Gunkhole Adventure 2000 pt 2

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Gunkhole Adventure 2000 part two....North to the San Juan Islands
(jump to photos) New PHOTOS!

This was Cliff's first time really sailing with me (Pamela)...and he was nervous enough to ask that Aaron (his oldest son who had been sailing with me) come along with us...Which was great and turned out to be REALLY great! We spent two weeks wandering around the San Juan Islands...getting up there through Skagit Bay, into the Swinomish Channel, past LaConner, and into the islands.

We had a unplanned, two day layover in Langley, due to a major power failure which we needed to solve. We had anchored out, but needed to get into the marina so we could plug into power to charge up and fix the problem. But another problem became apparent...the marina was packed (as usual!) and we ended up nearly 200 feet away from the nearest plug in...with only 150 feet of cord. And nobody had one they could loan us! So Aaron hopped into the dink, and headed to Everett...about 5 miles away...to buy another cord. Did he ever have a sore back when he returned! There was just enough chop to shake him up good! Meanwhile I was on the phone with BJ, who had just installed the new windlass and had upgraded some of the electrical, to see if he could help me figure out what the problem was. All we could find was some of the fuses needed to be re-soldered or replaced. After getting a full charge (but still not knowing WHY we lost our charge in the first place) we headed up and through the Swinomish Channel, chasing the fog off of our bow. We stopped in Anacortes to get some new fuses...which Aaron soldered in for me! What a good plan Cliff had to have Aaron come along! But we still had a problem...the batteries were not getting charged. It took two more days to figure it out...a battery switch had been installed, and the positions on it reversed. So when we thought it was on, it was off! Problem solved!

The weather was gorgeous, with good winds and lots of sunshine during our entire trip...and best of all? After the first couple of days with the charging issue, it was uneventful and totally relaxing. And even better? Cliff really started to relax and enjoy himself...and even took the helm and started looking at charts. Well, it was uneventful until I decided to anchor in Blind Bay...

After I picked the perfect parking spot, Aaron dropped the anchor...then I put it in reverse and backed down. She set nicely, so I just put a little more throttle on to make sure we had a good set...and the WHAM!! CRUNCH! and the engine died. O NO! I had forgotten to pull the dink in close and the "floating" line got sucked down into the prop. Well, we were set...and safe. But obviously in a fix. I was going to take the dink to Shaw Island, or else over to Orcas Landing and locate a diver to dive the prop. The water is COLD and we didn't have a wetsuit on board. But Aaron insisted that he could dive it, and no reason to find a diver. So in he went...and came up screaming from the cold. But then down he went, knife in hand to access the situation. And popped up again, with a bleeding finger...it seems he cut a section of line from the prop, but didn't move his finger out of the way. Cliff and I tried to get him to come back aboard, but he insisted on finishing the job. It is a good thing there are not sharks there with the blood coming out of his finger! Now mind you, this water is COLD. Aaron stayed in that water a good 10 minutes, diving and coming up and diving again....but by gosh, he did it! He cut the prop free! As he was climbing back onboard we could see he was blue and hypothermic...we wrapped him up, got him below and gave him a hot toddy. He shook for a while, but was fine. My good knife wasn't though...it seems that when he took the lanyard off of his wrist, after he was done with the knife he just tossed it overboard! LOL...and he says he wasn't cold! Anyway, all turned out well and Cliff relaxed again.

The next morning I took the dink over to Shaw Island, to the Little Portion Marina and the Little Portion Store, run by the Franciscan Nuns who also run the ferry dock. When you go into this store it is like going into a church...it is quiet, with organ music playing in the background. There are little places throughout the store on the shelves that are small shrines...it is the most reverent grocery store I have ever been in! Even the nun stocking the shelves was doing it in silence. The store is named after an Italian church, Portuncula, "little portion of earth" which was evidently the favorite spot of Saint Francis of Assisi. The check out is a short counter, behind which a brown robed nun totals up your groceries. I was greeted by her with a wonderful smile and a question...or rather, more of a statement. She said to me "you must be off of a sailboat"...I said yes I was, and asked her how she knew. The answer made me do a double-take...she said "if you were on a powerboat you would have your hair fixed nice and makeup on" she paused but a beat before she said "but you look better." I still wonder if I should have fixed my hair that morning!