Friday Harbor

Saturday, June 16, 2018
We got underway this morning, late again, expecting that others would have preceded us. Not so. Maybe, because it was Saturday, a weekend crowd was there for the duration. So, we were the first to leave the mooring field, opening up space for another boat to snug in for the night. There was a brisk, very brisk, wind so when we cleared the area into deep water, we put the sails up. Big problem.

I had found a loose shackle on the foredeck, near the anchor, but did not know what its purpose was. It all became clear; it was the shackle that secures the bottom of the jib to the furling roller. It had come off. There is a sailboat 101 deal that has to be done: mousing the shackles, at least the critical ones,but it really should be all permanent shackles. Standard shackles have a hole in the pin; a soft, flexible wire is run through and around the shackle side to ensure that the pin cannot work loose under a strain. That had not been done; one end of the jib was flapping in the wind.I also noticed that two cars on the mainsail were not in the track. Bottom line: neither sail was usable. No sails, no wind instruments and, by the way, we had to do this to keep the chart plotter from overheating. Not exactly a peak sailing experience, but fun to be on a boat again.

All griping aside, today we were traveling with the current and got back the several hours that we lost going against the current on Wednesday. We are in Friday Harbor, on the other side of San Juan Island from Roche Harbor. An easy day until we entered the marina to moor in a slip. The marina people put us in a slip shared by another boat with the wind pushing us away from the dock and into that boat. Somehow, I got the boat into the slip without crashing into anything, but it was a very close call.

So, here we will sit for two days and then return to Bellingham, to leave the boat on Tuesday. We're renting a car and spending a few days in the area. No particular plan. A couple of days in Victoria and then a few more on the Olympic peninsula. Hope that it's fun.

On Wednesday, in Sucia Island's harbor I looked west for a sunset; seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Last night, by accident, I looked east. The picture does not do justice to the rose tint that the snow capped peaks took on. A pretty picture to end the blog,