Returning to Friday Harbor

We didn’t stay long at Roche Harbor at all. Just long enough to take a single mushroom hunt hike and to pickup a few necessities from the marina store, and we were ready to move on after spending a night anchored in the bay. Things were getting a bit frustrating with numerous issues hitting the boat systems all within the last few days; two instances of taking on water, a shorted out fridge, and now even our freezer wasn’t holding temperature. We had a good run of everything onboard working, but it only lasted a couple weeks after our time in Port Townsend. And here I thought I could finally kick my feet up and relax a bit after nearly two years of constant laboring on the boat. Seriously, what was I thinking?

Like a light switch, the PNW weather changed after Labor Day. Gone were the warm days of summer. The colder weather had definitely arrived. Although the cooler temperatures were still quite manageable, we were ready to fire up our wood stove in the mornings, but had only a few logs left over from last winter. We needed to gather some serious firewood, and we knew just where to go; Friday Harbor. We gathered a serious amount of wood from the Friday Harbor hardware store last year and we were to do the same now. Thirty logs were stuffed under our floor to make for weeks of warmth and comfort at anchor. It was here that we found our water heater was tripping the shore power breaker, adding yet another problem to the growing list – ugh!

This is our third time coming onto the marina here, and all was feeling extremely comfortable and easy now. Piloting in a 16 tone boat into a slip isn’t as frightening as it once was. Kerri and I know what we need to do and communicate well when pulling in to and out of a dock – our headsets making it real easy. Like professionals we slid right into our slip and tied off without any angst or panic. The primary form of entertainment while in a marina is watching others coming or going, and what situations they get into during that transition. Just like you can’t help but to rubber-neck when you pass by a car accident – or start backing a trailer into a camp site – it is assured that everyone in the immediate area is watching when you are coming into dock. It is just part of boat life.

The view into North Pass, with Mt Baker in the distance, as we motor south to Friday Harbor.

My natural state as of late; in the lazarette once again.

Originally we were only going to stay a couple days in the harbor, but the weather was going to through a couple high-wind days our direction late in the week. Even though we both feel more confident to be anchored in the 40+ knot winds, we opted to stay in the marina for those days. There was simply no need to take on the risks and sleepless nights of being on anchor in gale force winds, so we didn’t. It gave me the extra time to resolve a few more issues on the boat, shower, and even get the laundry done. As a side benefit, we got to spend an evening hanging out (responsibly social distancing of course) with two other couples – who Kerri follows online – as they too were sheltering from the winds here.

Not really a lot to say beyond that. Usually, when Kerri and I come back to civilization, we both just seem to hibernate away. No photos were taken by either of us (but for my ass huddled in the lazarette trying to problem solve our issues). We did go out to eat once or twice, but most of our time off the boat was spent running errands, not for pleasure.