Sounds good. All I have to do is watch Herb on the bow as he lets out the chain and rode, then at his signal, I use the gears to set the anchor.
Then we will read, watch the scenery and wildlife, and have lunch.
We head toward Cypress Island, not far away, and Herb sees some mooring buoys at Cypress Head, which are a bit protected from wakes of boats. "Let's catch a mooring buoy instead of anchoring," He says.
"Let's" means Willie catches the buoy. Panic. He did not warn me. I've heard the buoy can pull you into the water.
We are almost upon the buoy and I tell Herb to hold on while I get my life jacket. Now, remind me how I am supposed to do this? He says I can use the boat hook, but it is behind the lawn chairs in the cockpit, so I decide to try just slipping the line through the loop.
Amazing! It was so simple and I didn't fall overboard. The hard part was when our own small wake by idling caused the buoy to bob up and down.
Herb then takes the line and ties off at the bow. He also wears his life jacket. The water is still very cold here and it is not a good idea to be in it.
We enjoy the scenery as we have lunch, and notice the rocky shore with picnic tables high on the cliff.
Nice lunch, peaceful scenery, sleeping dog, and we have no chores to do. A nap sounds good. Slight waves will rock us to sleep.
Uh, oh! Here comes the small foot ferry! I suppose she goes very fast because she is on a schedule. Very fast boats cause big wakes. Big wakes frighten sleeping dogs. As Willie's Tug rocks, Jake literally leaps onto the bed with us, waking us, and we 'encourage' him to get down. In doing so, 79 lbs. of canine steps on my leg. I survive.
Nap is over.
As we cruise farther north by the east coast of Cypress Island, we come to Eagle Harbor, which we have heard is a popular place to go.
We see that it is, indeed, an inviting place to visit. Lots of boats on mooring buoys.
Looking to our east, we see several very small islands -- maybe they call them rocks -- and I am reminded that someone told me the San Juan Islands are tops of submerged mountains......
Another beauty we see is a boulder resting against the side of the cliff and dipping into the surf.
God and Mother Nature!
We go west at the top of Cypress Island and then south, passing Strawberry Island and Strawberry Bay.
Soon we are in Guemes Channel heading back to Anacortes. Marine traffic picks up in this area and we are on the watch.
Two boats are coming our way; it appears that they will collide. Fortunately, their speeds change (but directions do not) and they pass safely.
We see quite a few seals today and one is just begging to have his photo taken! Where is my big lens???
All they will show us is their little cute heads! Dead center of the photo.
Willie of Willie's Tug,
and Walldog, Willie and Jake
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