Chronicle I June 1, 2007

Killer whales, an eight-foot inflatable, a 3.5 hp Tohatsu outboard, and two old people. Day 3: Windwalker was on a buoy in Reid Harbor, Stuart Island (in the San Juans) and we decided to take our new motor and almost-new dinghy (Taku and Ratty II, respectively) for an explore. We putzed around the southeast end of the island and then west into Prevost Harbor, enjoying memories. Prevost Harbor is about half way around the six-mile island, so Doug suggested we keep heading west and circumnavigate the island.. My response: Turn Point in my DINGHY??? Turn Point gets it’s name because The Current Turns there. Swirling. Moving quickly. We had been carefully reading the tide and current tables, so we knew there was a very small tidal exchange. My worrisome-don’t-do-anything-fun-or-risky guardian angle told me it would be fine. It was. I took some pictures of the lighthouse. We rounded the point and started heading south. Boats ahead of us bobbing around with people on deck. A small Boston Whaler full of people with huge cameras. What are they watching? What planet am I from?

A pod of 3, 6,…I don’t know…. killer whales surfaced just south of us, close to shore. It is unlawful to come within 1,000 yards of them, but someone forgot to tell the whales. They were closer; MUCH CLOSER. We steered past them and headed out to sea. More whales to the south, heading north. HOW WILL THEY KNOW WE’RE HERE??? You get to imagine Doug’s expression and tone of voice: They’ll hear the motor. Another pod passed, and Doug cut the motor. Taku has a teacup-sized internal gas tank; this is a new experience for us. He had already stopped twice on the explore for lack of nourishment; Doug didn’t want to be without power (such as it is) if we really needed it. So we bobbed and watched and listened. Listening was the best. Killer whales don’t W00SH. They certainly don’t snort. They have their own killer whale sounds that don’t translate. Between listening, watching them breech, and being concerned about one coming up under Ratty II, I didn’t even bother with the camera, or even to try to count them. The pod quickly traveled northwest and we slowly traveled southeast back to Reid Harbor.

That was the most exciting part of our trip so far, so if you have socks to sort, you can check back in a few days. Otherwise, read on…..

Day 1:

We left Eagle Harbor at o’dark hundred on Monday, May 28th headed for Port Townsend, about 3 hours into an outgoing tide. Coming into the boat basin at Port Townsend, Windwalker only had about a foot of water under her not-so-dainty keel at one point. Doug has more gray hair and a clean pair of Levis.

Bill Turner was working on his boat, Ave Maria, in the boatyard at PT, so we walked over to supervise. He took us to meet The Wells Grey and Albert, her skipper and benefactor. The Wells Grey is a former B.C. Department of Forestry vessel what we saw 20 or 30 years ago in Canada and then again in the PT boatyard about 3 years ago. Over the last few years, Albert, her most recent owner, has been lavishing his personal fortune, extensive skill and design talents on this grand vessel; the result is lovely.

Day 2: We left early to avoid the minus tide at the entrance to the boat basin and headed for Reid Harbor where we had planned to meet our Liberty Bay Marina dock-mates Mark, Pam, and Mitzie The Dog on Kittiwake. They were vacationing in the San Juans with their cruising buddies Jackie and Dennis aboard Yachts of Fun, the boat Windwalker share’s her slip with in Poulsbo. So here were all were, a little bit of Kitsap County in the middle of Island County. Only the scenery was better--except for the osprey that had scooped up a little bird and circled and circled and circled over our boats with little bird crying and imploring us to save him. We were distressed that we couldn’t help. Actually, we were irritated that the osprey did not dispatch Little Bird immediately. Mark and I took Mitzie ashore and talked to the owner of a unique east coat lobster boat. Another happily married man whose boat is surely his
mistress.

Day 3: …addendum to first page…

Coming into Reid Harbor, we had another “first”. After +30 years of boating, we’re sill having “firsts”. We were approaching a mooring buoy when a fellow in an inflatable motored over and asked if he could take my line and thread it though the ring on the buoy for me. “Oh no. I would prefer to lean out over the lifeline holding onto the boat hook with the line in my teeth, hook the ring, pull the chain up far enough for me to get the line through the ring, bring the line back to the boat, and secure it around the cleat while we are still moving through the water. Thanks for asking, though.” I accepted his offer; he declined our offer to follow us to Alaska.

Day 4: Leisurely (see DEPARTURE NOTE below) 0930 departure for Bedwell Harbor on South Pender Island to clear customs. Our charting program had been napping on the way to Stuart Island two day before and now decided to go into REM sleep. I had resigned myself to months of paper charts and the hand- held GPS, having forgotten that Doug had Extensive Navy Training. Equipment failure: Open the equipment door and slam it shut. ‘Works fine. Mr. Chart Plotter does not live a drawer, but you get the idea.

DEPARTURE NOTE: “I’ll go forward and slip the line on the buoy.” Unbeknownst to us, the buoy chain had had its way with the mooring line during the night and they were reluctant to part. Ratty and I did what needed to be done. The chain promised to write. Another summer romance brought to an end.

We spent the evening at Ganges on Saltspring Island where we bought legal Canadian fruit and veggies and expensive moorage. Marina shower rating: 3 on a scale of 10. Ganges is still artsy, yuppified and expensive. The tourists love it. We felt right at home.