The Canadian Gulf Islands are very lovely indeed, but there’s something about the San Juan Islands that Jason and I just love. We left Selby Cove to head into Roche Harbor to clear customs back into America and bum around the San Juans for a while before heading back home. We also needed food and fuel, so it was a good place to stop! We considered staying a night at the marina but at $60 a night I’ll go without a shower again. 😉 I don’t remember marinas being that expensive last time we chartered a boat, but apparently they are now. Good thing Jason bought that really nice anchor, because we used it quite a bit this trip! Another thing I used extensively is my 70-300 zoom lens. Got to play with it again when we spotted a pod of Orca whales splashing around in the Haro Strait.
Eventually we made our way to James Island for some hiking. However as we pulled in we realized every mooring ball was taken and all the space at the little dock was full. We didn’t really want to get back into the wind and drive on to another island that might be full also so we circled a few times considering whether or not it would be rude to drop our anchor right there in the middle of the harbor. At that point a man on one of the big yachts on the dock waved us over and told us we could raft our boat to his if we wanted. We’ve never rafted before so that was quite the experience. For those of you who don’t boat, rafting is when one boat is tied to the dock or mooring ball or anchor and another boat (or sometimes two!) is just tied to the first boat with the inflatable fenders in between them. John and Roxie spend half the year living on their lovely Grand Banks 42 with their cat. Jason and John spent a few hours swapping boat stories while I scoured the beach for rocks. (Found some! surprise, surprise…)
I ran out of sand paper to finish the side rails of the boat. :/ DANGIT! I was so close!!! I was using 150 then had to go to 320… and when that ran out I decided it was a waste of time to keep going with the 400. I suppose I’ll just have to finish it when I get back home. Either way, here’s the progress!
We made yet another pot of spaghetti (provisioning and meal selection is something we really need to work on!) and then set out to hike the trail around the island.
Great day for a hike!