James Island

After leaving Spencer Spit, we cruised over to the West side of James Island.  We found space at the dock and decided to risk it even though we had heard about the raccoon problem.  Across the dock was a Camino Troll named "Falcon" piloted by Paul and Sharron and a Yellow Lab named Luke.  We enjoyed visiting with them and look forward to seeing them on the water again soon.

Paul told us about his combat with the raccoons that visited him the previous night.  They were very aggressive and got a couple of lamb chops from his cooler.  They even knew how to operate the zippers on his camperback.  We decided to make sure we had no trash, food, or dog food in the cockpit.  We buttoned everything up secure and retired for the evening.  We slept extremely well, and were not disturbed in our sleep by the raccoon.  However Paul tells us the next morning that they did return.  I checked and could see that they in fact had unbuttoned my canvas and looked for food in our cockpit.  Since they found none, they left without leaving much but a couple of paw prints.

James Island has quite a bit of current that flows through the dock area during tidal changes.  It seems to have carved out a very deep cove.  We had some wakes mainly from a foot ferry that services Decatur Island.  Still a very pleasant spot to visit.  We walked the trails and checked the views across the isthmus to the East.  No early sun had us turning the heat on about 6:30AM.  Sleeping a little later than normal, something about a rocking boat.

Our return to Anacortes was uneventful, except for a large tanker that was being pushed down the Guemes Channel.  We gave them plenty of room.

Walldog, Willie and Jake.

Spencer Spit

After lunch at Blakely Island, and a cruise through East Sound of Orcas Island, we spent the night at Spencer Spit off Lopez Island.

We rafted with Bob and Nita of "Nellie Too".




Since we were not at a dock for the night, Jake got to use his "Ferry" for the first time this trip.  I figure that I need a harness for him to pull the dinghy up on the beach.  He jumps out as we touch the shore.  Then I have step into the water and finish pulling the dinghy up.  There is no sense in both of us getting our feet wet.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Roche Harbor

We leave Friday Harbor this morning and set a course 10 miles around the North end of San Juan Island for Roche.  We dodge the Washington State Ferry again as we leave Friday Harbor.  The day is cloudy, with a small threat of sunshine.  As we travel North a few miles, we notice that Jones Island is due East of us across the San Juan Channel.  The tidal rips have smoothed out in this part of the channel, so we decide to cut across and see the new docks at Jones.

We see one boat tied up, so there is plenty of room for us to dock there.  We decide not to though as we want to continue to Roche.  We will return to Jones with empty holding tanks for a couple of days visit.  Jones has friendly deer and nice trail to walk Jake.  We look forward to our return.

Our berth in Roche is across from the little chapel.  We note that mass will be celebrated Sunday at 11 AM.  We may still be here.

Lunch was the special at the Limestone Cafe of a Shrimp Louie Wrap....delicious.  The docks here at Roche are much higher than we are used to, the better to accommodate the large yachts that surround little Willie's Tug.  We will be back here at the end of July to kick off the Desolation Sound Cruise with the Ranger Tug Factory.

Most days we travel, we turn the track feature on on our SPOT.

Walldog, Willie and Jake.

Friday Harbor

The sun is shining and we are in Friday Harbor.  We visited here last year a couple of times via the Washington State Ferry system.  A neat little community to visit.  We arrived here from Anacortes yesterday afternoon and found a guest slip for a couple of days.  Jake has introduced himself to all the neighbors along the docks.

We keep working on making the boat more home and livable.  We have some shelves ordered from Fisheries Supply that will make the galley more user friendly.  When they arrive, we may make a trip to pick them up as Trader Joes is near there and I am sure we will need to restock.

I preparation for Independence day, I mounted our American flag.  The normal place would be from a flag pole at the stern of the boat, but our dinghy would cover it there, so we mounted it from the flag mount on our mast.  Now we are ready for the 4th and an upcoming visit to Canada.

Walldog, Willie and Jake.