San Juan Islands/Sequim

Last year for our anniversary, Jason and I borrowed his mom and dad's boat and cruised around the San Juan Islands for a few days.  This year, we decided to make the same trip.  It wasn't quite as wonderful as last year!  Our first sign was that it took us 6 tries to get the boat started right there in the marina.

On our way for now!

We crossed the Straits of Juan de Fuca and saw this awesome ship!

Beautiful sunset!  We got to the islands just as the sun was setting.  We had to cruise around a bit in order to find a good calm place to anchor, so it was totally dark by the time we were settled in for the night.

The next day was beautiful!  Shawn had recommended a good cove to find some crabs, so that was where we headed.

We pulled up about 7 crabs, but only these 2 were legal size and gender.  The one in the middle was the biggest crab of all!!!  :)  While we were pulling up these big guys, our boat was idling and then quit.  We could not get it to restart.

Trying to see what could possibly be the matter.  Batteries?  Starter?  After a few phone calls to a mechanic, Dad, and other possible helpers, it was decided that we would need to get to a marina and have it checked out.  The nearest place was Friday Harbor about 4 nautical miles away.  We had Shawn's kicker motor on, but only about a gallon of gas for it.  We started out with that, but ran out after about a mile.  Then we started drifting really fast because we were in the channel.  Of course we were drifting in the opposite direction of where we were wanting to go.  After about 20 mins we were right back where we started from and moving quickly past it.  Jason suggested that I try to flag down a boat that could maybe give us a tow to Friday Harbor.  We saw one headed past us in the direction of Friday Harbor and we thought we'd try to flag them down.  There was a ferry boat nearby, so I waited until the ferry boat was past us and then started waving at our target boat.  That boat zoomed past us without a second look.  A few minutes later, we noticed that the ferry, which was well into the channel by now, was turning around and heading straight for us!  Sure enough, a couple hundred yards out they let down their dinghy and came to the rescue!

This picture is blurry, but that's ok, because I don't think I want a very clear memory about the ferry I flagged down!  So, the rescuers motored out to us and asked us what was wrong.  We told them we were just adrift and were trying to get a tow from a boat.  We didn't mean for the ferry to turn around and come back to us!  Of course there are about a thousand people on the deck of the ferry watching all the excitement!  I wanted to hide!  They radioed their captain who told them to leave us adrift and return to the ferry.  Someday I will think it is funny that I flagged down a ferry, but for now it is quite embarrassing!

Our failed attempts at getting a boat to tow us left us with no choice but to get Vessel Assist to tow us in.  $$$$

This was the first day on the water for their new aluminum boat!  We were their first tow!

This little zodiac towed us half of the way, and then the other boat came to help out.

We got to Friday Harbor and were told the mechanic would look at it in the morning.  We cooked up the 2 crabs that we had caught.  Yum!  And then walked around the town and had ice cream at this delicious ice cream stand!

At first I thought that this was a pile of star fish, and it was, but it was only 1 starfish!!!

Beautiful Friday Harbor.

The next morning the mechanic came and looked at the boat.  Throughout the day he worked on it off and on and we made decisions based on what he was seeing.  In the end, the manifolds were leaking water into the engine.  We thought we could maybe get it started and get on our way and make it back to Sequim, but they couldn't even get it running at all.  The manifolds would need to be replaced.  The parts would take 5 days to get in and then they would need a few days to fix it.  

This cruise boat takes people from Port Townsend to Friday Harbor for the day and then back in the afternoon.  They had enough room for us to hitch a ride back with them if we walked on.  So, that is what we did.  The "Glacier Spirit" was our ride home.

We enjoyed one more ice cream before leaving Friday Harbor.

There's the boat!  I hope it survives ok without us!  The mechanics will fix it and then give us a call.  Someone will have to ferry over and pick it up.

On our way back the cruiser took us by Minor Island where there are always lots of seals and marine birds. 

Can't even see the little spit sticking out, it is just covered in seals.

The lighthouse in Port Townsend

When we got in, Uncle Ed and Aunt Rachel had planned a big cookout.

Yum Smores!

Awesome fire!

Saturday was moving day at Mom and Dad's!  Baby Brooklyn provided a wonderful distraction!  :)

Grandma fixed the boys hair for them!

We spent the day filling and hauling boxes.

About 8:45 pm we put 2 boys in the U-Haul and 1 in the van and started on the 5.5 hour trek back to Chelan!  Yes, it was 2:20 am when we got there.  I was really nervous about not having a driver to switch with when I got tired, but we made it through.

The next day we took the UHaul up to the convention grounds and unloaded it.  Their belongings will be stored there for the next 8 months while their house is built!