Sean Bissell's Posts

I had both my coat and life jacket on for the first time this trip due to the strong winds and chilly weather.

Sean Circle Boat

Once around Deer Harbor, the wind died down and it got hot again. We radioed into the harbor to get our slip assignment in the marina. And they were super helpful in assisting us while docking. That was awesome. It’s nice to have help. Docking always makes me nervous.

Deer Harbor is our first marina we stopped at this trip, and it’s kind of fun knowing that you can stay out without refueling water, or gas or plugging into shore power for over a week. We could have gone longer as we weren’t out of any of those things yet.

Once docked, and set up, Jackson and I went to go check in.

Walking on Dock Jackson

Jackson got the yellow slip to put in the window to signify that we are all paid up, and brought it back to Lindsey, who was hooking up the shore power.

Giving Mooring Slip to Mom

We hung out and went to the little store they have here, and walked the docks a bit, got familiar with the place, and ate some ice cream.

Eating Ice Cream

Jackson got so messy we had to hose him off, which he was totally cool with.

Cleaning off with hose

On the docks we met up with a couple who were also on a sailboat, and also had a toddler (about 3 years old.)

They said they saw us in Fox Cove, and were on a buoy right next to us, and then they saw us in Patos. And now we were all in Deer Harbor, for the first time, together. Pretty crazy!

To make things even more nuts, we are all planning on being in Friday Harbor on the 3rd and 4th. So we’re accidentally stalking each other. Kind of weird, and fun.

They ended up going to the pool that night, so we decided to meet up later, as we weren’t in our pool gear yet, and wanted to grab dinner.

While asking the reception people at the resort above the marina about the pool, the topic of a free limo service to pick you up to get dinner at a place called “Deer Harbor Inn” came up.

Jackson was really into the little bunnies that are all over the Deer Harbor area, and without knowing that, the reception lady said “Deer Harbor Inn has lots of little rabbits right next to the restaurant.”

So I went back to Lindsey and said, “Hey, how about we grab a limo, get something to eat, and watch the bunnies, all we have to do is call them from phone in the laundry room.” She was confused.

But we did it.

The limo picked us up.

Limo Pulls Up

And we were off.

Limo Ride

Dinner was an adventure. The place was super busy, but no one was inside. Everyone was outside, because of the nice weather. So we snagged the entire inside to ourselves.

Jackson was running around. Inside and outside. And it was totally cool.

Waiter Says Hi

The outside area around the Deer Harbor Inn is really big, it’s like a park.

We did see bunnies, but I didn’t have my camera with me.

But more crazy, Jackson almost got ran over by a deer. It came out of nowhere right behind a building.

Jackson thought that was incredible and wanted to see more. I didn’t think we’d have the opportunity, but we saw lots more.

Deer Running

And there were a couple kittys on the property as well who were walking around inside and out of the restaurant.

Kitty

Jackson also played ping ping in front of the limo that took us there.

Ping Pong

We relaxed outside.

Relaxing Outside

The next day, we decided to stay another day to check out the pool.

I didn’t think he would be, but Jackson was a huge fan of the pool.

He was jumping in over and over again.

Jumping in Water Jackson

 

Happy Jackson Swiming

We really didn’t do much else than hang out a the pool.

And hang out on the boat. And grab some more food and ice cream at the marina shop.

Today, we’re going to see if we can stay another day so Jackson can hang in the pool again. But we’ll see what we end up doing.

Oh, and we’ve been lazy with food stuff. So here’s some random food stuff we ate:

Burgers and Ice Cream

 

Mac and Cheese up Top

 

Potato Hash

Until next time!

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Our family has a place at Rocky Bay and a buoy (although it’s for sale now) so we could hook up to the buoy and go in shore to do some laundry and hang out.

We headed over there. And on the way, the wind was warm, and it it was just about perfect to sail comfortably at about 5 knots with just the main sail out to make things easy.

So that’s what we did. Until some gusts woke Jackson up from his nap and he came out and devoured a bunch of chocolate.

Happy Chocolagte

And then tried to go back to sleep.

Sleeping while sailing

But that didn’t last long, because the wind picked up so much that it started to get cold, and the wind was very light then strong, then coming from this way then that way.

Wind in Flag

When that happens, it can throw the boat around a bit and make things uncomfortable for those inside the main cabin.

So I took down the sails and we motored back into Rocky Bay. It was blowing really hard in Rocky Bay too, and grabbing the buoy was a little tough, but Lindsey and I were able to do it.

Wavy Buoy

Then Jackson gave Lindsey lots of puppy kisses.

Puppy Kisses

And we threw the laundry into the dingy, and went into shore.

Laundry in Dinghy

Jackson watched The Jungle Book while the laundry was going.

Dancing To Jungle Book

And we went out on the point and hung out around sunset before we went back to the boat.

Rocky Bay Point Sunset

In the morning we went back on shore at Rocky Bay to get the rest of the laundry. And we checked out the rocky beach of Rocky Bay.

And all the tide pools and cool starfish and crabs.

Baby Starfish

Tide Pools

Who knew sea urchins could move like this? I didn’t.

Sea Urchin Moving

After that excitement, and finishing off the laundry, we sailed over to Deer Harbor on Orcas Island.

Sailing To Deer Harbor

Again it was very strong winds, but they were consistent this time. So I reefed in the main sail, didn’t put out the jib, and we had a pretty smooth, although cold, sail over to Deer Harbor.

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Lindsey and Jackson unhooked us from the buoy.
Buoy Leaving Fox Cove
And we passed on by the incredible rock formations and out of Fox Cove.
Cool Rocks Sucia
This rock formation looks like a face to me.
Face in Rocks
We made our way to Patos Island which is not very far at all, maybe an hour tops away from Sucia. Just enough to enjoy some coffee.
Making Coffee
On our way in you are greeted with a really cool view of the lighthouse at the beginning of the bay you’d stay in at Patos Island.
Patos Lighthouse Approach
But the bay is really small, and it shallows quickly, and it’s also narrow, so it only has 2 buoys and room to maybe fit one or two extra people anchored.
When we got there, there were already two people tied up to the buoys so we decided to try anchoring.
Putting Down Anchor
It’s pretty tight in there, and we were uncomfortably close to the rock wall, and some other rocks behind us. Plus, close to another boat on the buoy.
Anchored Close To Rocks
It wasn’t the best anchorage, so we thought maybe we’d just stay there for the day, explore the island, and hope someone leaves a buoy, otherwise, we’d find somewhere else to go for the night.
We headed to shore, and checked out Patos.
Clover Jackson Dinghy
It is like a tiny Sucia Island, but maybe a little more wild and untouched. Probably because there’s not room for too many boats to hang out there. And therefore less people.
The rocks look a lot like the ones on Sucia, same sandstone formations that seem to go on forever.
Patos Sandstone On and On
We hiked the path to the lighthouse, and it was HOT. Especially for Lindsey, being pregnant in her third trimester.
But Lucky was loving it, and he was running back and forth on the trail. In and out of the shadows from the madrona trees above and into the super strong sunlight.
Lucky Runs out of the Darkness
And Jackson walked most the way, but I gave him a few breaks on my shoulders.
Jackson on Shoulders
He used my head as a drum.
Banging On Seans Head
Eventually we made it to the Lighthouse and looked around.
All Run To Lighthouse
Back on the beach, the dogs jumped in the water to cool off.
Lucky Shaking In Water
And we headed back to the sailboat in the dinghy. The tide gets really fast next to the beach there, and some Geese were having fun riding the fast tide like they were river rafting.
Geese Tide
Back on the sailboat, we noticed even more people coming in and trying to anchor. We thought that was pretty sketchy.
Anchoring Stern Line No Go
So we decided to leave, and go to Rocky Bay on San Juan Island for the night.

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