What’s that noise?

Tuesday, December 23: Out on the water again

Having crawled out of bed way too early, finished loading the Prius with provisions (including a great many cookies!) and gear, and driven to the Anacortes ferry terminal, Walt and I had a pleasant hour-long passage to Orcas Village. While exiting the ferry at about 11:30 am, however, we bumped over the edge of the ramp (I think), and then heard a scraping noise indicating that we dragging something beneath the car. When Walt pulled over to the side of the road and checked, he found that we were indeed dragging the cover of an engine part that had been knocked loose but that he couldn’t dislodge. Since there seemed to be no danger of causing further damage, Walt drove carefully to Deer Harbor, we parked and unloaded the car and loaded Braesail, and left the marina dock, beneath partly-sunny skies, before 1 pm for the two-hour motoring journey to Garrison Bay on San Juan Island. We decided to consider what to do about the dangling engine part cover after our return to Deer Harbor.

We joined several boats already resting in the spacious anchorage, enjoyed a peaceful evening that provided us with the gift of a gorgeous sunset,

and planned to leave for Cadboro Bay near Victoria, BC, around 8 am on Tuesday in order to arrive at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club docks before noon to pick up the key to the marina gate and onshore facilities before everyone went home for the holiday. A tranquil night awaited us—what sort of weather would we encounter in the morning?