Europa: Expansive Ocean Views & Sparkling Blue Water | July 15 – August 2 | Lopez/Roche/Prevost/FH/Islander/FB/East Sound/Anacortes

July 15 Anchored in Garrison Bay, San Juan Island

July 16 Friday Harbor marina, San Juan Island

July 17 Anchored in Shoal Bay, Lopez Island

July 18 – 24 Mooring ball in Shoal Bay, Lopez Island

July 25 – 27 Roche Harbor marina, San Juan Island

July 28 Anchored in Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island

July 29 – 31 Friday Harbor marina, San Juan Island

August 1 & 2 Lopez Islander Resort marina, Lopez Island

August 3 Anchored in Fisherman Bay, Lopez Island

August 4 Anchored in Judd Bay, East Sound, Orcas Island

August 5 & 6 Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes

Corrie Doon on the left

The last couple of weeks have been busy with family, friends, and boating/biking/hiking/kayaking adventures.

The photo above does not do justice to the vast views found in the northern San Juan Islands, looking into Canada, and the brilliance of bright sunshine reflected in deep water.

On Friday, July 17, Europa entered Shoal Bay on Lopez Island to anchor overnight in front of the rental house we had reserved for the week. The owners provide a mooring ball, so we tied to that the next day. Our week on the island was great, minus a few people including our grandson. We understood that young family’s decision to stay out of the mix, but we missed them. So, we were joined by Nick’s sister Kit, and our daughter Sierra and her significant other, Brian. We did all the usual stuff, the weather was divine, and much fun was had by all. Thanks to Sierra for menu planning, shopping, and cooking a lot of delicious food. (Note: It was a bit difficult having Europa on a ball and relying on the kayaks and dinghy for crabbing and getting everything (bikes/clothing/etc.) back and forth.)

The following Saturday, we met Coorie Doon and crew at Roche Harbor. After three nights there we moved on to Prevost Harbor. There was no room at the dock, so we anchored and Coorie Doon rafted to Europa. We had a good hike and some kayaking then moved on to Friday Harbor, spending the next three nights at the marina.

Friday Harbor was busy…more of what we’re finding everywhere. There are just a lot of boats around! We had to wait for a spot, and Corrie Doon had to move after the first night.

We left Friday Harbor on Saturday (August 1) for a short trip back to Lopez and the Lopez Islander Resort. We prefer Islands Marine Center but they were unable to accommodate us. (We’ve had to make reservations lately – something we rarely do. And IMC is adhering to less than full capacity guidelines – others are not.) The current runs quite strongly through the marina docks, and it was tricky getting into our slip. Just as we were making the turn into the slip, another boat began backing out, right at us. We yelled and were able to avoid a collision. As it turns out, that was just one of many near-misses we witnessed over the two days as we watched boats coming in and out of the marina in strong current. (To be clear, the current makes it tricky, but some of this was just bad captaining!) The Zs had a heck of a time docking the Coorie Doon, as the lone dockhand (he needs support!) yelled instructions (not supposed to tell a captain what to do!). Later, Steve watched another boat slam into a piling. Basically, this was a shit show. For future reference, we won’t stay there again if we can help it. The fees are high (very close to Roche, where the services and amenities are 100 times better!), the marina is run down, and the whole place is badly organized. (Remember the time we sat in the restaurant for 40 minutes with no service?) And…we have avoided it before because it can get rowdy.

On Sunday, we were delighted to visit Kerrie and Lyn Sorenson, a couple with an RT-23 (the one that is always on a ball in the entrance to Fisherman Bay) at their home on the very tip of the spit (the one we always see and admire). The Zs made a former connection with them, and Lyn saw them arriving in the Coorie Doon, and invited them to happy hour. We got to tag along. It was a lot of fun because they have long-time family connections to Lopez and know a lot about the history and the island characters. Lyn’s grandfather used to own the old gas station. We learned a lot, and the big surprise is their pronunciation of wat’ muh. We have been saying wat’ moh for decades! (Spelled Watmough.)

We said goodbye to the Zs on Monday morning - they headed back to Anacortes. We plan to meet up with them again in late August/September.

On another note, we talked with the couple on No Worries (RT-29S) who were cleaning their fresh water filter. Thanks to them, we now know that we need to do some maintenance on that!

Our hope was to move further north into the Gulf Islands, and then Desolation Sound in September. It doesn’t look like the border will open…for a very long while…so our plans continue to morph.

We moved off the dock and onto the hook in Fisherman Bay for the next night and continued to enjoy Lopez.

After some research, we headed north into East Sound to visit Eastsound – the body of water, and the town, respectively. There is a very small, day use (small boats only) public dock, so we anchored in Judd Bay, just to the west of the town shore area. We kayaked into the beach, which at low tide was a pain – next time we’ll continue to the dock. We had a very nice lunch at the Madrona Bar and Grill – excellent curry mussels for Nick and BLT for me. We walked around town a bit and were impressed with the variety and quality of town attractions. (Makes us want to consider Orcas for future family gatherings.)

We spent a quiet evening enjoying the scenery. And then…rocking and rolling commenced! There was barely a breeze but we were bounced and battered all night by waves that built momentum up the sound (5 miles long). It tapered off for a few hours but neither of us got much sleep. At around 5am Nick got up, raised the dinghy and secured the kayaks, and we were on our way! Enough is enough. We pulled into the temporary guest dock at Rosario for a couple of hours to get our act together, then headed to Anacortes.

The wind forecast for Wednesday and Thursday looked bleak so we decided to pick somewhere to hunker down for a couple of days to ride it out. This will begin our journey home.

We are enjoying Anacortes…and the wind is kicking up! (Excellent lunch at Dad’s Diner – best fries ever!)