Day 217 Off we go again

We set off from Roche Harbor about 9:15 this morning for parts unknown. We thought we would stop at a small island called Turn Island along the South end of the San Juan Channel. Not a breathe of wind but quite a current as we left Roche Harbor. The bad thing was that it was against us. We'd planned to be out by 8:15 but that just wasn't in the cards. While we had only been here one night, it still took us a while to get ready to leave.

Yesterday, just after we checked in, we ran into one of the men that works for Sea Marine. Randy, one of the crane/boat llft men was outside the marina office. He's pretty much a jack of all trades around the yard. A really nice guy. We had lunch at the Lime Kiln Cafe and talked about what we had been up to since we left the dock 11 days ago. Work has slowed down over the past few weeks and some of their projects had been placed on hold for a while apparently. It was nice to just sit and talk without one of the other people in the yard--bosses--seeing us chatting. Afterwards, it was back to Zephyr to get cleaned up and things set up for the evening.

We fought the current until we made it to the San Juan Channel--about two miles and then headed South. We passed Friday Harbor along the way. It's one of the bigger towns in the islands. We found no reason to stop on this trip. Maybe the next time out. We got to Turn Island--another state park and hooked up to one of the buoys to see how it was. We both felt it was a bit to exposed to traffic as well as currents for our liking so we unhooked and set off for Fishermans Bay along the East side of the channel. I called to check for availability. They had slips so off we took at least until I asked the price--$49.00 for one night. That's almost as much as we paid at Point Hudson during the Summer. It's way out of line for a Winter slip. I hung up and we looked at the charts and set off for MacKays Bay on the South side of Lopez Island. A well protected bay with a few houses and no other boats. As we approached the end of the channel, it gets quite narrow and the current speeds up. By the time we got there, we were doing 10.8 knots. That's about as fast as we have ever had Zephyr under motor. Much faster that she would normally ever go under engine. The current was just over 2 knots with lots of eddies in the water as it flew through the end of the narrows. It was quite a ride. We were on constant watch for logs and debris as we went. The last thing we wanted was to hit something at that speed.

We pulled in about 1:15 and dropped the anchor and tried to get it to set. I wasn't sure it did, so we have been watching it every time the wind blows in any fashion. We both had another great lunch of turkey leftovers. Tracy is now out of hers and I'm down to just a few pieces. Enough for a nice portion of turkey curry again.

We saw a bit more Sun today but all in all, it was a bit chilly all day. We were both well bundled up. Once we got settled, I took a shower in the stern head. Try taking a shower in a room about half the size of an old telephone booth with a nice curtain the tends to stick to you when ever you turn or move in the room. At least the water was still hot from using the 110 power plus the engine heated water. I still had some hot water left when I was done.

Now taking a shower on boat is a lot different than what you do at home. You make sure you are all ready--soap, shampoo, brushes(as needed) etc. Get into the shower stall(tiny stall that is), turn on the water--but be carful, it's not hot when it starts flowing(God, it can be cold). Suddenly, it gets hot--not just hot but HOT. You stop for a second and add some cold water, all the while aware that you could run out of hot at any second as your tank is quite small and it's been a while since you left the dock with nice heated water. Spray yourself down and then turn off the water--the shower has an "off" switch on it. We bought it at an RV showroom. Now that your wet, soap up and do it quickly--again, the hot water may not be running, but there is only so much of it. Now you're covered in soap and shampoo and get to rinse off--again in fear of running out. It's like taking a shower on a timer(at the marina). You just never know when your water will suddenly stop and pray that you have gotten all the soap off when it does. In a boat, you can't just add quarters to the controller and get more hot water. When it's gone, it's gone and believe me, I really don't care for a cold shower at least not until we get to some place that's warmer.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and checking on deck at each gust of wind to make sure Zephyr was safe and sound.

Tonights dinner was a great beef enchilada that Tracy has made for years. It's nice and spicy. Tracy claims I've burned out my taste buds as I can eat much more spicy foods than she can. Being raised in Pennsylvania, spicy was something that was never on our menu at home. Tracy and I were talking just the other day about dinners we had as children. I really had a hard time remembering meals my mother made. The biggest memory was cauliflower with velveeta cheese on it. To this day, I can't and won't eat it. I hated it then and still do. My father rarely barbecued. Maybe twice that I can remember and that was for parties. I just couldn't remember. Strange. When you read this brother Rick, leave me a "comment" if your memory is any better.

Tomorrow, we are heading back to Point Hudson after twelve days. A great shakedown cruise. Our education is growing every day. I now watch the battery monitor regularly, especially when something is running to see how many amps it is drawing and planning out how long it will be before we will need to start the engine to recharge. I now have a better understanding of the "system" and how it works. A battery is like a quart container. The container holds amps. As they spill out, the container holds less until you know that you have to refill it or the container will run out. That can't be allowed to happen. Watch, watch watch. Charge charge charge.


Thursday--
The computer ran out of juice and there was no internet connection so now it's Thursday and we are about a third of the way across the Straits of Juan DeFuca. Just a breathe of wind so we put up the sails. First time in a week plus that we have been able to sail. Well, try at least. After about 45 minutes of going less than a knot, in came the sails and on came the engine and we are currently motor/sailing. The main is still up to stable keep us riding flatter in the chop that is out here. A lot less rolling side to side.

I'll write more later--