Spirit of
Freedom's Gunkhole Adventure 2007
June 16 - September
29 2007 1,212 nautical miles
Part Twelve: The
final leg home
Click on the photos
to enlarge.
We left Dunsmuir
Island and headed to Maple Bay Yacht Club to spend the night. What started out
as a light air-to-no-air sail, turned into 30 knots on the nose! Cliff and I
sailed most of the way, finally calling it quits when entering Stuart Channel
between Van Isle and Saltspring Is... it got ugly then...so we motored in to the
yacht club where Tony and Ginette were waiting for us. They had motored thru the
no-air portion and so arrived ahead of us. The yacht club was busy as it was a
regatta weekend, so we were unable to eat there, so we dinked to the Maple Bay
Marina and ate at the pub there. The next morning we left early before the races
started and motored the entire way to Tod Inlet...Tony had tickets for Buchart
Gardens. Believe it or not, even though we anchor in Tod Inlet almost every
year, we have not been into the gardens for over 10 years! We had a lovely day
there...so nice to be able to take the dogs there!
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The crowds were minimal, and the fall colors were gorgeous! |
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Tony & Ginette, our hosts for the day. Thanks guys!! |
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Tony, Ginette and Cliff were enthralled with some of the visitors to the garden. It appears that K2 and Angel were as well! |
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K2 has his own ice cream...and licks it to the last drop |
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When we left Tod Inlet, we headed for
Canoe Cove for some scheduled maintenance by my rigger at Blackline Marine. They
were efficient as usual and got it done on time. During the two days we were in
Sidney, Tony & Ginette squired us around and took us to Mt. Dugee, fantastic
views from there. I am still waiting for him to send me the photos! Hint-hint!
We then said our goodbyes to Tony & Ginette and headed back into the states;
checking in to Roche Harbor and then on to Friday Harbor to re-provision, where
we anchored for the night, and then on to Jones Island, which Cliff had never
been to before.
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Jones Island was deserted, and this baby deer was very curious! |
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This buck was a wee bit shy |
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Lovely hidden bay on the west side of the island. |
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Cliff having a rest. We spent a day hiking the island. More exercise than we had all summer! No bears here! |
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Incredibly twisted trees on Jones Island |
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Leaving Jones Island we sailed and
motored down to Lopez Sound, where we dropped anchor in Mud Bay preparing to
cross the Juan de Fuca Strait and get ever-so-closer to home. We left Mud Bay at
dawn, and started a downwind run across the strait, entering Admiralty Inlet we
were doing 8.9 knots; we had planned on stopping in Pt. Ludlow to visit the
kids, but because the sailing was so great and the current was with us we
continued past. We dropped anchor in Poulsbo exactly 10 hours after raising our
anchor in Lopez Sound. Not a bad day! The reason we headed into Poulsbo was
because Cliff wanted to visit the Marina Mart and purchase licorice! The next
day we headed out late, around 4 PM, again sailing downwind and made it all the
way to Illahee, where Aaron delivered a refill for one of Cliff's prescriptions.
We spent the night on a buoy there, leaving the next morning for Gig Harbor and
lunch at Tides Tavern. We were close to home, but not ready to return. From
there we inched out of Gig Harbor on a very very low tide, raised our sails and
sailed under the now-completed second Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which was not
completed when we last passed under it four months ago. We had a nice lazy sail
into Carr Inlet and caught a mooring buoy at Cutts Island where we spent a quiet
night. The next morning we raised our sails right off the buoy and headed for
Longbranch. We had a FANTASTIC sail, winds were great...we screamed into Filucy
Bay under 25knot winds and dropped our sails in the anchorage. What a day!! One
of the best days of sailing all summer...excepting our run down the Strait of
Georgia...that will be hard to surpass. After one night in Filucy Bay, we again
raised our sails and sailed home...A lovely reach then falling off for a long
downwind run home. Again... a fantastic sail and a
great way to end our 2007 Gunkhole Adventure!
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Cutts Island seems to get smaller and smaller every year |
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Sunset touches Cutts Island |
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Cliff and Angel enjoy one of our last nights out |
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The full moon rises at Cutts Island |
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Cliff is enjoying the downwind run so much he doesn't want to stay below to brush his teeth! |
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Down-wind run to home...a great way to end the 2007 Gunkhole Adventure! |
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