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| Indian Pipe trail side - Sucia Island |
This is the second part of our 2020 summer cruising trip.
Heading to La Conner from Everett, just south of Penn Cove,
we saw some Orca whales – they were along the shore of Whidbey, while we were
closer to Camano – so no good pics. Got some good views with the binos though.
Once again, we wouldn’t have seen them if there hadn’t been a whale watching
boat in the vicinity.
We haven’t stayed long in places along our way north – we
thought we’d stay a couple of nights in Everett and/or La Conner. As it turns
out, we were just too excited to get up to the San Juan Islands!
The Everett Marina was another new location for us. By far
the largest marina we’ve ever experienced – boats go on forever! There is a lot
of space to walk, and a few restaurants (for when we do that again).
There seems to be a lot of construction going on – the marina waterfront area
is being transformed. Having never been there before, we have no comparison,
but looks like it will be much improved.
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| Europa at North Guest Dock - Port of Everett Marina |
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| Couldn't find these in my bird books |
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| Big marina - and this is only part of it! |
There were quite a few kites flying in one of the Everett marina
parks. The octopus kite is 90 feet long!
As much as we love La Conner, there were a couple of
downsides to this visit. For whatever reason, so many boats blew by us in that
narrow channel that it was truly annoying. Very few people obey the No Wake
signs – I have probably mentioned this before. We found our favorite spot open
on one of the public docks, which was good (although there were quite a few
spots open). The bummer was the guy in the crap-ass little sailboat parked next
to us, who partied, screaming and yelling, half the night.
We arrived at Sucia Island on Sunday, headed for either Fox
Cove or Shallow Bay. There were open buoys in both, so we opted for Shallow Bay
(we snagged the last ball, but could have easily anchored – plenty of space.) The
buoy was the closest to the bay opening, so we rocked a little more, perhaps,
then boats further in – but we definitely had the best view!
We’ve hiked and kayaked, watched the wildlife, and witnessed
a couple of spectacular sunsets. There is really nothing, in my opinion, quite
like SJI hiking. Beautiful scenery from trails along clifftops, sometimes
rugged, plenty of interesting flora and fauna, sandstone beaches, and not too
many people. The number of people, however, has more to do with the pandemic
situation this year. This island can be extremely crowded but the Fossil Bay
campground is mostly deserted, there is space at the docks, and several mooring
buoys available at any given time.
Our plan is to leave Sucia today (Tuesday 7/14), visit Roche Harbor to pump out and get water, then anchor in Garrison Bay.
