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!