SJI Summer Days 44 & 45 - Oak Harbor & La Conner

The Oak Harbor Marina will go on our list of nice marinas to stop for an overnight along our way north or south, but not necessarily a destination in itself.  After docking, we took the mile or so walk into town, along the water. There are a few shops…ans I said to Nick that it felt like this town lost its mojo. It was our first visit so I have no comparison…it just seems like it has seen better days. Very different from our experiences in Langley and in Coupeville, both also on Whidbey Island.

We were confused by the entry to the marina – it has north and south entry points, around each end of the breakwater. We found the signage less than helpful. I mention this because, as usual, there are lessons to be learned.

We need to always make sure we get complete information from marina staffers – sometimes they assume we know things we don’t. (Even after asking if this is our first visit!)

Also, we have just two cruising references on board. We rely, too heavily at times, on the Waggoner Cruising Guide. (We don’t buy a new one each year – doesn’t seem necessary, and updates are online.) We also have A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands (Olympia to Port Angeles), Migael Scherer, 2^nd ed. 2005 – which is old! These two books have different information and we need to remember to read both. Nick especially likes the quick rating system in the latter title – she assigns numbers to each destination, 1 to 5, representing aesthetic qualities and protection, among another things. Nick noticed afterwards that she provides some detail related to Oak Harbor Marina entry, whereas the Waggoner Guide did not.

We left Oak Harbor and continued on to the Swinomish (swin’ uh mish) Channel and La Conner. Transiting the beginning of the channel from the southwest it always exciting…it’s narrow, it’s shallow…and picturesque. And the current can be quite challenging. A quote from the Scherer book: “It goes this way, it goes that way, it does stuff in between.” I like that.

As usual, we looked for space at the public docks. None! We pulled up close to a couple of boats to ask if they were leaving soon – which I dislike, as it feels like hovering around a restaurant table. One person told us that the marina quest docks were also full due to a yacht club rendezvous. So…we hovered. Did a couple of turns around the channel and soon enough a couple of boats left and there was space. We noticed that quite a few of these boats were small craft, being used for crabbing, so they were coming and going. There is no power or water at these docks (both of which we don’t usually need), and the city charges just $.50 per foot.

We are excited to be on our way to another new-to-us destination. Inati Bay is “the best anchorage on Lummi Island” and a good distance for us to spend the night on our way north to Semiahmoo.

RT 41 (29 on steroids?)

Just for fun, here is a photo of one of the new Ranger Tugs 41. There are just 4 of these on the water, according to the last RT staffer I talked to. I am not sure which hull number this one is, but the crew of Stay Awhile saw her at the Des Moines Ranger dock. One. Million. Dollars. (Approx.)