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!

Boatin’ and Hikin’ – Sucia Island

Laura Domela — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 20:22:48 +0000

This morning we decided we'd seen enough of Stuart Island (even though we really hadn't) and we headed for Sucia Island. (It's possible we were also thinking about trying to watch House of Cards, and we were getting very poor cellular and data service in Reid Harbor). We headed toward Fossil Bay on Sucia. It was so beautiful out (and really calm in Reid Harbor). It was a bit rougher outside the harbor, but still not bad (and not the 3-5 foot waves predicted…more like 2-3 foot).

We decided to moor in Shallow Bay at Sucia Island, since we hadn't been there before. Here we are:

We took the dinghy to shore and walked across to check out Echo Bay. We usually stay at Fossil Bay, and have never even seen Echo Bay before. It's big, pretty, and looks like it's ready to party in the summertime. There was only one (very large yacht-style) boat out there today though:

From there, we took a nice 4 mile hike out to Ewing Cove and back. THIS HIKE!! I took way too many photos to show you how pretty it was, so I'll just stop talking and show you:

The trail! It's just like this…the whole way. Love it.

The trail ends at Ewing Cove where there's a nice rocky beach with tons of driftwood, and a marsh of nearby frogs singing some very loud frog songs.

Listen to frogs (and waves) in Ewing Cove, Sucia Island

The trail heading back…still pretty:

When we returned to Shallow Bay, the wind had picked up a bit, but unlike predicted, it was out of the west and straight into the bay. It wasn't terrible, but we decided to stick with the original plan and head over to Fossil Bay for the night.

Mt. Baker looks nice as we are about to round the corner into Fossil Bay:

Here's our hike (and a good overview of what Sucia Island looks like if you're unfamiliar with it). Shallow bay is there on the west side, Echo Bay just across that bit of land to the east, and Fossil Bay is down at the bottom of the map. (If you click to enlarge the image, you'll see that clearly this satellite image was taken in the summer, when every single mooring buoy is occupied by a boat. As this moment, there is one boat in Echo Bay and two other boats here in Fossil Bay. On a clear, sunny, and even warmish Saturday…on the last day of February.)

Shallow Bay – Riveted

Shallow Bay at Sucia Island

Boatin’ and Hikin’ – Sucia Island