Another clear day.  I think we’re on a roll here.  I’m up with the sun this morning, hoping to get a longer walk in today.  I’ve brought my walking shoes, which will make walking much more enjoyable.  Yesterday, with my kayaking boots on, I could feel every little pebble.

I set out for the head of Hunter Bay this morning and was thrilled to find my first ducks, mergansers, actually.  They were so small, I’m surprised I was able to spot them.  There were about eight very young mergansers who had apparently been left to fend for themselves by momma merganser.   And, they seemed to be doing quite well.  They were catching lots of tiny fish, and then, when they’d had their fill, they’d head for the beach for some feather maintenance.

The wind was building a bit, so I headed for the launch ramp.  There weren’t any boats launching, so I was able to get ashore quickly. 

 I carried my kayak above the tide line, changed my shoes, took off my life jacket, and headed up the road.  The steep incline provides a good workout.  

I hadn’t gone far before I spotted this deer crossing the road.

Apparently, the deer can read signs and, therefore, feel free to roam wherever they like.

This cheerful mailbox caught my eye.  

I liked this home, built in a clearing, which provided enough sun to grow flowers and a vegetable garden.

Some of the houses have breathtaking water views.

I walked for about an hour, before heading back to my kayak.  I spotted this beautiful spinnaker out in the bay.  You don’t see many spinnakers in the northwest, so this was a real treat.

When I awoke at 0500 hrs there wasn’t any fog.  However, based on the past few days, I figured the fog would sock in around 0700 hrs, so I went back to sleep.  When I awoke at 0600 hrs, the sky was still clear.  Fooled me.  I jumped up and managed to get on the water by 0745 hrs.   I wanted to do some exploring ashore, so headed for the launch ramp and hauled my kayak up above the tide line before setting out up the road.  

With my lousy sense of direction, I always worry about getting lost, so I was pleasantly surprised to find street signs.

And, apparently there must be a school on the island.  I had no idea there were that many full-time residents on Lopez.

We had wondered whether the houses had to have generators, but apparently they are supplied with metered electricity, and I spotted this water tower.  Doesn’t look like they rough it too much.

From the water, you don’t see many houses, but I found quite a community hiding among the trees.

This place had a vegetable garden, complete with a well-dressed scarecrow; and they had a few chickens.  Their zucchini seems to be doing very well.

The properties are a mixed bag. Some people have built lovely homes on their lots; but, some lots have nothing but a fifth-wheel parked on them.  I loved this steel gate with decorative crab cutouts.

The roads are quite steep in places, which made walking difficult in my kayaking boots.  Tomorrow I’ll bring a pair of walking shoes and explore further.

On the way back to the boat I spotted this boat with a lovely hanging basket of petunias.  I miss my petunias.  Apparently, the woman on this boat said,  “If you want me to go boating, my petunias and veggies are going with me”.

When I got back to the boat, Al spotted this deer feeding beneath the deck of one of the nearby homes.  

Another foggy day.  I thought the fog had lifted enough to go paddling around 0800 hrs, but when I reached the shoreline and turned to head parallel to the shore I realized that the fog was creeping in again.  I barely made it back to the boat before we were engulfed in the pea soup fog.

By 1000 hrs, the fog burned off and I set out again.  I paddled toward the southern point that leads to Mud Bay.  The homes that overlook Hunter Bay are a mixed bag, everything from million dollar homes to very modest living.

 

This modest home had a cool teepee.  

Along the way, I checked out the launch facility, where I hope to haul out and take a walk tomorrow, weather permitting.

This afternoon a family sailed by on an interesting boat.

The fog has socked in again.  I was dressed to go paddling at 0630 hrs, thinking the fog would burn off soon.  Wrong.  So, I had a leisurely breakfast, washed dishes, did some cleaning, and finally, at 1030 hrs, the fog lifted.

I paddled for at least 45 minutes before I found this eagle way up in a tree.

He soon took off for another tree, and I followed.

I spotted another eagle flying by with a large fish, headed for the other side of the bay.  He was too far away to photograph, but this eagle decided he wanted in on that fish and took off after him.

So, I continued along the shore and found this blue heron perched precariously in the top of a tree.  

I was up early this morning, anxious to get out on the water while the morning light was still good.

The beautiful big Madrone trees along the shoreline are spectacular in the magical morning light.

I thought I spotted berries, but it turned out to be brilliantly red leaves.

I spotted a blue heron standing still as a statue on top of a piling. 

Interesting rock formations caught my eye.

A kingfisher, busy fishing for breakfast, landed in a nearby tree.

At one time I think this must have been a boathouse.  However, Al pointed out the fact that there is no way a boat could have gotten inside the boathouse due to the pilings.  I told him, “Well it’s picturesque anyway”.

I paddled for a couple of hours, and then headed back to the boat to make Belgian waffles with fresh strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.  They were scrumptious.

There have been so many boats coming and going today, creating uncomfortable wakes that send our boat rocking and rolling, that we decided to move to Hunter Bay, where we hope to get some relief.

We found that most of the boats had left Hunter, probably headed home so they can go to work tomorrow (I do love retirement), so we had our pick of anchoring spots.

When the sun came up this morning, we got our first look at Watmough Bay.  It’s actually very picturesque.  Apparently, everyone else thinks so too, because the bay is full of boats.  

It is very foggy this morning.  If we hadn’t crossed Juan de Fuca Strait last night, we would have had to wait until 1100 hrs this morning for the fog to lift.   By then, the wind would have been blowing 25 knots and we’d be faced with “Victory at Sea”.  So, I guess Al made the right call yesterday.

As soon as we finished breakfast, we headed for Hunter Bay, just a 30 minute run.  However, when we got to Hunter, we found that it was full of boats also.  So, we anchored in nearby Mud Bay.  The wind blew hard all day.

The rain is gone and the seas are flat calm when we awake this morning.  Perfect!  I wasted no time getting my kayak in the water.  

First, I wanted to paddle to the end of the bay to see if much had changed at the Nordland General Store.  The store has been here forever. On my way, I spotted a couple of horses in a small pasture.  Unfortunately, I had to shoot right into the sun.  It’s not every day that I get to photograph horses, so I took the shots anyway.

When I got to the general store, I was sorry to see that they’ve let the store get so run-down.  But, it still seems to be the gathering spot for the locals.

Next, I decided to paddle up the South arm of Kilisut Harbour.  I paddled and paddled, and didn’t seem to be making much headway.  I couldn’t even catch up with these Canadian Honkers.  I wondered if it was because of my new, longer paddle.  It finally dawned on me that I was paddling against a strong current and a bit of a headwind. 

My arms were getting tired, so I turned around and headed for the boat.  Going with the current and wind was soooo much easier.  I relaxed and let the wind and current carry me along. 

On the beach, some movement caught my eye.  Raccoons!  They were way in the distance, but I was so excited, I took a couple of shots anyway.

After dinner, around 1800 hrs, Al decided that since we will be leaving for Hunter Bay, on Lopez Island in the morning, we’d better move to Fort Flagler Marine State Park, near the entrance to Mystery Bay, tonight, which will shorten tomorrow’s run.  However, once we got to Fort Flagler, Al decided we might as well keep going to Hunter Bay, since the wind was calm and there wasn’t any fog.  I reminded Al about our vow never to leave an anchorage in the afternoon, having suffered dire consequences in the past.  However, Al was convinced that traveling conditions were just too good to wait for tomorrow and take a chance on what conditions will be in the morning.  So, we continued on.

Al figured, that averaging 8 knots, like we usually do, we should get to Hunter Bay before dark.  He said we’d have the current against us until we got to Partridge Point, but, according to the current chart, we would have the current with us the rest of the way.  

I looked at the knot meter when we headed into Puget Sound and we were averaging about 4.5 knots.  Not good.  We got to Partridge Point, and we were still only doing 5 knots, except for about 15 minutes when we got up to 8.9 knots. It was raining.  I spotted two targets 8 miles to the southwest of us on the AIS.  They were doing over 20 knots and gaining on us pretty quickly.  We would have to cross the shipping lane to enter Hunter.  It soon became evident that we couldn’t make it across the shipping lane ahead of the ships, so we throttled way back.  About that time they throttled back to 14.9 knots.  By now, we could see that one target was a ship, and the other target was the ship’s tug, or pilot boat.  They slowed down even more, as we throttled back even more and changed our course so that we were headed back toward their sterns.  By now it was 2130 hrs and getting dark.  It was obvious we would have to feel our way into Hunter Bay.  Not good.  Al decided to head for Watmough Bay instead.  Watmough was only about a mile away, and the entrance was wide open.  

I could see three AIS targets in Watmough.  There are three buoys in Watmough, so I assumed the targets were probably on those buoys.  However, when we got closer, we could see anchor lights all over the bay.  This is apparently a very popular anchorage.  Since it was pitch dark, and there were probably crab traps all over the bay, Al didn’t go very far into the anchorage before dropping the hook.  We’d cheated Death again.

It’s still windy and rainy this morning, and the temperature has dropped to 62^oF in the cabin.  Where did summer go?  

This weather is killing me.  Now that I have my new paddle, I’m itching to go kayaking.  Instead, my only exercise today was cleaning the shower.  I finally finished “Zebra”, thank goodness, and am now enjoying reading “The Kitchen Mistress,” by Kathleen Shoop.

There haven’t been many birds around, other than guillemots, which are very shy and therefore very hard to photograph.

The skies are still black and ominous this evening.  Looks like we might be in for more rain tonight.

There won’t be many places where I can go for a walk during the next two months, so I got up early and headed back downtown.  I was curious to see if our favorite Mexican Restaurant was still here.  Sadly, they are gone.  This is a tourist town, full of quaint historic old buildings, and interesting boutiques.  Nothing was open yet, so I pretty much had the streets to myself.  

I walked for about an hour, and then headed back to Safeway to get the rest of the groceries that we need.  Across the road, I spotted three deer getting ready to cross the street.  There wasn’t much traffic, luckily.  I waved my arms at a car I saw approaching, and they stopped to let the deer cross.   

When I got back to the boat, I had breakfast and disposed of the rest of our trash.  In the meantime, Al got the engines running, I activated our course line, and we were off to Mystery Bay, on Marrowstone Island.

It’s been over 20 years since we’ve been to Mystery Bay.  The entrance channel to Mystery Bay is extremely narrow, shallow, and serpentine, and if you don’t pay attention and follow the channel buoys, you will go aground.  

Port Townsend is in the background in these shots. Through the camera lens, Port Townsend appears so close it looks  like you could reach out and touch it.

This looks to be a favorite haulout beach for seals.

We were surprised at how many boats there were in Mystery Bay on a week day.  Although there was room at the dock, after already spending one night tied to a dock, we opted to anchor out… so much more peaceful.

Well, everything was peaceful, until the storm blew in, at which time the wind piped up to about 25 knots.  We were relaxing, reading , listening to the wind gusts playing on the boat causing various rattles and squeaks, when I looked up and saw a couple in a runabout circling our boat taking photos with their phone.  “That’s odd,” I thought.  They circled two or three times, and then we heard them yell, “Your boat’s dragging anchor,” as they sped away.

Al surveyed the situation and decided we weren’t dragging, but because the boats around us were on mooring buoys, which kept them pretty stationary, the wind had stretched our anchor chain out, which put us closer to the boats on buoys.  So, Al fired up the engine and we re-anchored well away from the moored boats.  And, it’s a good thing he did, because the wind continued to build to about 30 knots after sunset.

Pea soup fog has crept in during the night.  We’d planned on leaving by 0700 hrs. I was hoping Al would wait for the fog to lift before pulling the anchor.  But, no.  The anchor was going up before I’d even finished brushing my teeth.  So, I multi-tasked, booting up our navigation program, activating a route to Port Townsend, and flossing.  

Al assured me that the fog would lift by the time we were underway.  Wrong.  The fog just got thicker the farther north we got.  Luckily, the radar and AIS program seemed to be working.  As we approached the Port Townsend Canal, I said, “You should get on the radio and let people know we’re about to enter the canal.  Just about that time,  I spotted an AIS target, a pleasure boat named “Star”, headed through the Canal, doing over 10 knots!  As “Star” exited the canal, I said, “You’d better hail him. He’s headed right for us.  Al altered our course to miss “Star”, and “Star” altered his course, heading right for us.  Al got on the radio and hailed him again.  “Star” finally answered and thanked Al for the heads up.  Whew!  Cheated Death again.

By the time we got through the canal, the fog had started lifting and we made Port Townsend without any further difficulties.  Al called the Boat Haven Marina and got us a slip for the night.  The slip was a port side tie, so Al had to back in, which he managed beautifully, with some help from the thrusters.  Piece of cake.

As soon as we got tied up, I headed for the marina office to pay for moorage and get the code for the trash container.  I learned that the marina doesn’t have WiFi service, but I was able to connect to North Olympic Wireless, which worked well.

Then, I was off to pick up a new kayak paddle at West Marine.  Fortunately, they still had the paddle, which was a tad long, but it will work.  

My next stop was Safeway to stock up on groceries.  Luckily, I had my little folding cart, because I must have had 50 pounds of produce and some Chinese takeout to haul back to the boat.  My back is hating it, and my little cart was hating it, but we both managed to make it back to the boat in one piece.

After dinner, I decided to check out the downtown district, which is about 3 blocks long.  I hadn’t been here in about 20 years.  Other than a few more restaurants, a laundromat,  and a bakery, I couldn’t see that much has changed.  According to my smartwatch I managed to get in 14,000 steps today!  After those Belgian waffles yesterday and the day before, I really needed the exercise.