July 24 – Westscott Bay, 3 miles

Ray found the package of cinnamon rolls that Erin requested he make the other day, so that was incorporated into breakfast today. We all slept in a bit, if 7 o’clock is sleeping in.

After breakfast, Erin and I walked ashore to the sculpture garden for a walkaround. We saw several pieces we liked – especially the mobiles and of course the turtle art. All the pieces here are for sale and range in price from a couple thousand dollars up to $25k and more. I don’t think they’re moving them very fast.

Checkout time was at noon, and we were in no hurry to leave earlier, as we’d decided to go anchor at Westscott Bay, a 3 mile cruise just around the corner. By the way, all the references to miles in this blog are nautical miles, not the statute miles we’re all familiar with on land. Nautical miles are 6,076 feet.

We pulled away from the dock just before noon, idling out of the harbor towards Mosquito Pass. This pass runs between San Juan Island and Henry Island, and leads out to Haro Strait. About two thirds of the way through southbound, one can turn to port, or to the east and enter either Westscott Bay or Garrison Bay. Mosquito Pass is pretty straightforward if you pay close attention to your chart, but many who have attempted to cut a corner short have run aground here. That would especially be the case today, as we passed through on a minus 2 foot tide. We saw no one stranded today. Other than a run into the bay about 16 or 17 years ago in a rented skiff, we first came here last year to rendezvous with Trav and Barb on the Bar-T-Na. This year there were nearly as many crab pots scattered about as last year, but nowhere near the anchored boats. Many of the pots are being checked, I think, by people zooming in here from Roche Harbor.

After such an arduous journey, of course we kicked back for a little relaxation. But, soon I lowered the dinghy, and Ray and I went for a spin around the bay. We checked out the aquaculture pier, which appears to be an oyster farm of some sort. They have a bunch of black buoys running in several lines around the pier. On the dock are a few that have been pulled up, and we can see thin mesh cages, about the consistency of shrimp pots. They were round, about a foot and a half in diameter, but cylindrical – several feet long as they hang down under the buoys. The ones up on the dock appeared to contain oyster shells, and there were also some plastic milk crates with oyster shells.

We continued on to the head of the bay, where we saw a small sign on an upright stick, about 50 yards from shore. Of course, we had to approach it to read it, as the font was very small. It was a warning that we were now entering an eel grass preserve, and to keep out.

Erin and I went for a ride a little later in the afternoon, with Erin doing all the motoring, including landing at our swim step upon our return. We cruised along the shoreline, and tried to find the viewpoint in the sculpture garden where we could look out at the tide flats of this bay. We could only guess where our viewpoint was this morning.

Our dinner consisted of pork chops, corn and the remaining new potatoes we had picked up at Ganges some time ago. They tasted extra good, maybe because we weren’t supposed to bring them across the border.

I was able to find an unsecured wifi signal after dinner, and was hoping to see an update to Craig’s blog to see if they had a successful day in regards to getting their alternator problem resolved. No update, but we’re hoping for a good outcome. The wifi was a one bar weak signal and is gone now, but may come back when we swing around. If so I’ll post this this evening – otherwise it’ll wait.

Tribble is finally coming around to taking on the roll of a boat cat. The past two or three days she has spent very little time under the couch, and has joined us up on the bridge while we’re underway. Today she ventured out onto the deck when no one was watching, exiting via the back side curtain and walking the length of the walkway. Erin spotted her as she passed in front of the salon side door. She was in her typical cautious nervous cat slink, but continued on out to the foredeck, checking out the closed hatch there. She stopped to look over the edge several times, but must have intuitively known it wasn’t a good idea to jump down. We brought along our salmon net for just such an occurrence – fortunately it wasn’t needed. She returned back to the rear side curtain, bypassing an entrance into the salon, to come back in the way she left.

After a chill wind off the strait early in the afternoon, the weather has settled down and we are enjoying a sunny, calm evening swinging on the anchor at Westscott Bay.