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Spirit of
Freedom's Gunkhole Adventure 2009
June 12 - October 11, 2009 1,615.4 nautical miles
Part Fifteen: Leaving Port Angeles and Back into the San Juan Islands
August 30 We woke up pretty early to a fogged in Strait of Juan de Fuca. We wanted to fuel up and leave as soon as possible so the current would be with us. We were at the fuel dock just as the attendant arrived and were fueled up and off the dock by 8:30 am. Foggy, very, very foggy. And no wind. So we began to motor out of the harbor and across the Strait. We checked in with Traffic Control to let them know our intentions; the controller asked if we had radar. I told her yes, and AIS receiving as well. She seemed a bit concerned that we were leaving the harbor. I assured her we were well equipped and we proceeded on our way. That was really strange; I have never had a controller act quite that way; very hesitant to give us the traffic report and seemingly surprised we checked in. As soon as I signed off from US traffic, Victoria Traffic hailed me and wanted to know our course, our ultimate destination and if we were going to be coming into Canadian waters. I told her we were going into the San Juan's, and our course would be through Canadian waters. She seemed fine with that; much more so that the US gal was! Weird! The wind picked up as we were crossing (without the fog lifting) so we raised sail and killed the engine. All the better to hear in the fog without the engine running. At one point we passed between two freighters, we couldn't see them except on radar and AIS, but we could hear them! The fog finally began to lift when we were off of Race Rocks, and we had a wonderful sail to Haro Strait and proceeded along the west side of San Juan Island. We saw several resident Orca fishing along the way. The day was gorgeous, and warm. We had the canvas open in the cockpit and were in our T-shirts. What a contrast to two days ago! We continued with a wonderful light air downwind sail, heading to Stuart Island, planning to drop our hook into our second "home" of Reid Harbor. The wind died just as we were off of Danger Reef at the north end of San Juan Island, forcing us to finally start the engine. We were amazed...the area was full of sport fishers and commercial boats. The HUMPIES WERE RUNNING! Yikes! An open fishery! When we entered Reid Harbor we had another shock! It was packed! More boats in there than we have ever seen before. It seems that there was a rendezvous going on; with three different flotilla's that were returning from their Alaskan cruises. Add that to the usual holiday crowd, the open fishery and you had mayhem! Entertaining to say the least with flocks of dinks going to and fro chatting it up boat to boat.
At 14:26, and 1,363.6 NM, just outside of Reid Harbor I crossed my path, marking the end of my circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. I felt pretty good about that!
The morning after arriving in Reid Harbor we got a phone call from Tricia, who was back at work in Cliff's office. It seems that we were going to have to cut our cruise short and head back home. The new doc was not going to be able to start in the office as soon as we planned, so Cliff was needed back to see patients. The plan? To go home to work for a while, and then head back out to play. We contemplated on leaving the boat in Friday Harbor, but then decided, what the heck? Lets sail home. Then we can sail back! So we raised our sails and headed over to Sucia for the night. The next day we had a great sail down the west side of Orcas Island, thru Obstuction Pass and then down into Lopez Sound where we dropped anchor in Hunter Bay. The next day we motored through Lopez Path and down Rosario Strait, crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca for the third time in a week. Mid point on the crossing the wind finally came up and we raised our sails and sailed all the way to Blakely Harbor on Bainbridge Island. A LONG run, but a gorgeous day! After spending the night we sailed out of the harbor, down Colvos Passage all the way to Gig Harbor. BJ, who was working on Bainbridge saw us sail off our anchor and out of the harbor and across to Alki Point. We anchored in Gig Harbor and of course went to the Tides for dinner. We can't seem to pass it up. The next day we motored out of the harbor, under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and to Carr Inlet to our favorite mooring buoy off of Penrose Point where we were treated to a pink Mount Rainer and a full moon. We were prolonging our return until the last possible moment, but knew this had to be our last night. The next morning we motored through Balch Passage to Devils Head where we finally found some wind. We raised our sails and had a wonderful and fast sail to Fair Harbor and home, to work for a couple of weeks. We were not ready to be back, even for a short stay. The good news was that we were going to see our grandson (and his parents of course) for the first time since June!
Next: Go to Part Sixteen
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