Friday Harbor and surrounds

[erps]

John, how did the new heater work? What kind of amperage did it use? Last couple of times we noticed our heater wasn't putting out the heat it normally does. So two trips ago, I start monkeying with the carburator deally-bob and found that an adjustment screw had been slowly backing out, so you would have to turn the knob to get the same amount of heat. So that was a quick fix and we were back up to T-shirt temps inside two weekends ago at Coronet Bay.

[jrd22]

Adam- I thought that if we tucked up into the end of the bay we would be out of the wind, but actually it was stronger there than further south. Seemed like the island accelerated it when it came down the slope. We anchored for awhile and decided it would be a hard row to take the dog ashore, so we moved. Back in behind Double Is. was even better but it's all private land.

Erps- the Wallas is working great, I insulated half of the heat ducts (have to finish it) and it really increased the output. It stays nice and warm, and only seems to draw about 2-3 amps (analog guage). Glad you got your heater going. Not sure if we are going to be able to get out this weekend or not, I'll give you a call if we do.

[AdamLein]

So, we finally got to Friday Harbor this week for an all-around pleasant cruise.

We left Point Roberts on Sunday morning and spent the night on Jones Island. Next day we were in Friday Harbor, and then a night in Fossil Bay on Sucia for the return trip. We had great weather the whole time, only put about an hour and a half on the motor, saw some great sights, and learned lots of good seamanship.

I'm particularly proud of a couple of aspects of this trip: first, it's the first trip for which we gave serious consideration to currents and planned to take maximal advantage of them. This usually meant being ready to go at 0700 and being at our destination by 1400, which we pulled off without complaint, enabling us often to make 4 knots over ground in near calm conditions. We used the Current Atlas with Point Atkinson tide data downloaded off the government of Canada website to plan our departures and routes.

The other aspect I'm quite pleased with is that navigation was purely "traditional". We had the GPS around in case we got lost, but we never needed it. I made up a plotting sheet based on the instructions in Bowditch and copied points of interest, hazards, and natural and artificial aids to navigation. We used that for dead reckoning and plotting lines of position. It was thrilling to wander into unfamiliar territory and still be able to pinpoint our location without electronic assistance.

One thing we didn't consider -- and while everybody who sails the San Juans knows this, a reminder is in order -- was the tides. Everything went fine until we prepared to leave Fossil Bay on the flood. The tidal exchange was quite high this week (15 feet) and at slack on Wednesday, we returned from a hike to find our keel sunk a foot into the mud, right at the dock! As a result we had to wait around for the flood to come and lift us out. It took almost two hours, in which time the depth went from 2.7 feet to 4.5. I went out in the kayak and, with lead line, sounded around the bay to find the deepest path out.

All in all it was a wonderful trip and a great getaway for the wife and me. I definitely recommend all of our overnight points to other San Juans cruisers. We met lots of friendly people, saw some amazing wildlife and seascapes, and learned a lot about seamanship. Looking forward to exploring the rest of the islands.

Will post pictures soon!