Day 3 - Sucia Island

Left Friday Harbor at 0930 under clear skies and variable winds. Went up San Juan Channet & turned N just after Wasp Island. Then up President Channel, round Pt. Doughty and to Sucia Island and Fossil Bay. Fossil Bay was full of boats; all the mooring buoys were taken, the docks were full, there wasn't even much room to anchor. We found a spot & dropped the hook in 6' of water at low tide. A light breeze from the E was blowing. It was 12:30 PM.

I was hoping a mooring buoy would come available but no luck. All afternoon boats kept on coming and going. They'd pull into the bay, cruise about with a forlorn look, then leave. However there was a small sailing craft rendezvous going on too. These sailboats weren't you popular production craft but looked like home-built sailboats that had a historical look to them. They were either sail or human powered, although a few did have small outboards on them. They were all brightly painted in greens and reds, and the captains and crew looked as eccentric as the boats.

I spent the day doing some much needed brightwork. I put a coat of varnish on the cap rails, hand rails, and a few other items. It was perfect for this kind of work - not too hot out, a light breeze, and no waves. I got quite a bit of work done. Meanwhile the crew slept or read books. Later we went to shore for a short visit. There are so many boating memories here. When we were "young boaters" we spent a lot of time at Sucia. So many long walks, looking for fossils, and just exploring. Its been over 10 years or more since we were last at Sucia. Now they have a pavilion for sitting, a handicap tent site, shelters with bunks so you don't have to use a tent, and many more camp sites.

After our short shore visit we came back and grilled some chicken for dinner and had a relaxing evening. We watched for a long time a river otter playing and splashing just off a small island in the bay. Josef also got the call that he needed to be in Nanaimo on Wednesday and they'll pick him up on Thursday morning. I was relieved since this put some organization on our trip, because until then it was just "wandering about" until we knew we had to be in Nanaimo. This also helped me think of the rest of our trip beyond Nanaimo and I started to work on a schedule.

The day's stats: 16.2 nm, average speed 5.1 knots, running time: 3:09, cumulative trip 125.6 nm. Ending engine hours 5978.9, 3.5 engine hours.