Experiencing summer in the San Juan Islands has been delightful! The past two summer seasons we’ve been up north in British Columbia and I didn’t get out of my fleece and wool clothing till we made trips back to Colorado. I was not a fan. But here in Anacortes, we’ve been enjoying temperate weather—60s to low 80s—which feels just right for the adventures we’ve also been enjoying.
I finished stripping, sanding and oiling the cap rails, bulwarks, bowsprit and eyebrow trim. Clay applied a couple more coats of varnish to the handrails. They all look great! Next up is either stripping/oiling or revarnishing some trim in the cockpit. In the end, Sundown will have a beautiful combination of weathered teak, shiny varnish and enriching oil finishes.
We’re out sailing as often as possible, either in Sundown or in Lil’ John, our new sailing dinghy, Lil’ John. I also inflated my kayak so can often be seen paddling to keep up with Lil’ John and Clay.
We had fun “land camping” east of Anacortes up in the Cascades. One day we hiked up to the glaciers, which were amazing. To protect our camp from torrential rain, Clay constructed the Taj Mahal of tarp structures. The camp host said we won first prize! During construction, we thought fondly of our friend Susan Lamb. While camping as families when our boys were young, she would get such a kick out of Clay’s tarp hanging skills. We’re sure she was smiling down from heaven on his recent creation.
We’ve also been biking, hiking around the woods on Fidalgo Island and even went to the local golf course to hit range balls.
Dancer Pose in rain boots and a skirt on James Island, San Juans.
Oh, and while we’ve been sticking closer to our home base, I took a yoga instructor course and am studying to test for my American Council on Exercise (ACE) Group Fitness Instructor certification. I’m already teaching yoga at the Anacortes Pool & Fitness Center and will be teaching Strength & Conditioning soon. This is all in addition to my regular writing/editing gigs, and so much fun! Definitely bucket list activities.F
So, life aboard doesn’t feel as confining to me this year. I like this summer’s variety of activities versus exclusively sailing from place to place with Sundown’s 33 feet on deck as my primary space for movement. That said, I do miss the freedom and experiences cruising provides, but I’m sure there’s more of that in our future.
By the way, our son, Chad, quickly designed the featured image for this blog post. SO cool! He’ll be helping me update the look of our blog site, too. Wait for it…
