CAPTURING ZZZs IN HUNTER BAY: Thursday, August 11

Braesail rocked us gently to sleep and we rose around 8 am on a splendidly shiny day to prepare for a motor trip to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island to buy groceries and a replacement for the gas cartridge that my PFD used when I fell into Bedwell Harbour’s murky waters on July 25. The walk into town after we docked was uphill and so provided good exercise, and the sunshine was very warm, and we enjoyed the huge hanging baskets of petunias decorating the signposts at street corners. After returning to the boat with several heavy bags of supplies, we motored to Hunter Bay on the south shore of Lopez Island and dropped our anchor; winds of 12-14 knots were adequate for sailing, but we needed to run the boat’s engine in order to recharge the batteries. On our way, we passed the gorgeous schooner Adventuress (a 133-foot schooner launched in 1913, restored, and now involved in environmental educational programs) and a Junk-Rigged boat with a tie-dyed red sail, both great as the subjects of photographs!
Having taken long naps, Walt, Dan, and Joy in their cabins, Debbie in the covered cockpit, and I up on the gently bobbing bow, we all felt rejuvenated and settled into the pursuit of our various individual activities: Dan painting, Debbie knitting, Joy reading, Walt cooking dinner, and I writing my journal entry for the day. Our evening meal—pollo verde con chorizo—was excellent, and after clean-up we played a long game of “Hearts” (Walt and I tied for first place this time!), enjoyed coconut ice cream topped with fresh blueberries (YUMM!), and lay on our backs for awhile on Braesail’s deck to watch for meteors. The stars glittered overhead, we could pick out Mars’ reddish speck, and the Milky Way’s gauzy scarf draped the middle of the sky with soft light, but we saw only a few small meteors and decided to wander off to bed a little after midnight.