It’s been a different summer cruise for us this year, thanks to Covid-19. Unable to visit our usual cruising haunts in Canada, we’ve had to spend our summer visiting places we haven’t been to since our early days of cruising the Pacific Northwest. Though it hasn’t been as exciting, it has been enjoyable in different ways. For one thing, I was able to do a lot more walking and hiking, which I enjoyed thoroughly. And, while this cruise has not been as exciting, it has been very relaxing.

Much as we hate to cut our cruise short, we have appointments in Redding that we have to keep. So, as soon as the fog lifted a bit this morning, Russ fired up the engines and we headed for our slip in Elliott Bay Marina, already looking forward to next cruising season.

I was finally able to go for a paddle around Manzanita Bay and was amazed at the wildlife I encountered.

Bellies full, it was nap time.

My next encounter was this beautiful blue heron perched high in a tree.

Manzanita Bay is surrounded by beautiful homes.

These Canadian geese were enjoying Manzanita Bay.

And, I found some female mallards.

This fellow apparently decided that the only way to prevent birds from pooping on his yacht was to cover it with netting. I’d never seen this before, but his decks were clean, so I guess it’s working.

Nor, had I ever seen a drydock for a kayak before.

But, the thing that was really unique was this bicycle propelled kayak.

The smoke is still dense, making everything dreary.  Russ and Al spent the days familiarizing Russ with the boat, and replacing our alternator.

Unfortunately, the wind is gusting to 25 mph this morning, so instead of heading for Hunter Bay, we choose to head down the protected waters of Swinomish Channel, toward Mystery Bay, or wherever we decide to anchor tonight.

Russ is running the boat today, so that he can become familiar with the boat.  Al and I are crew.  

Russ will be steering for 61 miles today, a long run.  

It’s low tide, and the Swinomish Channel is very shallow, so you have to be sure to stay in the designated channel.  There isn’t much to photograph today.

We made good time, and when we reached Puget Sound, thankfully the wind was calm.  We considered heading to Mystery Bay, but it was getting late, and it had been a long day, so we opted for Port Ludlow, where we anchored for the night.

The smoke is even worse today.  There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for these fires.  We spent the day doing chores and getting the boat ready for Russ’ arrival.  

The Safeway store is just a block from the marina, making provisioning easy.  I found everything I needed and managed to get it all back to the boat using my little cart.  However, the cart was stressed to the max.

The next morning, I got up early and went looking for photo ops.  

There just wasn’t much to photograph.  Visibility is bad, due to the fires, which makes everything ugly.

Russ left Lake California early this morning and had a horrible drive through the fires in Oregon and Washington.  The smoke was so bad at times that he could only see a half mile ahead.  But, he’s tough, and made it to the marina by 1600 hrs.  

The sunset this evening was gorgeous.

The smell of smoke from the wildfires was extremely strong this morning, and visibility was not great.  However, the wind was dead calm.  Perfect.  We pulled the anchor and headed for Anacortes.

As we went through Thatcher Pass, a  blood red sun was just rising.

By 0830 hrs, we were anchored outside Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes, waiting for the marina office to let us know when the slip they had assigned us was vacant.  We were hoping that the boat presently in the slip would leave early, otherwise we would have to wait until noon.  Unfortunately, the people in our slip waited until the last minute to leave.  But, we were fine anchored where we were ,so the wait wasn’t all that bad.

The marina is first rate, with wide fairways and extra wide double slips.  Walking the docks was a real treat.  This place is full of gorgeous yachts, from all over, even Philadelphia.  At the head of the gangway, is a beautiful Anthony’s Seafood Restaurant, not that we were planning on eating there, due to the pandemic.  

At daybreak, I spotted the resident family of deer feeding at the end of the bay.

What a difference a day makes.  We’ve been enjoying light winds for days, but as soon as we started to pull the anchor and head for Spencer Spit, the wind came up, gusting to 30 mph… ugly!  So, instead of Spencer Spit, we wound up anchoring in Brigantine Bay, between Trump Island and Decatur Island, where the wind was calmer.  The wind was blowing 30 mph outside the anchorage, but inside the anchorage, we were only getting occasional gusts.

Brigantine Bay is pretty, with a very small community of houses along the shore.  The only downside to Brigantine was the occasional boat wake that would rock the boat, which is annoying. However, this was a lot better than being at Spencer Spit where it’s blowing like stink, and where you still have to put up with boat wakes.

We’ve listened to the weather report for tomorrow, and it looks good for making it to Anacortes, where Al’s son, Russ, will be joining us on Thursday.

 

The fog is back this morning, hanging around until 0930 hrs.  In the meantime, we had our big Sunday breakfast and enjoyed the oriental atmosphere created by fog creeping over the shore.  Then, the sun came out and we  had wall-to-wall blue skies.  So, around 1100 hrs, I went for a paddle.  

The view of Mt. Baker was gorgeous.

I was paddling along the shore looking for photo ops when I spotted what looked like some kind of shrine.

When I paddled around to get a better angle, I discovered that instead of a shrine, it was the top of a gazebo.

I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to see any wildlife, when I spotted this heron hanging out next to a pile of lichen-covered boulders.

According to the weather report, there is a 6% chance of rain today.  When I got up at 0630 hrs, it looked more like a 98% chance of rain.  So, I turned over and went back to sleep.  By 0800 hrs, it still looked like 98%.  I decided to have breakfast.

By 1100 hrs, the skies still looked ominous,  but I decided to take my chances and set out paddling for the head of the bay where I’d seen four deer nibbling on trees while I was having breakfast.  The deer were still nibbling when I got there.

I decided to check out some small islets near the entrance to the bay.  At first, all I saw was dead wildflowers.  Then, I looked closer and a heron popped his head up.

A black bird hiding among the seagulls….. an oyster catcher!

When I checked out the seagulls a little closer, I found these two birds, birds I’ve never seen before.  According to my birding book I discovered they were Caspian Terns.

On my way back to the boat I spotted a flotilla of Canadian honkers, probably on their way to mooch crackers from the Labor Day weekend boaters. 

The beautiful sunny weather continues.  I was up early and paddling by 0700 hrs.  I decided to check out the head of the bay to see if the mergansers were still around.  Well, all that remains of the flock is this little guy.  He must have been lonely, because he paddled over to check me out.

I guess it was early for him too, because he yawned.

As I headed out the bay, I noticed something on top of the chimney of a house.

The homeowners must have had problems with birds perching on their chimney, because they put a cap on the chimney to prevent bird droppings from stinking up their fireplace. 

The heron took off when he spotted me, and flew up to the top of a nearby tree to do some preening.

And, maybe a little yoga.

Although I haven’t been able to spot any houses near this spot, someone thought this was the perfect place to enjoy the sunrise.

A couple of murrelets stopped fishing long enough to do some preening.  Surprisingly, they let me get close enough to get these shots.