Well, it happened, we're proud parents of our very own sailboat. Meet Orion's Wake; she's a Catalina 22, and you can check out her stats here.
We've been kicking tires on sailboats for months and up until this point they have either cost a small fortune, were too big to fit into the driveway, or the only thing holding them together was mold and rust. Thanks to the alignment of some very small planets and Craigslist, we found a sailboat that had seen very little use, was ready to sail and didn't break the bank.
We were lucky. Quite often when boats and their new owners find each other, the two are separated by hundreds, if not thousands, of miles. Our's was only an hour's drive away. We brought her home, cleaned her up a bit, and found a cozy slip on the lake to keep her in.
Orion's Wake all tucked into her slip.
Hatches all open and ready for fun!
Not wanting to waste a minute of summer fun, we've already had her out sailing half a dozen times, slept overnight on her twice and watched fireworks while under sail on the 4th. While the cabin doesn't have a little sink or a small toilet, it does have a four person dining table, a long seat along one side of the boat and a v-berth bed that is long enough to allow me to not sleep in the fetal position all night. In grand total, she can sleep about six kids or roughly four adults and if you want the best view of the stars as you fall asleep, there is room in the cockpit to sleep two more people.
Adrienne soaking up the morning sun after spending the night on Orion's Wake.
Pirates aboard!
While the younger kids have found their place on the board as our token pirates, the older kids are content to just hang out and enjoy the ride. Almost all the kids have had their hand at steering and the more adventurous ones like to hang out up on the forward deck of the boat. Sometimes I even catch them standing on the very very front of the boat leaning against the bow pulpit channeling the Titanic movie, not the sinking part. Their other favorite trick is to lean over the side of the boat with their whole body trying to touch the water-- that's when I think, "How does that man overboard procedure go again?".
Surely more adventures will follow as we get to know Orion's Wake.
Keeping the sails tucked away, we motored out from our cozy cove and found the four-foot seas from the day before had calmed to no more than a ripple. Terrible weather to sail in, but it made for a gorgeous trip to our next island. Looking at the chart of our next destination, the island's shape reminded me of when I was a kid. I would wet my hand, press it to the sidewalk and look at the odd shapes I could create, depending on the pressure and how I would shape my hand. While I pondered this, it makes me wonder if spotting shapes in islands is akin to spotting shapes in the clouds. Either way, in my head, this little island definitely has fingers and a palm.
Shamrock docked between two large cabin cruisers.
Motoring around the island, we explored several of the bays before deciding to dock at the one that lies between the pinky and the ring finger. Unlike the night before, this bay was sporting two docks, twenty or more mooring buoys, three miles of trails, and a dozen tent campsites We wiggled Shamrock in between two large cabin cruisers parked at the dock.
We spent the better part of the day just hanging out in the Shamrock's cockpit, soaking up the sun, sharing great stories with her captainand taking siestas. As the sun fell a bit, Adrienne and I set out to stretch our legs and explore the trails. This island seems to be formed completely from sandstone. Long ago, before this island was protected as a State Park, the sandstone was quarried out and used as paving stones for the streets of Seattle.
Hiking it's beaches, we stumbled upon some amazing sandstone formations. Occasionally people find fossils embedded in the sandstone. Miniature tide pools thrived with life in the small bowl shapes worn into the sandstone. In other places you could find huge granite boulders suspended in the sandstone. After returning to Shamrock from this amazing beach hike, we learned we had missed an area with large cave formations that were used to hide illegal Chinese immigrants.
We'll have to save the spelunking for the next trip.
It was my night to play chef and tonight's special was BBQ steak, couscous, green salad, and rum punch. I know, I know, we're really roughing it out here. Some of you might have the notion that the only thing sailors ate was what they could harvest from the sea. But apparently that's optional, and for some only held as a last resort.
Below Shamrock's deck there is a complete dining table, stove, oven, toilet, two sinks with running water, and enough sleeping space to accommodate three strangers or five or six close friends. Given all that, I'm still three or four inches from being able to stand erect in Shamrock's cabin.
Evening came to an end and the sky was adrift with beautiful colors accented by the occasional cloud. As the smell of campfires and sound of people enjoying their evening filled the night, it was hard to imagine that we had to return home the next day. And yes, I will refrain from any clichés and nonsense about all good things coming to an end, or however that goes.
One of the most unexpected and surreal experiences happened to me just as I was getting ready to turn in for the night. As I was standing on the dock brushing my teeth, I did the rinse-spit thing over the side of the dock and into the bay. What I saw made me think I might have gotten too much sun or perhaps should have stayed away from the rum punch.
A ring of fleeting blue light encircled the spot where the rinse water hit the sea. I took a moment to gather my sanity and then it hit me. I know what this is! I thought it only existed in the warmer waters like the Caribbean or South Pacific. The water all around us was full of Bioluminescencentmicro organisms. I called to Adrienne to come out from the cabin of the boat and for the next twenty minutes we proceeded to empty our water bottles into the sea just to watch the light show. Not to be outdone, mother nature wanted to show us how to do it right. Within a few minutes it started to rain and the sea was alive with rings of blue light around every raindrop ripple. Like two little kids, Adrienne and I clambered into the dingy, headed out into the bay and watched the wake of the motor leave a milky way of sparkly blue lights. We could have done that all night if it wasn't for the need to sleep. We tried our best to capture it on video with little success, so I dug up this video that closely resembled the light color and intensity that we saw that night.
In the morning, the tide had dropped over four feet leaving starfish hanging on for dear life and giving a family of eagles a teaching opportunity for their young on how to feed off the clams and other sea life left exposed on the beach.
Heading back home, we had another day without wind. As we motored along, we came across several dolphins, more birds, a silvery seal, and a six hundred foot oil tanker.
Visiting the San Juan Islands has kindled a fire that can only be quenched with future rendezvous to this mystical place.
