This time, our delay in posting has been due to vagaries of signal availability, successive bouts of stomach flu (GB, ever the gentleman, went first), and overall laziness and disorganization.
28.January 2007 – An auspicious beginning: weather was sunny, clear and cold (30s-40sF) with wind too light for sailing. MS celebrated her birthday by handing Harbormaster Karen five years’ worth of Shilshole Marina dock keys as GB slipped the mooring lines at high noon. 
Motoring northward we encountered more favorable portents: for once, both of the Kingston-to-Edmonds ferries crossed well in front of us and there was no tugboat or freighter traffic in sight. (In contrast the usual Puget Sound scenario has the poor Fox dodging all the commercial traffic like a squirrel crossing a freeway dodges trucks.)
We made it easy on ourselves after having spent so much energy* during the final six weeks before departure; taking advantage of the lack of wind for sailing, we spent the first few days sleeping late and taking short hops to some of the anchorages we have enjoyed the most during the past seven years of sailing the inland waters of Puget Sound. Our first day, we covered no more than 28 miles to Port Ludlow, Washington, for what might be a final look. 
As usual the bay was beautiful, the holding was good mud, and the evening passed uneventfully.
29.January – After a brief but uncertain engine start,** we motored 35 miles generally northward toward the San Juan Islands and another favorite gunkhole, passing through Admiralty Inlet at slack tide. 
The water was grey and glassy, and the wind nonexistent, so midafternoon found us anchoring in 32 feet at Aleck Bay on the south end of Lopez Island (N48deg.25′.625, W122deg.51′.508). Not surprisingly but to our great content, we were the only boat there on this winter weekday. When we were at The Jobs we tended to use Aleck Bay as the starting point for most of our San Juan/Gulf Island cruising vacations, and it was nice to be back in our private bay in such fine weather….
* and money. Bye-bye, Nice Money.
** which we initially attributed to use of the Espar diesel heater all night when the temperature was below freezing. Heh. Future post on this topic soon coming. Heh-heh.
Leave a Reply