Cruising up Lewis Channel in Desolation Sound a couple of years ago. Thought we might be out in the wonderful B.C. cruising waters this summer, but fate seems to have other plans.
Well, we thought we might be able to do some cruising this summer while we were staying on our boat during the time our house was on the market. Seemed like a good strategy to get out of the house so it would stay cleaned up and show better. But sometimes things don’t work out the way we plan.
A spectacular sunset at Reid Harbor, Stuart Island, our favorite quiet anchorage in the San Juan Islands.
This week Cruising With Phoenix reached 20,000 views! Thanks to those of you who are following our blog and to all the others who end up here looking for information about boating or cruising in the Pacific Northwest!
While we’ve been waiting for the new glass for our window to arrive, we’ve enjoyed some nice weather and interesting activities around the marina. These sailboats were participating in a recent Anacortes Yacht Club buoy race on Fidalgo Bay, with Mt. Baker in the distance. They had a perfect evening for a race…sunny, warm, and a nice breeze.
Update: Broken Window
We had hoped that our broken window would have been fixed by now. The glass was supposed to be cut, tempered, and shipped by last Thursday. But projects on boats always seem to have “issues,” and this was no exception.
When we arrived at our dock, we saw a large volume of smoke rising above the burning boat as the firefighters pumped water into the boat.
We caught our breaths as we returned to Anacortes Marina yesterday afternoon and saw a column of dark smoke rising above the Anacortes waterfront. As we got closer, we realized the smoke was coming from our marina or somewhere very close to it! When we arrived at the parking lot, we found many emergency vehicles filling the area, most with lights flashing. We saw that the smoke was coming from A Dock, which was a bit of a relief, because our boat is on B Dock.
We headed down to the Anacortes Farmers Market yesterday morning. It continues to get bigger every year, and has so much to offer. It was overcast yesterday so it wasn’t too hot, and the rain had stopped overnight. The Market is a short walk from Anacortes Marina along the waterfront. It’s a great way to start the day.
This is one of the few photos we have of us sailing Carina, our Valiant Esprit 37, with the spinnaker flying. Our friends caught us as we were sailing in Puget Sound in 1984 just after returning from our cruise to Mexico and Hawaii. Carina was still outfitted with the boat name on the weather cloths for better recognition at sea, and our wind vane was still mounted on the stern.
As we prepare to start the new year of 2014, we’ve been reflecting on friends and memorable events from the past. In thinking about New Years and our boating, what came to mind was the New Years we spent in Mexico 30 years ago. We had sailed Carina, our Valiant Esprit 37, down the coast from Washington State. We left Neah Bay, WA on August 9, 1983 and spent the next three-plus months sailing down the West Coast. We arrived in Cabo San Lucas on December 22, 1983.
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