We hopped off the mooring ball early and picked our way through the interior of the San Juan Islands. We motored pretty much the entire way as the wind, currents, and narrow passes were not inclined to help us out. We reached Roche Harbor in the afternoon and landed at their generously sized guest dock (free for a couple hours). We made our way up to the store which was holding our package as the post office closes at 1:30. We stowed the radio back on board and spent an hour or two wandering the interesting little hamlet of Roche Harbor. The most notable find in our wanderings was an immaculate bocce court. We are used to playing bocce amongst downed logs and deer turds, so this impecable court came as a bit of a suprise.
After leaving Roche Harbor, we chose to anchor at Stuart Island. Reid Harbor is well protected from wind in pretty much any direction and it's beautiful inside. The shore is pretty much all tree lined with the exception of some docks to the west. We dropped our big Rocna anchor for the first time and promptly picked it right back up again. Turns out, neither of us measure distance well and we ended up altogether too close to some other boats. So we picked up the anchor and in the process of doing so, killed our starter battery. I suspected it was in its death throes anyways as it never seems to hold a charge well. Since our starter battery powers our windlass and our windlass is what picks up the 330 pounds of anchor chain and 72 pounds of anchor so I don't have to, I think we'll be looking into a new starter battery.
Nature watch for the day: loads and loads of seals/sea lions (we can't differentiate well) and a few porpoises up close and personal.
The bocce courts in Roche Harbor.
The Catholic church in Roche Harbor is one of the few privately owned Catholic churches in the US.
Roche Harbor marina. Where the rich folk keep boats.
48°40'11.1"N 123°11'25.4"W
1 comment:
Seals & sea lions are very different! When their on land, sea lions can use their front flippers to move around, they can navigate land a little better than seals. Seals can really only slide around on their belly - their front fins are big enough to support their body. I do a kickass in-person demonstration of these techniques. Also - something I didn't know: Earless seals like the Northern elephant seal and harbor seal are believed to have descended from a line of terrestrial mammals similar to otters. Eared seals like the California sea lion and the Northern fur seal are believed to have descended from a bear-like mammal. Who knew! :)
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