Category Archives: Travel

Stormy Weather

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Put cloud photo here Last Sunday we had a rather intense windstorm blow through Western Washington. Winds of 55 mph were reported on Whidbey Island, but even though we had strong wind at Anacortes marina, it wasn’t quite as intense. Most of the wind seemed to average between 20-30 mph, with some gusts approaching 40 mph. The strong winds lasted from early morning until mid-afternoon, and were accompanied by rain squalls and some much cooler weather. The wet weather caused another delay in our waxing efforts. We’ve managed to get about half of the waxing done so far, and hope for some dry breaks in the next few days so that we can get back to the waxing. Since we couldn’t work outside, it was a good opportunity to do more planning/work on the installation of our replacement SiriusXM satellite radio. We decided to mount the new radio on the starboard side of the boat because that’s where the cable from the antenna enters our cabin. But in order to connect it to our onboard stereo system, we had to figure out a way to connect it to our stereo receiver on the port side of the cabin. The satellite radio isn’t a stand-alone audio device. It plays through our stereo system by connecting to our Sony stereo receiver. The satellite radio we replaced had connected to our stereo receiver by transmitting an FM signal to the Sony stereo, but the newer satellite radio offers the option of a direct connection from its earphone jack to an auxiliary input jack on the stereo receiver. The direct connection produces a better signal, so we decided to go that way. In order to directly connect the radio to our stereo receiver, we have to route a cable from the satellite radio on the starboard side of the cabin through the cabinetry and the engine room in order to hide the cable. We finally figured out a good place to mount the radio and the best route for running the cable. We got a good start on this project during the inclement weather, but the actual work will take a little longer.

The storm clouds built Saturday evening in advance of a strong windstorm that blew through on Sunday. This photo was taken from the Anacortes shoreline looking east. Cap Sante is on the far left.

Last Sunday we had a rather intense windstorm blow through Western Washington. Winds of 55 mph were reported on Whidbey Island, but even though we had strong wind at Anacortes Marina, it wasn’t quite as intense. Most of the wind seemed to average between 20-30 mph, with some gusts approaching 40 mph. The strong winds lasted from early morning until mid-afternoon, and were accompanied by rain squalls and some much cooler weather.

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Burgers and A Steam-Powered Fire Engine

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brown lantern ale house

When we finished varnishing last week, we decided to head to the Brown Lantern Ale House for a couple of their great burgers and Mac & Jack’s African Amber Ale. Brown Lantern is one of our favorite places for a casual dinner in Anacortes.

When we’re staying on our boat at Anacortes Marina, we often don’t know when local events are scheduled. Partly because we live in Oregon, but also because we’re usually more focused on getting ready to take the boat somewhere and/or working on the boat and don’t pay attention. However, because we’re in walking distance of everything in town and along the waterfront, we often discover what’s going on by seeing things along our walks.

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September in Anacortes

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reflections in the marina

We’ve had some nice weather this week, including some colorful sunrises. The glow from this sunrise created some wonderful reflections of the boats and boat houses in the calm water at Anacortes Marina.

Working on maintenance and projects at our house this summer kept us away from our boat in July and August, when we usually set aside time for exterior boat maintenance—varnishing the teak and waxing the cabin and hull. However, in order to protect the boat over the winter months, we still need to take care of the varnishing and waxing, even though it’s September and the weather will make this work more challenging. So, we packed up the car and headed to Anacortes in the middle of September, hoping for some decent weather.

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Video: Desolation Sound to Yuculta Rapids

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2007 heading to Yuculta Rapids

In 2007, we had sunny skies and calm water as we headed from Desolation Sound toward Yuculta Rapids. This view always inspires us, as the Rapids mark the northern boundary of Desolation Sound and are the entry to North of Desolation Sound where the cruising becomes more remote—with magnificent scenery, more wildlife, colder and harsher weather, fewer services, and fewer cruising boats. It always represents adventure.

In June, we shot another short video during our morning cruise from Squirrel Cove, Cortes Island, to Dent Island Lodge. It was such a gorgeous morning and I was trying out a new camera, a Canon PowerShot N. It’s a cute little point-and-shoot with excellent optics and a generous zoom, and its small size makes it easy to have on hand for quick photos. Also, it is WiFi enabled, so it is easy to transfer photos from the camera to my iPhone so that I can email photos if I want. It uses a micro SD memory card, and it is easy to move photos from the camera to my computer from the SD card. I took many of the photos on our June-July cruise with the “N” to see how it works and also because I liked the results.

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Video: 2013 Cloudy Entry to Desolation Sound

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2004 Entering Desolation Sound

When we entered Desolation Sound in 2004, we had this spectacular view of the B. C. mainland mountains that lie behind the waters of Desolation Sound. Sarah Point is on the right.

Getting to Desolation Sound is always a “feel-good” event for us. We’ve cruised in and through Desolation Sound numerous times since our first cruise there in 1980. Each time, we look forward to the spectacular views of snow-capped mountains as we enter the waters there.

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Navigating Tidal Rapids in the Inside Passage

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canoe pass slack

Canoe Pass is a narrow passage that flows alongside Dent Island Lodge. I took this photo at slack water from our boat shortly after we arrived. At slack water, the current is calm and the sea is flat. The side deck of the lodge is visible at the right in the photo, and offers a great place to watch the current ebb and flood.

The Inside Passage is famous for big tides and fast currents. As the water floods and ebbs from the Pacific Ocean, it is constricted when it forces its way through narrow passages, called tidal rapids. There are many tidal rapids all along the Inside Passage. When we were at Dent Island, we had a chance to watch the tidal rapids in Canoe Pass from the shoreline and see how the water changed throughout the day as the currents changed direction.

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