After days of cleaning, packing, and provisioning, the bikes
are on board, the kayaks are stowed, and we’re packed to the gills with food
and drink to last weeks.
Monday was a gorgeous day on the water! The East Passage was
as glassy as it gets, with very few boats. I often see very picturesque “floating log and wildlife”
scenes – this time there was an extra cute surprise.
A note here about photos: Most of these were taken with my
Canon EOS. This is the first time I’ve had this camera on the boat. My goal is
to take better photos, and to get those shots that I just can’t seem to grab
with my phone. I’ll be experimenting with how to format these photos on my
blog.
Typically, we would travel north through Colvos but we
needed to stop in Des Moines for diesel, dinghy gas, and propane.
Someone needed a tow just outside of the Des Moines marina!
(We have never needed a tow or been asked to provide one…yet. Makes we think
about how we would accomplish this.)
These two baldies landed just as we entered the breakwater
at Des Moines.
We arrived at Blake Island (much smoother water than the
last time we were here!) around 1pm. There were a few other boats but no sign
of a park ranger. Pandemic-related closure signage was still posted and the
power was not on. Nick tried to call the State Park number…no answer. I figured
that they may have limited staff, and in the best conditions it takes some
time to open and staff all parks.
Sure enough, later in the afternoon, and after we hiked the
perimeter of the island, a couple of rangers arrived and began to “open” the
island.
Here is a shot of Europa at Blake and how we currently have
the kayaks secured.
I had to take a photo of this couple in the very tiny
sailing dinghy! Don’t know where they came from, but the water was not exactly
smooth…much braver than I!
We opened a bottle of a very nice wine from a winery we
enjoy visiting in Walla Walla, Va Piano. This bottle was a thank you gift for
watching Mac (miss him!), and quite tasty!
More photos of our first day:
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