MV Independence: Day 10

Saturday, July 23, 2011.

One of the nicest things when you are on "holiday" is that if you don't have to go, you don't have to go. That's what we decided today. We decided another day at this beautiful anchorage is definitely in order. Yesterday's hike partially up the Mt. Llanover trail had us still tired and muscles sore. So instead of getting up we decided to sleep in.

We started the day out quite lazily. The morning skies were cloudy, but you could tell the day was going to be a beautiful day. After breakfast I ran the generator for several hours to put a good chill on the refrigerator and give the batteries a charge. Since leaving Olympia on July 14th we haven't stopped at a marina where the batteries could get a good charge. The refrigerator was cool, but there definitely wasn't any ice. The solar panel also helps with charging the batteries, but when you only do short trips and stay days without motoring you're totally relying on your batteries. So running the generator a bit is a necessity.

We decided to hike the trail from the end of the bay to Black Lake and then venture a bit farther than the first swimming hole. The Black Lake trail meanders along the far eastern end of Black Lake but then moves up the hills on the north shore of the lake. Unlike the Mt Llanover trail, this trail is not so steep but gently follows the northern hill side going up and down. You can take some side trails out to some high rocky promontories to get some beautiful views of Black Lake. The trail then drops to the far northwestern shore and you walk for quite a distance right along the lake. Access to the lake is not easy because of heavy brush. When you do get to the lake it would be hard to swim because of downed trees and a mucky lake bottom. I very much thought about it, but decided against trying to go swimming. The day was turning hot, the dogs were panting heavily, and so we didn't walk more than an hour out and then deciding to turn around. The shady spots in the woods were very cool. We took our time and began to notice the many small wildflowers just off of the trail. Funny, we didn't notice them on our way out, but now we very much noticed them. On the way back we considered to stop and go swimming but by then the two or three really nice beach sites were packed with kids and families. Of course there was plenty of yelling and screaming of children having fun in the warm water. There were even small boats out on Black Lake that people carried up the trail. We were not in the mood for a big commotion, so we just returned to the Zipper and took another cooling shower in the small waterfall that pours into Roscoe Bay. We were hot from the hike but the water was very cold but oh so refreshing. We noticed that today the water was not as plentiful as it was yesterday.

We than came back to the boat and warmed up by sitting on the flying bridge in the sun enjoying a cold drink. Like yesterday there wasn't as many boats as I would have expected. And, most of the boats that arrived yesterday were still here. I guess many folks had the same idea as us. Come to Roscoe Bay and stay for more than a day.

While enjoying the afternoon up on the flying bridge a small trawler - a Camano Troll - came into the bay and made quite a show of trying to anchor. He would motor about, drop his anchor down, then put the boat into reverse to set the anchor. The issue was that he was going so hard in reverse and had so little anchor rode out that unless he snagged a submerged rock or tree he was surely not going to set the anchor. He would drag and drag only to get too close to shore or another boat, then pull it up and try again. He tried for about 40 minutes in one area of the bay and then moved to another spot and tried again. I could tell many other anchored boaters were getting worried if he tried to come too close to them. Finally after over an hour of him trolling up the bottom of Roscoe Bay his anchor finally held in a spot down the bay west of me. I could tell his wife on the bow was very relieved that this anchor setting ordeal was over. He then rowed over to shore and tied a stern line. He yelled over at me to inform me that this bottom was the worst for holding ground and how could I be comfortable being at anchor without a stern line. I simply waved. I knew my anchor was firmly set. I think everyone anchored in the bay was relieved that he was at anchor.

I came down to prepare supper – a soy, sake, ginger marinaded pork chop which I later grilled. Kim made an excellent fried rice to compliment the asian style grilled pork . We enjoyed a beautiful evening supper out on the back deck watching the sun set on the mountains to the east of us.