I got up early to get doughnuts at the "doughnut shop" in Friday Harbor - cinnamon rolls, maple bars, and chocolate covered cake donuts - one with sprinkles and one with nuts. This is kind of a tradition that we've doing over the past few years.
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Left Friday Harbor at 0815 under foggy skies. We turned the radar on after just getting out of Friday Harbor for our cruise up Upright Channel. We used it until we just got past Flat Point in Upright Channel. I was worried about a ferry encounter like we experienced last year, but we could easily see the ferry regardless of radar or not. He passed us heading S down Upright Channel just before Flat Point. We rounded Upright Head and worked our towards Thatcher Pass, passing Leo Rocks to our starboard side. The boat traffic was increasing; it seemed that most boats were leaving the San Juans, but a few are coming into the San Juans too. After Thatcher Pass we turned down the small channel between James Island and Decatur Island riding a pretty healthy ebb right into Rosario Strait. As we passed the southern end of James Island I worked our way towards Bird Rocks and was making a good 9 knots or more taking advantage of the ebb. Using this ebb to our advantage, we crabbed our way across the Strait moving more S than E. Again it was strange pointing the bow to the E, but the course was more southerly. In the center of Rosario Strait it was a bit rolly from Juan de Fuca Strait but not too bad - it just made our ride a bit uncomfortable with a side-to-side roll. We made Deception Pass at 1130 which was a bit early for slack but it was no problem working our way against the ebb current in the pass. We rounded Hoypus Point on Whidbey Island and headed towards Hope Island where we hoped we could get a mooring buoy for the night.
There's four mooring buoys at Hope Island State Park; #1 is the farthest W and #4 is the farthest E along the N Hope Island shore. Initially we took buoy #2 but found that we were almost touching bottom. There was a minus tide. According to the depth sounder (located at the stern) we only had ONE foot of water between the keel and the bottom. I took a look and could see that when I engaged the prop we were churning up muddy water. Too shallow for me. So we moved on to buoy #4. Buoy #4 had 7 feet of water but it seemed way too close to shore. After we tied up to 
the buoy it seemed that there was only 15-20 feet between us (stern of the boat) and the shore. I still chose to take this buoy since the tide was rising and there was more water beneath us than at mooring buoy #2. The next low tide was not really low and we would not be challenged with low water. We tied up to mooring buoy #4 by 1218.
the buoy it seemed that there was only 15-20 feet between us (stern of the boat) and the shore. I still chose to take this buoy since the tide was rising and there was more water beneath us than at mooring buoy #2. The next low tide was not really low and we would not be challenged with low water. We tied up to mooring buoy #4 by 1218.We made lunch and then about 1330 the heavy clouds begain to clear and by 1400 we enjoyed clear skies. After lunch we took the Zipper over to Skagit Island and the marine trail campsite where we spent the afternoon on the beach. We then came back to the Independence and had a nice supper of European wieners and home fried potatoes. Later, Josef called us and told us he was signing with the Oceanside (Parksville) Generals.
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Stats: 24.3 nm, average speed 6.0 knots, running time 4:02, ending engine hours 6052.4
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