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!

On to Gig Harbor

Mt. Rainier

Liz and The Narrows Bridge

We're here! Gig Harbor is a cute little harbor with lots of beautiful boats. We arrived yesterday afternoon after a 30 mile trip up from Olympia. The water was like glass and Mt. Rainier served as our escort to the east all the way up. What a wonder she is, so grand and mystical. We timed our trip so that we hit the Tacoma Narrows around slack tide (time between ebb tide and flood tide). The currents can run up to 5 knots so you won't make much head way if you travel at the wrong time (you can even go backwards!). We spotted some very small dolphins on our way (only 3 - 4 ft long). Cute and compact!

K & T at Arabella's, Gig Harbor

We are staying at Arabella's Landing in Gig Harbor for two days before heading north to Kingston on Friday. This will be another 30 mile 

trip but time seems to stand still aboard our Sunny 1 as she gently rocks you along your way. Today is a day of much needed rest from the craziness of prepping and moving. It is wonderful to finally be here after all our hard work and planning. We feel quite blessed and are so grateful for all the love and support we've received along the way.

Arriving in Olympia

Sunny's arrival via Truck

Liz & Tessie at Swantown Boatworks, Olympia

Sweet Dreams

Sunny 1 recomissioned and ready to go!

We (Kathy, Liz, Tessie, and Sunny 1) arrived in Olympia on Thursday. It was a two-day road trip up Hwy 5 (though Sunny had to take some back roads). No, we didn't follow the truck but heard from the driver that Sunny cleared one particular overpass by only 1 inch! We later discovered that the top of the bow light (highest area when the mast was taken down) is somewhere down Hwy 5. Oh well - it needed replacing anyway...

We spent the next 5 days resting (a bit) and putting Sunny back together again. The folks at Olympia's Swantown Boatworks were terrific and the guest dock was quiet there at the very south end of the Puget Sound. Olympia is a town of only 40,000 (the state capital) but the downtown area by the marina has a real SF/Berkeley feel. A couple of our favorite places: The Bread Peddler (best apple fritter EVER), BonJour Cupcakes (yes, there's a theme here...), Farmer's Market, and Old School Pizza. We drove our vehicles up to Anacortes on Saturday. We've been doing a lot of walking, especially with Tessie and her quest for the 'perfect spot'. 

Vallejo, CA to Olympia, WA

Sunny 1 loaded in Vallejo

Big Girl!

We made it to Olympia from the road last night at 9:00. Having a dog really changes how many rest stops you have to try! Tessie did great and met a handsome 175 pound (!) german shepherd who gave her lots of kisses.

Getting Sunny 1 ready for the truck was quite the undertaking. Many thanks to Scott and his 4' long tie wraps! We did such a fine job that the truck driver said, "Oh, you've done this before..."!
Once Sunny was loaded onto the truck and secured (took 3 hrs), Carl (the nice trucker from Missouri) took another hour measuring the height of the load. We measured Sunny in the yard in March to the height of 15' 1".  Add 6" for the truck for the height of 15" 7'. After an hour of measuring Carl determined Sunny sat at 16' 2", thus requiring an additional escort car, one of them being the Pole Car. This car literally has a pole adjusted to 16"2' attached to the front bumper. If the Pole Car clears the overpass/bridge, she lets the driver know he can proceed. Funny that in our high tech world it comes down to something as basic as a pole not scraping the bottom of the concrete.
Sunny is expected to arrive this afternoon at Olympia's Swantown Boatworks. We noticed she needs her zincs changed before going in the water so a trip to West Marine is on the list. The trucking company is not charging us for the additional escort car (whew!).

We are so excited to be splashing Sunny into Puget Sound water today! Can't wait to take a nap in our own bed!
More later!