Sucia | Bellingham | Anacortes | La Conner

ToG arrived in Shallow Bay (Sucia Island Marine Park) around noon on the 27^th. No mooring balls were available but we easily found anchorage space in the southwest corner near the entrance. The boat almost constantly rocked, but mostly very gently…and the unobstructed view was worth it. 

Radio traffic on the way was interesting. Lots of activity with both Canadian and U.S. Coast Guards because of a person in the water report and then an urgent need to get some kayakers out of the water who were potentially suffering from hypothermia. I say interesting because although we couldn’t hear much of anything other than coast guard personnel, it was fascinating to hear how the two worked together to make sure assistance was available. Hopefully no one was seriously harmed.

We also saw a couple of Orcas cruise by – at a distance.

That afternoon I paddled around the bay while Nick lounged on the upper deck and listened to the ball game. Go Mariners! (Looking forward to meeting Stay Awhile at Bell Harbor for the Saturday game next week!)

Side note: While kayaking in the sun, my legs were very exposed and burning up. I was wearing sun screen but in a moment of brilliance I decided to grab a piece of seaweed out of the water and drape it over the hot spot. Worked like a charm!

The Mariners won and the sunset was remarkable.

Without other boats between us and the expansive view west, this bay is one of our favorites. A very special place.

Thursday morning, we hopped in the kayaks to go for a morning hike on the island. Thursday afternoon we…well, we basically did nothing.

Oh, and I finally finished the rug for the head. Kinda cute but maybe not very practical.

Could the sunset on our second night have been more spectacular than the first?

Interesting to see this cruise ship in Echo Bay as we departed:

Change of plans: Headed to Bellingham Friday morning. We never made it there the last time we planned to visit, so we decided to give it another go.

We planned to stay two nights at Squalicum but it was downright roasting so we left Saturday for Anacortes, where it was forecasted to be up to ten degrees cooler.

A few things about Bellingham. It is definitely on our list of places to revisit. We were told to enter the south entrance (outer basin – there are two) and side tie to the Gate 3 guest dock. It was okay getting in there but the dock is adjacent to a very busy restaurant (Nicki’s Bella Marina - where we ate – it was okay) and we won’t park there again. Just a bit too busy.  The marina is expansive with a well-kept waterfront walkway, restaurants and a great marine store - LFS. The inner basin has guest moorage as well, and it’s a lot quieter. Before it got too hot on Saturday, we took a short ride (4 miles) to Fairhaven. Really enjoyable and we’ll visit again.

After lunch we departed and cruised very slowly to Anacortes to take advantage of the breeze on the water. We saw some blows but never spotted the whales.

We decided to stay in Anacortes another night in order to rendezvous with Coorie Doon and crew. We’ve had several “near misses” with Jeanie and Steve as we’ve been cruising some of the same waters over the past couple of weeks. Good to finally catch up!

We’re now in La Conner, at least for one night, getting our lazarette hatch replaced and a few other small things taken care of. Glad it’s cooling a little!

We’ve got another week or so on the water, and there is fun to come, however we are also looking forward to getting home to see these little guys.