After a wet and windy night, we spent a damp morning drinking tea, reading, writing, and deciding where to travel over the next five days. Walt was in need of a special glue to use in the repair of Coracle’s drainage plug housing, and the dinghy would be unusable until the repair was made, so, after checking maps and cruising guides and making some phone calls, we decided to motor to Rosario Resort on Orcas Island, where a one-night stay would cost us $48 at off-season rates, so that Walt could find a way to get the necessary glue, possibly by hitching a ride to a marine hardware store at Eastsound or at the West Sound Marina.
Our one-hour journey from Blind Bay took place in sparkling sunshine and beneath great whipped-cream heaps of cumulus clouds, but by the time Walt had skillfully backed the boat into a slip and we were tying up at the Rosario docks, sprinkles were dampening Braesail’s decks once again. Walt wandered off in search of the necessary marine adhesive,, and Joy and I made sandwiches for lunch as rain became more persistent. Walt was given an old tube of a substance that MIGHT take care of the dinghy plug problem, and so we ate lunch and then accepted the wet weather’s invitation to coziness by indulging in our customary quiet pursuits in the saloon.
By about 3 pm, the sun was peeking out, Walt was napping, and Joy and I decided to take a walk on shore, along the fine new docks, past the Cascade Bay Grill and Store, along the path leading above the seashore and the kitchen gardens behind the imposing Moran Mansion (built 1906-09),
up the hill past the small swimming pool and its surrounding terrace
to velvety lawns walled by neatly trimmed hedges and then to the beginning of trails leading along the windy bluffs, down the hill and across the parking area in front of the grand mansion with its huge hanging baskets of flowers,
and into the mansion itself. Here we viewed the museum displays tracing the history of the mansion and its owner, ship-builder and Mayor of Seattle Robert Moran. When Joy began to suspect that her blood sugar level was getting low, we returned to Braesail so that she could have a snack, and then we set out again, this time taking the paths that led along the sand-and-gravel beach to some rocks hosting a blackberry vine (we sampled the berries and found them tart but tasty), turned back beside more lovely lawns and along a canal containing small fountains here and there along its length and islands on which grew graceful willows and other trees, and finally skirted the large outdoor swimming pool enclosure and bathhouse and took us back to the docks.
Since no one felt like cooking, we decided to dine out at the Cascade Bay Grill, and enjoyed our meals very much (I had a large green salad containing tomatoes, walnuts, and shreds of carrots and beets, accompanied by a cup of clam chowder). Since this day was the last before the restaurant/shop closed for the year, the store was offering all items at a 50% discount, so Walt bought a sweatshirt and a “Flavors of the West Coast” cookbook, and I bought a delightful “Country Clothesline” scented candle for a friend. Joy bought flavored lip balms for three of her friends, but when we returned with our purchases, she couldn’t find the third balm, so we hiked back up the docks to the store and she bought another. Not long after we returned to Braesail, however, she found the lip balm she was missing, and so had one for herself as well as one for each of her friends.
A very entertaining game of Quiddler closed our day as a milky half-moon drifted above the silent sea and we yawned our way into bed, giving thanks for another beautiful day with its variable weather and gift of marvelous scenery. Garrison Bay on San Juan Island is Monday’s destination. Will Walt’s dinghy repair prove successful?
Braesail - A grand yacht in the Salish Sea 