Matia's Fortune

San Juan Islands - Act Two

We made our way out of the four foot waves into the placid waters of the small bay of the island where we would stay the night. 

Typically this bay only has room for five or six boats and we weren't sure if there was going to be room at the inn for us there. As we approached the bay, we could see that there was room for us to tie off at the dock, so we lowered the sail and motored our way to the dock. We were received with friendly welcome from it's current residents.

After squeezing in with the motor yachts at the dock, we opened a few beers and started a lively conversation with our Canadian neighbors.  This eventually led to each of us lightheartedly teasing the other about our countries pronunciations of certain words.  While we made fun of them using "Eh" they thought saying "Yep" was the funniest thing ever.  We ate a wonderful dinner on the dock as we watched jellyfish wander below and the sun drop over the horizon. Settling in for the night, Shamrock's dining table was converted to a double berth for Adrienne and I, while the skipper slept in the v-berth at the bow of the boat. A perfect end to our first day sailing in the San Juan Islands.

I'm usually an early riser and tend to wake with the sun. So, in a land so far north where the sun's light disappears way past ten and shows itself as early as five thirty the next day, my morning was going to start earlier than usual. In the delicate quiet of the morning, I made two cups of chai and woke Adrienne from her sleeping bag cocoon. As the sun rose higher the sounds of birds brought in the morning and the Otters, Great Blue Heron and Pigeon Guillemots joined us in the bay.

We started our day with a hike around the island. These islands are part of a national wildlife refuge and have trails that you can explore their hills, valleys, and bays.  As the story goes, this island used to be home to a hermit who lived here for over 30 years in the late 1800's.  The only signs of life on the ground these days are Chernobyl sized Banana Slugs, Giant Black Slugs, and Tent Caterpillars.  Besides that, there seems to only be birds inhabiting this amazing little island.

Heading back down the trail to the dock we could see the skipper tending to Shamrock. We went down to the dock and spent a leisurely morning drinking coffee, eating breakfast and engaging in fascinating conversations with our dock neighbors.

During our time at the dock, we talked to a guy that had been sailing for the last five weeks in the same waters, with four foot waves and twenty five knot winds that we had been sailing. But he wasn't sailing in a large sailboat; he was sailing in this small yellow sailing kayak that he designed and built himself. He planned on spending the rest of the summer exploring the islands. The consensus later at the dock was that this guy had more guts and courage than most of us combined.

As we packed and prepared Shamrock to go explore our next island, the sunshine decided to join us for the day. But, as is common in the San Juan Islands, the wind had died off to a cat's breath, leaving us to motor our way to the next island in search of further adventure and new experiences.

~J~