching the humpbacks. No whales this time, but a gorgeous day with smooth water and no wind. This is such a fantastic area for boating!

At the Eastern end of Spieden Island there were a whole bunch of sea lions lolling about on the shore and in the water, fins flapping around while I assume they were eating a late breakfast:

We decided to prolong our cruise and go around Sucia Island before settling in at Patos. Here's our track:

I'd done most of my work for today last night and early this morning, so I piloted (or, autopiloted as the case may be) while Kevin worked on an article. Not a bad office view, eh?

Bird on a log, with mountains:

Layers:

The lighthouse, as we approached Active Cove on Patos Island:

Once at Patos we grabbed one of the two empty mooring buoys and then took the dinghy to shore with the quadcopter to get some low sun/sunset footage.

This island is so beautiful. This is quickly becoming my favorite spot in the San Juans. There we are on the right, in Active Cove:

Shoreline in warm light (that picnic table on the grass…that's a campsite with a fire ring):

Kevin with the quadcopter:

Man, wait til you see the footage he got!

Airship, moored in Active Cove:

Sunset:

Dinner tonight: chicken with a honey dijon rosemary sauce and roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and maple syrup.

Rosario to Roche Harbor

Laura Domela — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:34:24 +0000

We left Rosario this morning around 10am (breaking through a tiny bit of ice on the water over by the jetty). It was 21 degrees…brrrrr…but nice and sunny!

See you soon, Rosario!

Cool cabin in the woods:

Obstruction Pass, where apparently yesterday there were cresting waves (!!!). Not bad today though.

We took the long way and went around the east side of Orcas, around to the back/west side where we'd seen humpbacks before and hey guess what? More humpbacks!! They were really close to shore this time:

We arrived at Roche Harbor on San Juan Island right around 3pm.

It's so cold that they've got the water turned off so we weren't able to rinse all the salt spray off of Airship, so we'll have to do that another time. We wandered up to the Roche Harbor Company Store for some groceries, and then decided to go up to McMillin's for a cocktail and a snack by the fire (because, 21 degrees, and the harbormaster recommended it!)

We had some Salish Sea oysters, calamari, and a Manhattan.

Everything we ordered was so good that we decided not to cook after all and ordered a house salad and the very last lamb shank to share for dinner. SO. GOOD.

Fiery sunset at the marina:

Not sure where we'll go tomorrow…

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