Orca Whales from a Distance | July 9 – 14 | Blake/Everett/La Conner/Sucia/Garrison

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.

Europa at North Guest Dock - Port of Everett Marina

Couldn't find these in my bird books

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.