The sailing adventures of SV Meriwether and her crew
The big sail across Juan De Fuca Strait along with the ass kicking from the wind is a thing of the past. We made it across the strait and were still alive, so all was good. And that about sums up the bar of success on a sailboat, and even the veterans agree – if you arrive without killing someone...
The big day was finally here. We would have to cross the Strait of Juan De Fuca to get to our next area of destinations (we had a couple stops planned over there). In the week leading up to this day there had been a fair amount of concern about this sail. The strait can be bi-polar with heavy winds...
Another short motor – not even an hour long – would get us around Decatur Island to the tiny Marine State Park of James Island. The primary reason we dropped in was for our impending crossing of the Strait of Juan De Fuca the following day – this would shave an hour off that long trip. James is a tiny...
After a week spent in a marina we were both ready to get back out and away from everyone. Not that there is such a thing in July in the San Juan’s, but at least we could only have a dozen neighbors instead of a hundred. The destination for the work week was only a few nautical miles away, just...
After a week stay at (and near) Stuart Island State Marine Park, we set about making our way to visit our third port as full time sailors. Friday Harbor is *the* town of the San Juan Islands, even located on the island with the name to rule them all – San Juan Island. Kerri and I have been here before...
Outside of Prevost Harbor, just on the other side of Satellite Island is cool, refreshing, cell signal… or so we remembered from our arrival the day before. Over there, just a short hop away, we could anchor for the week in a small cove. While the cove would protect us from the scheduled winds coming from the south west all...
Stuart Island is about as far West as we can go before entering Canada and the furthest from mainland Washington as we can get. With the Fourth of July holiday coming we thought an early arrival to the island would ensure we have a place to hunker down for the big weekend. The State Park portion of the island is...
In my last post I mentioned that we came to the mainland for a couple days to resupply. This is our second resupply since going full time sailing, and we are learning how better to do it each time. From Sucia Island it is 15 miles – as the crow flies – to Blaine, just south of the Canadian border....
Echo Bay is the largest bay on Sucia Island, with room for many dozens of boats. The decision was made to anchor in Echo Bay instead of taking up a mooring ball for better nights of sleep. Plus, there is a three day limit on a ball, so we would have had to move mid-week anyway. It is just easier...
We heard about Sucia Island just before we started our adventure a month ago. Looking at it on a map it appeared to be an amazing playground for sailing nomads with numerous anchorages, camp sites galore, and a good helping of hiking trails on land. A month prior I was seriously looking forward to Sucia Island as our first true...
