Five more days–without family

Friday, June 13 – Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Since it appeared that there wouldn’t be enough wind for sailing, Walt and I decided to spend Friday relaxing on the boat and reading, writing, and working on German. Walt worked on his sermon for June 22 and on the short article that he contributes to the St. Philip’s Parish newsletter each week. In the evening, we dined at a downtown Anacortes restaurant called Tashha Lee’s Table, whose rockfish dishes were excellent. We then drove around the areas of Anacortes opposite those we’d explored on Thursday, returning to Braesail before sunset. I especially enjoyed the wild lilac hedges and bushes, the roses, the daisies, and the peonies in the yards we passed.

Some wind was predicted for Saturday, and so we left Anacortes in late morning after filling our water tanks and making a stop at the holding tank pump-out dock. The wind gradually bestirred itself sufficiently to fill our sails, and we enjoyed a peaceful hour of sailing before the breezes subsided. We paid a visit to Rolf Cove on Matia Island, but there were no mooring buoys, and the small dock was occupied, so we turned back after viewing the amazing sandstone “sculptures” along Matia’s shores and headed for Sucia Island about four miles away.

After motoring past Ewing Cove (one of several anchorages on Sucia Island) and finding it filled by four boats, we went on to spacious Echo Bay where there were a great many boats but where there was still plenty of room for more. We found a good anchoring spot after cruising around and about the bay and looking at the various vessels bobbing gently on the water.

We spent a restful evening followed by a slightly bouncy night as wind and passing ships sent wakeful wavelets into the open mouth of the bay.

Sunday morning was sunny with a very cool breeze, and we enjoyed downing a pancake brunch and spending time in our “sun porch” (the enclosed cockpit), reading, writing, and watching a variety of watercraft passing by. During the afternoon, we motored around Echo Bay and among its islands in Coracle and made our way into Ewing Cove at last after trying to pass through a few narrow entrances between wind-and-wave-carved rocks

and finding the water too shallow to allow our passage. We visited a couple on an owner-built sailboat which, instead of having a single interior engine such as Braesail’s, was propelled by two large outboard engines in the stern that could be raised during sailing and lowered in the absence of wind. We saw tiny fish flittering by near the dinghy and larger ones leaping here and there, and spied some lacy white “moon-jellies” drifting and pumping gracefully through the water. We napped following our excursion, and then consumed a fine meal as we watched the sinking sun paint the sky and water at about 9:20 pm,

read and relaxed until quite late, and slept well throughout a tranquil night.

It was overcast but a bit warmer on Monday morning, and we breakfasted on bagels spread with almost-too-ripe avocado. Very few boats remained in the bay, there was minimal wind to rock the boat, and we treated ourselves to another lovely, restful day as the sun put in an appearance late in the afternoon. I worked on this blogpost and then began to gather the things we’d remove from the boat after our return to Anacortes on Tuesday; Braesail’s first charter of the season begins on June 28 and all our food, supplies, personal belongings, bedding, tools, parts, hardware, etc., must be removed, and all the comforters must be washed and returned to the boat. Our might was again a bit bouncy, but we did get adequate sleep, and we awoke to cloudy skies and almost no wind.

We began motoring back to Anacortes Marina in mid-morning, and as always, I enjoyed seeing the forests lining the islands’ shores, the “pocket beaches” rimmed with twisted tangles of driftwood, and clusters of “creamsicle” rocks streaked with black, tan, and salmon pink and topped with bunches of butter-yellow and snowy-white wildflowers. After a three-hour journey, we emptied the holding tank at the Cap Sante pump-out, filled our fuel tank with diesel, and docked Braesail in her home slip at about 3:30 on a warm, humid afternoon.

After napping in the aft cabin, we finished packing, loaded two dock carts with food, clothing, rubbish, the towels from the galley and both heads and the bedding from three of Braesail’s cabins that included six bulky comforters and two sets of sheets and pillow slips; hauled the carts along the dock and up the steep shore ramp; and loaded the Prius for the drive to Everett. By about 8 pm, we’d emptied the car and I was starting the first of what will be some eight large loads of laundry in our condo building’s basement. We were tired and sweaty, but grateful for safe travels, terrific times with relatives, the glory of God’s creation, and a view ahead to more brief adventures on Braesail in the fall following the last charter of the season.