Category Archives: Travel

July 2 – Anacortes to Reid Harbor

Posted on by
Reply
Guemes Channel

Heading west in Guemes Channel, we caught the outbound current.

Rosie underway

Rosie curled up on the dashboard…she frequently sleeps while we’re underway.

Mickey underway

Mickey likes to crawl under our foot stool while we’re underway…a nice secure place for him.

Double Island anchorage

Looking into West Sound from our anchorage behind Double Island, where we stopped for a couple of hours to wait for the Speiden Channel current to change.

Mickey relaxing at Double Island

After we got settled at Double Island, Mickey came out from under the stool and showed us one of his best relaxation poses.

Navionics on iPad next to Raymarine Chart Plotter

The navigation display on the left is on the iPad using the Navionics app “Marine & Lakes U.S. and Canada,” and on the right as it looks on our Raymarine Chart Plotter.

Navigation display on the iPad

A closer look at the iPad navigation display. Notice the red line that continuously updates while we are underway to show where we are headed. What a great tool!

Whale watching boat

We passed this whale watching boat as we crossed San Juan Channel on our way to Reid Harbor.

Container ship in Haro Strait

As we approached Reid Harbor, we spotted this container ship in Haro Strait, headed for Boundary Pass.

Entrance to Reid Harbor

Approaching the entrance to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island, one of our favorite anchorages in the San Juans.

Reid Harbor anchorage

In Reid Harbor, Stuart Island, looking toward the head of the anchorage.

First, a note. We are now back in Anacortes after a one-week cruise from July 2nd to the 8th…but we did not have access to the Internet while we were out, so publishing the posts from our cruise has been delayed. This is the first post from our cruise…more to come soon!

The weather conditions in Anacortes looked good this morning…grey and overcast, but no strong wind and no rain. This was a good morning for us to head out for our first cruise of 2012.

We caught the outbound current in Guemes Channel, and crossed Rosario Strait near the slack. We found lots of boat traffic in Harney Channel this morning, including several ferries. One of the ferries came up behind us as we motored west in the narrowing channel by Shaw Island…we got caught between the oncoming ferry and a large power boat with an enormous wake next to us paralleling our course, so ended up turning toward the beach and slowing almost to a stop, then going in a circle so that we could cross behind all of them. Harney Channel can get really crowded in July and August!

This was our first opportunity to use the Navionics iPad app “Marine & Lakes U.S. and Canada” for navigation. What a neat tool! It has an outstanding display, fast seamless operation, and runs from the iPad’s GPS without the need of a cell connection. The GPS does use a lot of battery, so we discovered it was best to have it hooked up to a power source. We set up the iPad alongside our 10-year-old Raymarine chart plotter and found there was no comparison…the iPad was much better! In addition to following our course, the app also provides a great tool for looking up the tide and current information for any given location.

First time out every year we get to see if things work. Most things were okay, except… The AIS wasn’t working, but that turned out to be a loose wire. And the knot meter didn’t work, and we thought that might be due to something being stuck in the paddle wheel…but no matter how much maneuvering we did, the knot meter still didn’t work. We’ll need to do more investigating to find the problem.

We turned into West Sound and found the anchorage behind Double Island empty so decided to anchor there for a few hours to wait for the current in Speiden Channel to change. We were heading on to Reid Harbor, and wanted to avoid the strong adverse current along Speiden Island. Waiting until later in the day would give the current time to moderate and reverse.

We left Double Island around 1500 and found much less boat traffic than we experienced this morning. And more favorable current! However, the clouds thickened and we had light rain most of the way. Even though we waited for more favorable current in Speiden Channel, we still encountered a strong tide race with lots of whirlpools near Limestone Point.

We found lots of boats in Reid Harbor, but there was still plenty of room to anchor. It turned into a cold, rainy night. But the heavier rain held off until later in the night, so we were able to barbecue salmon for dinner, along with steamed green beans. Felt nice to be out on the anchor again.

NEXUS

Posted on by
Reply

nexus logoYesterday’s weather was pretty wet and windy. It was a great day to drive to Blaine to take care of updating our NEXUS cards. We renewed our passports this spring, and we were required to present the new passports to the CBP so that they could update our records with our new passport information.

Once we got to the NEXUS office, the process of updating our records took only about 10 minutes. However, trying to find the correct route to reach the NEXUS parking lot and not end up in the NEXUS lane to cross the border proved too hard for us, and we ended up in the lane to Canada with no way to turn around. So, we had TWO border crossings…first to enter Canada and then to return to the U.S. where the NEXUS office is located. THAT adventure took far longer than the updating of the cards!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with NEXUS, the cards are explained on their website at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/nexus_prog/. We got our NEXUS cards to facilitate the customs process when we take our boat across the border between the U.S. and Canada. The cards are good for five years, so we will have to apply for new cards next year.

Bend to Anacortes

Posted on by
Reply
Heading north on US-97 north of Madras

We found a brief dry period on our way north on US-97 north of Madras.

Rosie in the car

Rosie curled up in the kitty cup for some of the drive.

Wind turbines in the Gorge

Hundreds of wind turbines line the horizon looking toward the Columbia River Gorge.

Columbia River Gorge looking east

Columbia River Gorge at Biggs Junction looking east

Vineyards at Maryhill Winery, Goldendale, WA

Vineyards at Maryhill Winery, Goldendale, WA

Wind turbines line the highway in Goldendale

Wind turbines line the highway in Goldendale

Toppenish, WA, looking east from U.S. 97

Toppenish, WA, looking east from U.S. 97

Mickey in the car

Mickey’s turn to ride in the kitty cup

Stormy sky near Snoqualmie Pass

Storm clouds build near Snoqualmie Pass

Blue sky and a nice sunset approaching Interstate 5

Blue sky and a nice sunset are a welcome change as we approach the junction of I-405 and I-5

Phoenix at Anacortes Marina

In our slip in Anacortes Marina the next day, Phoenix looks great in the setting sun.

Time to head to the boat! It’s about a 9-hour drive from our house in Bend to our boat in Anacortes if we drive north through Yakima and then west over Snoqualmie Pass. We prefer going that way because we can avoid heavy truck traffic and backups on I-5, so that’s the way we came this time.

We tried to get on the road early in the day, but, as usual, it took longer than we expected to get the car loaded and close up the house, so we didn’t actually leave until 1 PM. The late start meant that our arrival in Anacortes was later than we’d like. Fortunately at this time of the year the days are long enough that it’s light until almost 10 PM, so it wasn’t completely dark when we got to the marina.

It was a stormy weather day for our drive. It was raining and hailing in Bend as we loaded the last of our stuff into the car, and we had a mixture of rain and sun for the entire drive. The worst part was from Snoqualmie Pass to Issaquah, where we encountered rain that was heavy enough to pool up on the road and cause some hydroplaning.

As we headed north through Kirkland on 405, the skies were clearing, and by the time we reached Everett and points north, we had clear skies. When we arrived at our marina, we felt lucky to arrive at high tide, making it easier to carry our things down the dock ramp to the boat.