Charming Town of LaConner

Saying goodbye to good friends at Deception Pass Marina, we left for the short ride over to LaConner.  We've been to LaConner many times via car, always saying that "one day" we'd bring our boat here and moor for the night.  Of course, when we said that, the dream of having a boat was still that--just a dream.  But, here we were, motoring our boat to LaConner to spend the night, fulfilling a wish of ours.
 

  

The channel approach to the southern end of the Swinomish Channel is just off the eastern side of Whidbey Island.  The approach is very narrow and it is imperative to stay between the markers in this area.  We passed this eagle pretty close, but he didn't seem to be bothered until we were well passed.  

 



As you move down the channel, you realize that you are heading right for a rock wall, but then the channel turns and you maneuver around an "S" curve.  

The channel continues past a housing development and soon enough, the Rainbow Bridge comes into view with LaConner just beyond.  (Of course, the Rainbow Bridge is now painted orange, but you can guess what it used to look like.)






We chose to use one of the town's public docks (at $.50/ft for the night) and have our first night with no power.  The public docks are right along the water in the main part of town.  We were able to leave the boat and walk the main drag of town and visit the shops and restaurants.  We had to stop at our favorite, LaConner Brewery, so that Jerry could enjoy their brick-oven pizza (one of the best ever tasted), while I stayed gluten free and had the Brick Oven Nachos.  Both were very good.  We brought the leftover nachos back and finished those up later that night.  

 Just above the public dock where we moored was one of the town's many public plaza's where local art work was displayed and benches available for tourists to rest.  The "art" at this plaza rose high above the heads of the tourists and I'm still scratching my head by its meaning.  I guess this artist felt the local fish were being polluted by all the trash that was in the water.




We seem to attract Blue Heron, and here was another one coming close to the boat for a visit.














I went wandering with my camera, and Jerry was happy to see me returning. 

Our mooring place was directly across from the land belonging to the Swinomish Indian Tribe.  They had a celebration and put two canoes in the water, the younger folks going out first and the elders chasing in the next canoe.





 
Later in the evening when the canoes returned, there was dancing, singing, and drums beating up under one of the three pavilions (one seen above).  We checked the website of the tribe, but did not see what they were celebrating.  The tribe does participate in a canoe trip, along with other coastal Indian tribes, paddling to one location for all tribes to celebrate.  We can only assume this might have been a celebration of the canoes being readied for the trip.

Next morning, we said good-bye to LaConner and headed up the Swinomish Channel heading towards Bellingham and a couple of days visiting friends, Ed & Lois. 





  

Our First Long Cruise

Getting off on our first long cruise got delayed due to small craft warnings and gale force winds, but it allowed us to continue working on the boat, fine tuning some things before heading out.  This included getting our Honda 8hp dinghy engine purring like a kitten, and we have to thank our moorage neighbor, Cliff, for his help.  A car mechanic during the week, we really appreciated him taking time out on his Saturday to help us.

So, with the gale force winds settling down and wave heights expected between 1-3 ft., we got up early Sunday morning to cross the Strait of Juan DeFuca.  Now, this is my first time across and so I have no experience to fall back on, but in my “rookie” opinion, it was pretty rough going across.  It may have been the effects of the gale force winds still evident from the night before, and maybe we should have waited a few extra hours, but off we went.  We had to zigzag our course in order to take the swells at our quarter instead of our beam, and then we’d head east for awhile in following seas.  At 7 knots, 4 hours later, we were in calmer waters in Rosario Strait, southeast of Lopez Island, with Deception Pass Bridge in the distance.  

 

We wanted to go through Deception Pass at slack tide, so we pulled into Bowman Bay to rest for a few hours. 

Bowman Bay is just north of Deception Pass, and was quite a treat.  A Washington State Park floating dock was available, along with four mooring buoys.  Also in the Bay was a dinghy-only dock, beach, boat ramp, and lots of hiking trails.  We tied up to the floating dock, made some lunch, grabbed a nap, and watched the eagles in the nearby trees.   One swooped down and caught a fish and we watched it tear it apart and then take it back to the nest.   

Hearing a splash under the dock near our boat, we knew we had a critter joining us.  A few minutes later, an otter jumped onto the dock and joined us.  Of course, no camera nearby, so just the memory and no photo to show you.  Lots of kayakers around the area.  The Bay was a beautiful place to rest for a few hours, but is exposed to northwest winds and we heard from others that at night the floating dock can be bouncy due to the wakes of large ships passing through Rosario Strait.  We hope to return for another visit in the future.

Slack tide time brought us through the Deception Pass and a flotilla of fishing boats with no noticeable passage through the mass.  However, being a 38-foot boat, they made openings for us to pass through, all of them shaking their heads “No,” when we asked if they had caught anything.

A ketch coming out as we went under the bridge.

Cloud Nine at the Dock of Deception Pass Marina

Through the Pass and around Ben Ure Island brought us into Cornet Bay and the Deception Pass Marina, a small marina with fuel dock and grocery store.  Very kind folks met us at the fuel dock, took our lines, and helped get us tied up.  Fishermen were at the top of the ramp cleaning their catch of Ling Cod.  There is a State Park in the area, with showers and docks just down the road one direction, and campground about a mile down the road the other direction. 

North Whidbey Island RV Park was just a mile down the road, where friends Nick & Mary and Tom & Carolyn were awaiting our arrival.  Dinner in Anacortes at the Rock Fish Grill with all, and we finished the night drinking wine on the Porter’s deck with a fire in their portable fire pit.  Good to have friends.

Tuesday morning we were treated to the extended family of Canadian Geese floating by as well as blue skies and warm sun. 

Plans are to head to LaConner and then Bellingham for a few days, visiting with more friends.  After that?  Wherever we want to go!!!

WINDOWS & FLOORING

 As mentioned in earlier post, the explosion the end of January caused damage to our windows and doors.  We received delivery of our Motion Windows bought from Peninsula Glass Company in Vancouver, WA.  (Very professional group and really nice windows!)  The first window has been installed after a few days of cutting, filling, epoxying, trying to fit it, more cutting and filling, etc., etc.  We're hoping the remaining three go quicker.  ;-)

Here's Jerry ripping out the old carpet in the salon.  You can see the boxes of wood flooring behind him.  He's putting in bamboo, which should look great!


You can also see in both of these photos the missing headliner.  I decided to let him finish his work putting down the new flooring and installing the remaining windows before we finish up with the headliner.  Let's just say it helps to avoid "accidents"?




Will post pictures of finished floor as soon as it's all down!