Life at the Ranch

Beach at El Dorado Ranch

When the white dog became tan we figured it was time to take Tessie down to the beach. It is very quiet down here right now. Snowbirds begin arriving from the north after the holidays so we had the entire beach to ourselves. It was high tide so none of the flats were exposed. There is a 20 ft tidal range here and at low tide you have to walk ¼ mile on the flats to reach the water. It is a great time to go clamming but not a great time for kayaking! Fortunately, we have portable kayak wheels for those occasions!

Happy Doggie

Some of the best things about our annual trip to San Felipe is reconnecting with friends and the land that is the Baja. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner party at Sharon and Lynda’s where we met Denise and Susan from Eureka for the first time. We also hooked up with old friends Roni and Dave for dinner and Mexican Train Dominoes at Andre’s, one of our favorite local restaurants. As always, it is wonderful to see Patricia and the Boys and our neighbors/friends Linda and Lisbeth and the dogs.

Sharon and Lynda's Cool Rail

Romeo and Gunner

Lil' Diego

We made a new little friend this week. His new name is Diego, a small Chihuahua rescue from town. Patricia has been fostering him and Linda and Lisbeth will be taking him to the States tomorrow. He had been sleeping outside tied to a tree in this cold competing with a bigger off-leash dog for food. We can see who has been winning. The family who had the dog just had a new human baby and cannot keep the dog so it is best for everyone that Diego is on his way to a new home. What a little doll! Kudos to Patricia and the Boys for opening up their hearts and their home!

We have been here ten days. Sometimes it feels like forever; sometimes it feels like ten days. Getting into Baja-head takes some time. It is so different here, so quiet. The stark landscape of this desert hypnotizes you, drawing you into this Otherworld. You can even hear the soft buzzing inside your own head. When you look out at the desert it seems as though everything you see is outlined by a crisp edge, yet the desert is also a soft blur. That is the blur your mind desires to rest in.

We’ve had incredible light at night with the full moon phase. It feels lunar. It’s a different experience than the coming star-filled pitch-black. We have a nice campfire when the moods strikes and wake early before the sun rises over the Sea of Cortez. It’s so good to be Baja home.

Sierra San Pedro Martir Mountain Range

Off to San Felipe

Road to San Felipe

We left for Mexico at 8:00pm on December 2^nd and pulled into San Felipe at 1:00pm on December 3^rd. Unlike previous trips down with trucks flipping on the freeway, 10-car pile ups, sand storms, rain storms, and motorcycle-dragging-down-the-road experiences, this trip was without incident. As usual, we were stopped at the military checkpoint outside of town where cars are checked for guns and drugs. Tessie did very well with the teenagers with machine guns (who always love checking out whichever motorcycle is on the back of the 4Runner) and we traveled on to our Baja home. As with our annual tradition, first stop is Patricia’s house to see her and the Boys (Chihuahuas’ Romeo and Gunner). Nostril kisses for everyone!

It took a couple of days to get everything cleaned up inside the trailer as one of the vents was completely ripped off by a storm in our absence. We set up our new solar system, which is working out very well. Makes you want to turn on all the lights at once! We love being off-grid and using the power of the sun for all our electrical needs.

To our surprise, the desert floor is covered with flowering plants, a result of several rainstorms earlier in the season. There are more birds here than we’ve seen before and several plants that even people here over a decade have never seen. One in particular is a bit pesky – it sticks to white dogs (and everything else) like Velcro and disintegrates upon your touch into a green mess that stains like grass.

Mama K and Tessie

Tessie is beside herself. She loves the Baja and danced in the sand in pure delight upon our arrival. Not only does she love to play in the wash (sandy area of our lot) but has made many new dog friends, including her daily interactions with our friends and neighbors Linda and Lisbeth’s border collies and Patricia’s Romeo and Gunner.

One of Tessie’s favorite things to do is to race Kathy as she rides the motorcycle down our dirt road. We have taken the bikes on a couple small trips on some of the back roads. Liz’s new bike (Honda XR200) is a better fit for her and Kathy is enjoying her Honda XR100. The bikes are perfect for getting around. When the weather gets a little warmer we’ll take trips down to the beach.

Heading South!

Road Trip!

We headed out to California on the afternoon of November 29th. It was time for the knees to get out of town! The car could not have taken one more item! Add a 50-pound LONG dog and it was very cozy. Being the good sport she is, Tessie traveled well and we arrived in California by 2:30 the next afternoon. We had a nice visit with Liz’s sisters Robin and Cheryl in Antioch, and then headed off to dinner with old friends Cindy, Carla, and Beth. It was wonderful to see everyone and only wish we had enough time in town to visit with everyone we wanted to.

We arrived at Karen and Dawna’s house in Concord that night ready for a good night’s sleep. Thanks to our dear friends for taking such good, loving care of us. We really enjoyed visiting with the family, including the girls Dakota and Marina (thanks for introducing us to Wi rock and roll!), the puppies Casey, Carly, and Chrissy, and kitty Kit Kat. Tessie had a blast hanging out with the family while we took care of business in the Bay Area. Not only did we leave feeling loved, Tessie received a new reindeer, raccoon, and sweet potatoes from her aunties.

It was really nice visiting Aunt Helen and our friends at the Shorebird Nature Center. Finding more room for the rest of our stuff was challenging and Aunt Karen had to give the okay for Tessie to travel behind the drivers’ seat. Off to the Baja!

Thanksgiving in Port Townsend

Tessie meets Piper

Hope everyone had a fun turkey day! We sure got spoiled by Jak’s cooking and Corine and Jak’s wonderfully warm and welcoming home. We took the Coupeville Ferry to Port Townsend on a rather bumpy ride across the Strait of Juan De Fuca. It was time to meet their new four-legged arrival, Piper! He and Tessie had an endless play fest and provided much entertainment. An added holiday bonus was the addition of Jolanda and Tod visiting from Berkeley. What a great way to spend the holiday – great food, dear friends, and silly puppies!

Anacortes in the Fall

Before leaving Anacortes for the Baja we were able to take some local excursions. Forty percent of Anacortes is parkland and one of our favorite parks within the city is Washington Park. Only a ten-minute ride from the marina, the Park has a loop trail overlooking the San Juan Islands and nice picnic and shore fishing areas. Tessie loved watching the wild bunnies in the bushes (on leash, of course!).

We also took a nice drive along the Skagit River past the town of Concrete. All the roadside businesses were closing down for the winter. It was time to either hunker down or head south. What a great idea…

The temperature started dropping mid-November, one morning being 26 degrees! There were several storms with winds gusting to 60 mph. Quoting our dear friend Bob Metts from California, “It’s like sleeping in a pot of boiling water!” Time to get the snubbers and extra lines out, prepare the covers, and batten down the hatches.

The marina had a pizza night for all the marina liveaboards. It was great to meet all of our ‘permanent’ neighbors and get a contact list. The marina management understands the important role liveaboards play in a marina and it felt good to be appreciated.

Eagle Harbor, Cypress Island

Approaching Eagle Harbor

We arrived at Eagle Harbor at 10:45am, traveling with the ebb tide. Many people have told us about the currents here, how they weave in and out of the islands creating a myriad of challenges to the mariner. We were cruising along at 9.4 knots at only 1,500 RPMs! That’s a pretty substantial change for Sunny 1.  It felt like the Indy 500! As soon as we rounded Guemes Island and headed up Bellingham Channel we were barely making 4.7! Along with the changing currents come rip tides – little swirling currents that want to spin the boat off course. It was a really a lot of fun. The sun was out and we were on our way to our first San Juan Island visit – Cypress Island.

Sunny 1 on Mooring Buoy

The Island is run by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and is uninhabited.  It is a hiker’s dream with miles of trails and two fresh water lakes. There are a few places around the island for mooring. The bottoms of these natural anchorages are eel grass beds, a wonderful habitat for animals. These beds were getting destroyed by the anchors of boats so the DNR installed over 20 mooring buoys around the island for free use to the public. Each buoy is limited to 3 days. There are 14 buoys in Eagle Harbor, some marked blue for deep water and red for shallow. This is very useful when determining which to pick up according to the draft of one’s vessel. We decided on a buoy on the outside of the harbor.

Look What I Got!

We settled down for our stay by putting out our Rocker Stoppers (Mexican Hats). These are plastic discs shaped like Mexican hats that are strung four to a rope with the weight on the end. We tied them off to our mid cleat on each side of the boat. Whenever the boat starts to roll from one side to the next, the ‘hats’ offer resistance to the water and stop the roll. Yes – it really works! This made our stay, and sleep, very pleasant.

Score!

The first night away from a harbor since Tessie joined our family was challenging. We needed to get her to land to ‘do her thing’ so we headed off to shore in the kayak. Once on land, I (Liz) hauled the boat up and sat to change my shoes to take Ms. Tess for a walk. To the horror of nations everywhere, Tessie was rolling in something very dead, black goop up her arm and a smile on her face! We had been warned about this canine ambrosia by both Dara and Melissa – you just never think it’s going to happen to you! After a bath of salt water and sailor’s language, we headed back to Sunny 1 for another bath of salt water (and soap!) and a night of stinky dog.

Close Encounter

Island Girls!

We were treated to several dolphin sightings while moored those two days and our very first viewing of bald eagles! We caught 31 Dungeness crabs (6 keepers with the largest at 7 ¾”), 3 Spiny Dogfish Sharks (catch and release), and 3 Bullheads. Many harbor seals popped their heads up to investigate us and the terns fished all around the boat. A special treat were several Mew Gulls, a very small and delightful bird that frequents the area in the fall/winter. Every day we can feel the weather changing as we move into fall and it is a beautiful sight indeed.

Peaceful Paddle

Practicing For My Salmon!

Off to Port Townsend!

Port Townsend Yacht Club

We hopped on the Coupeville ferry from Whidbey Island to visit with our friends Corine and Jak in Port Townsend.  The ride across the Straight of Juan de Fuca was calm and only 35 minutes long. This route sometimes closes due to rough weather or low tides. After a delicious dinner prepared by Jak, the four of us (plus one – Tessie) set off to the Port Townsend Yacht Club (PTYC) for our initiation to the club and to pick up our burgee and other goodies. We met some of the nicest people, several who offered to meet with us to look over local charts and teach us about the area. We even got an offer by Henry Kaiser’s granddaughter (now 80 years old!) to join her on a club holiday cruise to Seattle. A handful of members have also done the Inside Passage. It was very thrilling talking about it and meeting everyone.

Liz, Corine & Jak at Point Wilson

The next day Jak and Corine took us to a cute little breakfast place called The Blue Moose which is located in the area of the boat yards. Port Townsend is known for its annual Wooden Boat Festival and therefore is a haven for wood workers with the inclination for wooden boats. A drive through the large yard was exciting – just seeing all these wooden boat projects was a treat. Some of the boats are taken down to the frame and are literally being rebuilt!

Fun at the Beach!

Point Wilson Lighthouse - Built in 1914

We also visited the lighthouse at Point Wilson which marks the west entrance to the Puget Sound. It is the turning point from the Straight of Juan de Fuca into Admiralty Inlet. Arriving back at the house, Tessie, Corine, Kathy, and I (Liz) took a walk through the woods to the beach. What a wonderful visit we had!

The 3 Musketeers!

Bowman Bay and Deception Pass

Leaving Anacortes at Sunrise

We hopped in the car and drove 20 minutes to Bowman Bay, one of the beautiful parks within the Deception Pass State Park system. They reopened crab season every day until Dec. 31^st. This hasn’t happened in over 10 years so we toted along the crab net and took a shot at it from the pier at Bowman Bay. By morning’s end we pulled up a large Dungeness (must be at least 6 ¼” and male to keep) and two huge Red Rock Crabs (6 ¼’’– must be 5”, male or female). While showing two young boys how to hold a crab, Lizzie got the pinch of her life (yes, bloody…)! Learning what NOT to do can teach us just as much…

Bowman Bay Pier

Havin' Fun!

While Kathy fished for the Big One (salmon, please), Tessie and Liz picked enough black berries for two delicious cobblers. Bowman Bay also has a public float that is accessible only by boat. The Bay is just around the corner from the famous (and infamous!) Deception Pass. We ended up buying a Discovery Pass ($30) – this one-time fee allows you to visit any state park for a year. Sure beats $10 a pop!

Deception Pass

The sheer force of the waters at Deception Pass is really something one must see in person. Yes, that means you must come and visit…

Mmm. . . . Berry Cobbler!

La Conner to Anacortes

Goodbye La Conner

On Saturday, we planned on leaving the La Conner Marina guest dock at slack tide (9:32am) to avoid the precarious currents. To our pleasant surprise the waters looked great at 7:00am so we bid La Conner an early goodbye. The passage north thru the Swinomish Channel proved somewhat peaceful with the occasional fishing boat and large tree stumps passing by. However, the bees terrorized Tessie once again and Kathy had to become the ferocious Bee Terminator (fueled by Kathy’s experience of being stung twice on our arrival).

Swing Bridge

Hat, Saddlebag, Huckleberry Islands

The Channel is well marked and keeping the red buoys to the right proved successful. Normally in U.S. waters, one keeps the red buoys to
the right when returning from sea (“red right return” is the saying). Looking at the chart one would believe we were GOING to sea since we were heading out towards the San Juan Islands, not returning. So, red right return we did – until we came to the concrete bridge of Hwy 20 when the rules changed and the red buoys lie on the left side going through Padilla Bay. Since we were then headed out to sea, the red lie on the left, the green on the right.  There was also a swing bridge that only closes when a train comes through. Of course we came to the crossing the same exact time as a commercial fishing vessel! Enough said - we made it safely across Padilla Bay to our new home, Anacortes Marina, in the clear chill of the morning, arriving at 9:15am. Our departure date proved to be the best choice as we were socked in with fog the next morning (Sunday).

Approaching Anacortes Marina

So, we’ve been here 2 ½ days and are loving it! Everyone is so nice, there’s no traffic, plenty of parking, and great restaurants. Getting our driver’s licenses today took 20 minutes tops and registering the vehicles another 30 minutes (she made a mistake and had to redo everything). There is a different office for everything but the system is very efficient. It’s a small town (18,000) but not a small-minded town. And everywhere we go Tessie gets a milk bone from every merchant (i.e. drive-thru banker).

Speaking of, we found Tessie a dog park and she has loved meeting other dogs (see video). There is also some grassy area here in the marina where she has learned to fetch. All she wants to do is run! Her Border Collie colors sure shine through! Tessie met her first harbor seal this morning at 6:00am when we walked up to use the grass. Our slip is ¾ the way down D Dock in an uncovered slip (we will be moving out to the end next month). Close to the gate is an area of covered slips (mostly charter boats). While walking towards the gate in the dim light we saw our harbor seal friend rocking back and forth on the dock between the gate and us. Tessie didn’t bark – she just kept looking at the seal and looking at me (Liz). The question became how do we get past the seal peacefully – there wasn’t room for all of us! We slowly moved toward the seal and it finally rolled back into the water in a rush. Oh, Tessie was all over that move, smelling the dock and peering into the water, her tail banging into my knees and ears jetting forward and back! What a great way to start the day… A dozen young seals spent the summer hauled out on the dock. We’ve also been told to batten down the boat in preparation for the river otters – they climb stairs!

View from our marina - Hat Island and Mt. Baker

We are hoping to get out to Cypress Island on Thursday and moor for the night. It is all weather dependent. The winds have accelerated the last two days. Kathy is itching to get her fishing line in the water and I’d like to baptize these kayaks in the San Juans. In the interim we are preparing for winter. The harbormaster is working on getting us a single slip (a dock on each side). We’re thinking it will be more secure for winter. We’ve been told the winds gust to 50 in the winter sometimes so we’ve gotten out the snubbers to take the shock off the lines. I finished caulking the windows and will begin building a box around the windlass motor. Looks like it’s time to buy a pumpkin…love to you all!

La Conner and the Swinomish Channel

Skagit Bay

There are two ways to Anacortes from the east side of Whidbey Island – Deception Pass or the Swinomish Channel via La Conner. One must take Deception Pass at slack tide. The current was running 8.8 knots thru the Pass when we left Oak Harbor but the plan was to visit La Conner anyway. On to the Swinomish Channel!

Our journey to La Conner was thru Skagit Bay, skirting the mudflats at the foot of the Skagit River. The river supports the largest wintering Bald Eagle population in the continental U.S. and is the only large river system in Washington that contains healthy populations of all five native salmon species (Chinook, Coho, Chum, Pink, and Sockeye).

Heading toward Swinomish Channel

Olympia to Anacortes

Not only does the Skagit drain 20% of the state’s fresh water from the Cascades, it also brings a lot of debris into the Bay, including many large logs. The Swinomish Channel leads from the east side of Skagit Bay, past La Conner and into Padilla Bay (see map). Many of the locals warned us of the many groundings that have been occurring lately in the Channel. We prepped as much as we could by timing our trip through the Channel when the current was less and there was plenty of water under the boat. The Channel was gorgeous – a real departure from the open space of the Sound and the Bay. It was a lazy little trip – until the tug with the logs and the impatience of another boater forced us into 4 feet 9 inches of water (we draw 4’, meaning we need 4’ 1” of water under the boat or we will hit bottom).

La Conner's Rainbow Bridge

The Swinomish Channel currents run very swift. Even at slack tide there is a lot of water movement. The docks of the La Conner Marina offered an additional challenge. They don’t have cleats – they have 4X4’s you tie onto. This is a situation where you need very short dock lines because you don’t have time to pull the line through before the boat drifts away because of the swift current (even at slack water). This was a situation when what happens during docking stays there and everyone loves each other afterwards. We have very long dock lines. Enough said…

Guest Dock Sunrise

La Conner is a charming little town with a great scone bakery (The Scone Lady). We are currently staying on the guest dock at the La Conner Marina where the view of other’s docking is great entertainment. Who needs TV? There is also a fuel dock here – an added entertainment bonus. We are at F Dock, along with the Orcas Island Yacht Club, and boats are arriving as we speak.  We aren’t sure which to grab – the video camera or the boat stick!

We will be leaving here in the morning for Anacortes. We are very excited about arriving at our new marina and taking Tessie to Cranberry Lake. 40% of Anacortes is parkland and there are many areas we are looking forward to visiting…and, of course, there are the San Juan Islands!

Kingston to Oak Harbor

Departing Kingston

Passing Camano Island

With a break in the weather we left Port of Kingston at 6:30am on Kathy’s birthday (Wednesday, Sept. 28^th). Visibility was 1 mile and the winds were 5-10 knots out of the east. The ferries out of Kingston and Mukilteo had already begun their morning runs. Leaving the Olympic Peninsula was a milestone in our travels as we headed off to Whidbey Island, a sister island to Fidalgo Island, home of Anacortes (our new Northwest home). We arrived in Oak Harbor at 12:55pm after a beautiful and chilly morning (44 degrees). Mount Baker appeared out of the east for the first time over the fog bank. Once in Anacortes, Baker will be our view from the boat – a daily reminder of the beauty and power of nature. It is so incredible here in the Northwest.

Mount Baker

Fishing Line recycling!

Oak Harbor Departure

Oak Harbor is home to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and jets rumble overhead all day and into the evening. The highlights of Oak Harbor were the many Great Blue Herons and Oyster Catchers, the monofilament recycling station, and the picnic areas built into the guest docks themselves. Off to La Conner!

Port of Kingston

Underway to Kingston

Optical Illusion

We arrived at Appletree Cove in Kingston on Wednesday after a 6-hour journey from Gig Harbor at the average speed of 7 knots. The further north we traveled, the more ferry routes we crossed. Dodging the ferries as they departed and entered Bainbridge Island, Seattle, and Port Orchard was entertaining. Equally entertaining was watching others! A variety of commercial traffic crossed our path, from tugs pulling rafts of logs to a tanker (only one!) and ferries. The Puget Sound is dozens of San Francisco Bays combined, with the expanse of water going on for what seems forever. Each shoreline looks like the wooded hills of Angel Island or Lake Tahoe, many spotted with extravagant homes or none at all. We spotted only a dozen sailboats the entire time and few commercial vessels (compared to SF Bay). The trip was very mellow with the seas only picking up towards the end of the day.

Safe in Port of Kingston

It was THIS big!

We pulled into the Port of Kingston around 2:00. Their guest dock was full of small boats going to and coming from salmon fishing! Just outside the port entrance is Point Jefferson, a popular fishing spot. You can bet a trip for Kathy to pick up her fishing license wasn’t far behind! 

It is a mix of busy and quiet here. The Kingston Ferry takes people to and from the Olympic Pennisula and Edmonds and yet the cove itself is very quiet (and a nice kayak paddle).  

Tessie thinks we’re nuts – we think she is a big kid – and she did great on her first kayak trip. She is enjoying meeting all the people and dogs coming to and from the ferry. Seems like every transient boat has a dog aboard and Tessie wants to be their best friend. We also went the beach where we discovered Tessie loves to swim and chase sticks into the water. It is a delight to discover these things about her and wonder about her life before we found each other.

Maiden Kayak Ride for Miss Tessie!

Dirty White Dog

Underwater Next to Us

The water here is clear and we enjoyed investigating the rocks at low tide. There are sea stars of various colors, sizes (up to 3’ across!), and shapes (20+ legs), 4 different species of crabs, flatfish, rockfish, urchins…  It’s funny to see the young gulls walking around with sea stars in their mouths, not knowing quite what to do with them. We’ve put several back in the water.

Spirit of Kingston (our new neighbor)

Close Quarters

Our plans to depart on Friday have been postponed due to a storm that arrived on Thursday night, bringing rain and wind gusts to 55+ mph! (Up until then the weather was perfect at 75 degrees). Boats limped in off the Sound into this safe harbor with creative docking and shaken crew. The last couple days have been windy and rainy with tomorrow forecasted as a good day to travel to our next port, Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island. The Spirit of Kingston, a catamaran ferry to Seattle, has docked next to us in the harbor due to the high winds. With our ferry history, it made us a little nervous in these gusts! The wind is different here. With the steady winds of Berkeley, gusts are an increase of wind that slowly pushes you – here, the gusts are violent jolts that shake everything. We have been waiting out the weather with games of Mexican Train Dominos, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and lots of naps. Hey, someone’s got to do it…Next stop, Oak Harbor!