sucia island goodness

Hello everyone!

I had wonderful four days sailing in the San Juan Islands with Sara & Jeremy. It started off bad but quickly turned wonderful. We left Saturday from Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham. It was very windy and there were 3-6 foot waves as we were crossing Bellingham Bay. Ugh! A bunch of stuff fell over below deck as we were really being tossed around on the water. I went below to pick it up and commented that it smelled like gas. We had just filled all the gas tanks for the trip and one of them was dribbling a tiny amount of gas. Jeremy tightened it up and all was well. I stayed below and the water continued to be very rough. I started feeling sick and thought it was from the waves though I’d never gotten sea sick before. Sara came below and told me to get above right away as it still smelled like gas and I was just sitting in the fumes. I went up and continued to feel horrible. I was the definition of ILL. I was ready to throw in the towel on the whole trip which had been planned for months and that I had been looking forward to for so long. The rough water was too much so we turned south and headed for Chuckanut Bay and some calmer water. After an hour or two I began to feel much better. Jeremy later told me that he was contemplating turning around and taking me to the hospital in Bellingham I looked so terrible…no color in my face, white lips, a miserable expression. By later in the afternoon I felt totally fine and was so relieved to see the wind die down, the sun come out and the waters flatten out.

We anchored in Chuckanut Bay. There were seals popping in and out of the water, shiny and sleek. A great blue heron flew out of the trees and across the bay. They squawk like a pterodactyl and have lovely blue-gray feathers. I cooked up some pierogies with tomatoes, sour cream and lots of hot sauce. Jeremy took the dinghy out to drop the crab pot and we caught a big Dungeness which we boiled up in a pot of sea water and ate with much delight. After dark we filled a bucket with sea water and played with the bioluminescence. So amazing!

Sunday morning we woke to sunny skies and warm breezes. Jeremy took me for a ride in the dinghy around Natural Dry Dock in Chuckanut Bay. The sandstone cliffs are amazing with crazing holes and carvings from the water. We saw purple starfish latched on to the rocks and a huge heron hanging out on a small dock.

From there we sailed to Lummi Island. We anchored the boat and took the dinghy ashore where we stopped at the market and then a small restaurant where we shared a heaping bowl of steamed clams and an order of beer battered onion rings. We picked blackberries along the roadside and gawked at Mt Baker looming in the distance across the water. Back on the boat we headed towards the Outer Islands. We went past Matia Island and saw a colony of cormorants on the cliffs. We saw jellyfish swimming by the boat in the clear water. We anchored for the night in Shallow Bay on the west side of Sucia Island. There’s only two more American Islands further west (Patos & Little Patos Island) then there’s Haro Strait and the Canadian Gulf Islands begin. We could see Saturna Island & both North & South Pender Island. North Pender had been our original destination but with our detour due to gas poisoning & rough seas Canada was just too far away. We wanted to have time to explore the islands rather than being underway the entire time.
Sucia Island is beautiful and the entire island is a Marine State Park. We got the bbq going on the back of the boat just as the sun was starting to set. I freaked out as the sky exploded with orange, pink and purple light. The clouds glowed and were reflected on the calm waters of the bay. We grilled up chicken and zucchini and dropped the crab pot for one last catch. We spent the night playing with the bioluminescene and watching shooting stars and the moonrise.

Monday morning was getting hot early. We woke up to seals bobbing their heads out of the glassy waters and a family of otters playing on the nearby shore. Kingfishers screeched and dived for fish in the water. We pulled out our last crab which had been cooked and packed on ice. Crab melts for breakfast…mmmmm delicious! After eating Jeremy took me on the dinghy to the little beach nearby. I swam in the water which was not particularly warm but definitely warmer than the Mt Adams snowmelt that I’m used to swimming in. It was a hot day so the water felt fantastic. I walked along the beach picking up smooth stone, frosty beach glass and tiny shells. Jeremy brought Sara over in the dinghy and they played frisbee on the beach and we all explored the crazy sandstone cliffs along the water. Huge fossils were embedded in the rock. They were quite impressive. Eventually we all went back to the sailboat and we lifted anchor and headed out of Shallow Bay. We decided to circumnavigate all of Sucia Island, exploring little coves and bays along the way. Mt Baker hovered white above the blue blue blue water. On the east side of the island we went into enormous Echo Bay then motored past the Finger Islands.

We anchored again near Little Sucia Island. There were tons of red jellyfish in the water here. Jeremy took me out on the dinghy to get closer photos of them then he dropped me off on the beach. Little Sucia Island is off limits to humans from January to August 15th. You could tell it’s not a place that humans go to often. The beach was filled with crushed shells bleached white in the sun. I took lots of pictures and explored the beach. Around the corner were rocky beaches just filled with mussel shells. I disturbed a flock of birds which squawked and took flight en masse. I took more photos of the red jellyfish which were right along the shoreline. Jeremy came to pick me up in the dinghy and I carefully walked to the boat, making sure there were jellies near. Back on the sailboat I had a cold beer. We decided to move the boat to a place with more sun. We anchored in a channel with crazy currents and tide rip knowing that it was just a place to hang out for the sunset not a place to stay the night. The light turned golden as the sun descended and Jeremy took me out in the dinghy to photograph the sandstone cliffs glowing in the late light. They were gorgeous in the golden light. We pulled the dinghy up on to some rocks on Sucia Island so we could watch the sun set over the Canadian Gulf Islands to the west. It was stunning.

We went back to the boat and later decided to move it back to Shallow Bay which was protected from any breezes and had calm waters. The light was mostly gone so there was tons of bioluminescence coming off the motor and our wake. We could see zillions of fish illuminated. After we were anchored a seal very near our boat was making quite the ruckus. It kept jumping out of the water and smacking the water with his whole body. I’m sure this was making nearby fish moved which were then lit up by the bioluminescence and became an easy meal for the seal. Most fish-eating animals probably are up all night chasing lit-up fish in the dark. It’s gotta be easy pickins. We sat in the boat at marveled at the zillions of stars and the Milky Way until the bright moon rose above the trees and drowned out their tiny lights.

Tuesday morning was another warm and sunny day. We ate cheesy sausages for breakfast then began working our way east again. We anchored near Matia Island for a while and watched more jellyfish swim by, including a white one almost 3 feet across and over 6 feet long. Lummi Channel was socked in by thick fog so we lounged around in the sun waiting for it to burn off before we could continue. As we were motoring back we were stopped by the Coast Guard who boarded the boat and did a safety check (life vests, air horn etc). We passed and they were very friendly. As we approached Bellingham Bay I wondered when the next time would be that I would be out in the sunny San Juans. I also realized that exactly a month from that day I would be arriving in New York for the first time ever. It couldn’t possibly be more different from where I was that day.

So that was my weekend! Please let me know how you are & what you’re up to!
xoxo
carolyn