Home to Anacortes

Tessie's First Snow

We left San Felipe March 19, 2012 for our new home, Anacortes, WA, leaving behind many cherished memories of our friends and times there during the winter. We passed through Oregon during a snowstorm that approached a white out. We weren't in the Baja anymore! Tessie had her first romp in the snow.  We were happy to get through Oregon and into the Evergreen State where the only snow we could see was on the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges.

Sunny 1 faired very well during our absence and it was good to be back sleeping on the water again. Liz started her BeachWatchers class with Washington State University at the end of March and Kathy completed her instructor certification with the Recreational Power Boat Association (a branch of the American Sailing Association) and has been making many maritime connections.

Heart Lake, Anacortes

The parks here are simply amazing. Anacortes has the highest percentage of public parklands per capita than any city in the nation. One of the areas within the city are the Anacortes Community Forrest Lands, 2,800 acres of lakes and hiking trails, all within the city limits. Another beautiful area in the city is Mt. Erie. Then there are beautiful local state parks, such as Deception Pass and Bowman Bay, and county parks, all within 20 miles. Put on your hiking boots!

Marina Fire

Too Close for Comfort!

On the evening of April 10, 2012 a boat only four slips away and across the dock caught on fire! We rushed outside to see a 29' powerboat completely engulfed in flames, fiberglass popping and noxious smoke billowing into the air. Our neighbor Dan (only 2 boats away from the fire) was yelling, "Fire!" You could feel the intense heat. Kathy grabbed our water hoses from the deck and headed over to the fire where we hooked up a third hose. Dan and Kathy kept 2 water hoses on the fire, while Liz (Tessie in one hand) kept a hose on the boats next to the burning boat and Dan's boat. Dan ended up untying the boat next to the flames and sending it floating across the fairway to awaiting liveaboards who secured the boat away from harm. Liz continued to water down Dan's boat while Kathy and Dan kept water on the burning boat, fully aware of the gas fuel tanks on board. As the fired burned fast and hot, we could hear 'whooshing' sounds and imagined it to be exploding aerosol cans. We later learned the guy had handguns and ammo onboard! We all literally dodged many bullets that night!

Aftermath Taken From the Bow of Sunny 1

The fire department arrived and eventually evacuated us to the parking lot, just in time for the gas tanks to explode! 150 gallons of gasoline in the water! During all of this, the fire burned through the lines of a burning boat on the other side of the initial burning boat and drifted across the fairway (on fire!) to the adjacent dock where a group of liveaboards wielded their garden hoses to keep the fire from spreading to boats on their dock. Liveaboards rock! The fire claimed four boats, two sinking in the night, and destroyed the dock.  The Washington State Department of Ecology arrived that night and began absorbing the gasoline. Unfortunately, being that gas shouldn't be contained because it is so volatile, much of the fuel was allowed to dissipate with the rains and currents. We are so grateful that it was dead calm that night. Any wind would have spread the fire quickly from boat to boat. They determined the cause of the fire to be a West Marine dehumidifier plugged in the V berth of the boat.

See Tessie and Liz on TV! http://www.kirotv.com/videos/news/boats-destroyed-damaged-in-anacortes-fire/vGtYD/

Spring is Springing

According to the locals, this spring and last have been colder and wetter than usual for this area. We have days of sunny between more days of overcast and rain. Anacortes and the San Juan Islands average only 20 inches of rain annually and are generally warmer than other areas of the state, such as Seattle. Bring on the sun, please!

Liz completed a Marine Naturalist certification program through The Whale Museum at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. The course culminated with time on the water with the resident Orcas. Our class also had the honor of receiving the bones of Sooke, a young Orca from L Pod who mysteriously died off the coast of Oregon. For more information on Sooke http://www.whalemuseum.org/programs/stranding%20network/Sooke.html

Sooke's Teeth

The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor will be expanding to exhibit Sooke's skeleton, which will highlight the modern dangers these endangered species mammals face in our world. 

We really love Anacortes and invite you all to visit. It is a small town (population 17,000) located between the farmlands of the fertile Skagit River basin and the beautiful San Juan and Gulf Islands. The population of the entire county is only 116,000, yet is close to the population center of Bellingham and 1 1/2 hours from British Columbia. See ya soon - your bunk awaits!