Sundown Sailing Adventures

The past week has been filled with more adventures, lessons, friends and fun.

Halloween proved to be a trick and a treat. Despite a less than favorable forecast, we left our safe anchorage in Blind Bay off Shaw Island to head for Anacortes. Some of our friends from Fort Collins, Nancy and TJ, were flying into Seattle and driving a car up to Anacortes that day; we wanted to meet them there…but it wasn’t set in stone. We left in rain, fog and a forecast of winds up to 40 knots. Given that a similar forecast didn’t pan out the day before, we thought we’d be fine if we got an early start.

Once we approached the Rosario Strait, it became apparent the forecast was right on. We were motoring around the top of Obstruction Island and hit waves that were about eight feet high and only five seconds apart. (The waves were intense because of the wind and opposing currents.) A few items began flying around belowdecks, so I scrambled down to investigate. While crawling around on my hands and knees assessing the damage and securing what I could, Clay decided not to continue through the storm…thankfully! He did an about face heading us to Blakely Island Marina where he hoped we would find a place to duck out of the weather even though the marina was closed for the season.

Troy and Dan frying turkeys

Wow, did we hit the jackpot! We secured Sundown to the fuel dock and went ashore to find members from the Corinthian Yacht Club (CYC) were there for a monthly gathering. They invited us to use an empty slip, and join them at a turkey fry and potluck. Everyone was so welcoming and happily shared so much information about local sailing. It was like arriving in Oz.

Along with all the CYC members, we left Blakely Island the next morning and made it to Anacortes. The weather was still a bit rough, but not like the day before. We sailed for a while, but then motored the rest of the way just to get there quicker.

I called the Cap Sante Marina ahead of our arrival and was instructed to take any open slip on the odd side of C dock. With winds blowing about 15-20mph from the southeast, we set up to dock on the port side of the slip. Before I could secure Sundown’s bow, she blew perpendicular inside the slip, so Clay just let her go and she did a full 360. That was exciting! He came into the slip again for another shot and between the two of us—after struggling for about 30 minutes—we got her secured to the dock. At one point I was sitting on the dock with my feet braced against a dock cleat pulling for all I’m worth. Me against a 24,000 vessel. What was I thinking?

TJ and Clay watching for whales

Me and Nancy hiking on Cypress Island

Once secured, Clay and I called Nancy and TJ to say we had landed. We enjoyed a great meal at Frida’s II Mexican restaurant and three more days sailing to Cypress Island, eating good food, hiking, playing music and cards, and just relaxing. We hated to see them go after dinner Wednesday night, but they had other friends to visit back in Seattle and we had boat projects and other work to do.

Monica, Me and Megan

This morning, before getting busy with all the work, I ran seven miles. At a street crossing about ½ mile into it, I came alongside two local superwomen, Monica and Megan, who were out for a mere 20-mile jaunt. They were both training for 50k races. I kept pace with them for about three and half miles and then turned back to tackle my chores. It was fun to have a couple of running partners for a change. Perhaps I’ll look up Megan again…or you should. She and her husband own Anacortes Kayak Tours, which sounds like yet another fun adventure.

So what did we do today? I did laundry, worked on a couple of my columns for the December issue of RM Parent, crafted a new monthly budget, vacuumed the cockpit and whole cabin, and organized and inventoried all the storage areas under the pullman berth. Clay worked on the head for about five hours and hopefully fixed it. Time will tell.

The forecast for the next couple of days doesn’t sound like pleasant sailing or even motoring weather. Rain and 25-35mph winds with gusts to 40mph. Been there done that! We’re staying put in Anacortes till at least Sunday when conditions improve. Then we’ll head to Deer Harbor where we’re getting a slip for at least a couple of months. We’re learning!