Belly of the Whale

Sucia Island Cruising Email


Howdy all.

Things are certainly changing around these parts. Flip-flops and shirtless afternoons. Yet the nice thing about the northwest is the coolness of the evenings and mornings. It never gets scorching hot.
I am finally reaching a place I have been striving for since April. I am finally “cruising”. That is, I am living onboard, sailing from bay to cove to harbour to sound, from island to island.
Look on a map: between Vancouver Island and the mainland of Washington are hundreds of islands, some American (called the San Juans), some Canadian. They are a perfect cruising ground. They are lush, sometimes mountainous, mostly unpopulated. There are no bridges, only ferries commercially access the islands. Boats and planes are the only access available to them.
From Port Townsend I left in early June and headed north for Orcas, a northerly island in the San Juans. I got stuck there for a bit. I had a part time job. I needed some time to get re-centered and balanced. The spring was a hard time for me and I haven’t been as healthy as I should have been.
While on Orcas, I fasted for four days and that really helped me get back on track. But weeks went by where I didn’t sail at all. I felt the time was near, and as I was trying to think up a destination for my escape, Jamie Blythe wrote me and asked if I wanted to go running with here up near Mt Baker.
This was perfect. It was a long day’s sail from Bellingham, the logical place for us to meet to go to Mt Baker. I headed out with the tide in the early afternoon and planned on anchoring somewhere in between, maybe Doe Island.
As I rounded the southern arm of Orcas, I saw a beautiful crag of rock far to the east and thought how nice it would be to stand up there watching the sun set over the San Juans. Sure enough, there was a fair little cove beneath it and a calm evening. I dropped anchor there at five-thirty.
I rowed ashore just after breakfast and found that the island, Cypress Island, was actually a nature preserve—I wouldn’t have to bushwhack—there were marked, maintained trails. The cliff I wanted to climb was off limits, though, due to falcon and eagle breeding.
I spent the morning walking the island and was back to my boat by lunchtime. I ate my peanut butter and honey sandwiches on the beach watching fisherman motor by. I weighed anchor and set off around the island toward Bellingham Bay.
It was blowing hard by the afternoon and I was discouraged to see that the bay offered no protected anchorage. There wasn’t one anchored boat in sight and I didn’t wish to be the first. I called up the harbor master on the VHF and asked for directions to the visitor’s dock. When I tied up, it was about six pm.
Jamie met me the next day with Widge and we spent a good afternoon buying some food supplies I needed and walking around town. The next day we went for a good long run through some spectacular forest up in the Cascades. It has been far too long since the last time I played in those mountains. We could see the snow still glistening on Mt Baker as we ran around Mt Baker Lake.
After Jamie left the morning of the 4th of July, I stayed for the fireworks and left on the fifth. On leaving, I felt a tinge of excitement: this was it. At last. I’m heading out with nothing to hold me back. Soon I would be in Canadian waters.
The plan was to head west around Lummi Island, across to Sucia, and then farther west into the Canadian Islands.

The first day I didn’t make it far. The wind was deep ahead. I like to anchor during daylight so I stopped at Lummi and spent a rolling night there. The next morning with a brisk southerly breeze I made Sucia Island by one. I planned on just stopping for lunch and some time to plot my further course, but Sucia is a state park. I decided to row ashore and hike the island. The bays are packed with boats of all kinds. Since I’m alone, I don’t so much mind having people around.
The island looks like a horseshoe opening to the east, but with a few additional fingers about the southern spit. It is beautiful that way. The northern spit of land fosters a marvelous Madrone forest. This is the western version of a sycamore tree with orange bark instead of the smooth, white bark of the sycamore. The growth form is low and gnarled. It is a forest you could imagine fairies and gnomes inhabiting and inchanting.
So I stopped for the day.
And this should be the speed of things for a few weeks. Island to island. Go with the weather. Row ashore and investigate the land or the culture. I would like to do some biking but my bike got “borrowed” by a stranger on Orcas the night before I left. Hopefully the police will find it abandoned somewhere. I miss it badly.

I am finally where I want to be, mentally and physically. My mind is back on the right course. I am healthy again and gaining motivation. The next month will be spent gaining experience for the months to come. August will be my work month, preparation and fine tuning. Everything has to be ready to go by the end of the August.
September I sail for Baja via San Francisco and San Diego. I am nervous and excited, but in a way I am too situated in the moment to think much about it. There is too much going on. Everything is still a challenge. Sailing alone is a deal of work. I learn more each day.
I am learning my limitations and those of my boat. We are both adapting.

At present I am sitting at anchor in Fossil Bay, Sucia Island. The sun is setting; I am tired. I have no idea when this letter will reach anyone. Oh well.
Everything has changed yet again. I am still used to my daily trips to the library.

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Since writing this, a week has passed. I’ve seen many sunny days and hoped about on light breezes. I am, as of this morning, the 13th, back on Orcas.
I feel great. All is peaceful. I haven’t had any strong breezes to challenge me, just light airs with the warmth of a bright sky above.
I’ve seen more islands like Sucia and Cypress, some great trails, went to a folk festival in Victoria, fixed my head gasket problem at last in Sydney. I made Canada.
Lots of good things.
Hope all is well with you too.

It looks as if I will be in S.C. in a couple of weeks, perhaps the last week of July. If you are there, get in touch.
Maybe I’ll see ya.
There are many faces I’d like to see.