9 Teens, 3 Sailboats and SUCIA ISLAND!!

I'm getting myself psyched up for sailing weather and posting past stories while the weather is still unfavorable.

Here's one of our favorite weekend trips to Sucia.

  DAY ONE

   

We followed S/V Air Apparent to Sucia.

Maggie and Ainsley were hangin' out on the bow.

A view of Shallow Bay.  This is where we usually drop anchor.

The view from our anchoring spot.

So peaceful...

So beautiful...

After we were all situated, the kids took the crab pots and dropped them near the entrance to the bay.  Then they all played in the dinghys for awhile.

Here's Lauren and Tessa learning to row a boat for the first time.  It was HILARIOUS to watch!!  They swirled in circles, cussed, argued, laughed and about threw the oars overboard!! 

"Here, JUST LET ME DO IT!!" they each yelled.

  

 So after Lauren tried...

and Tessa tried...

they finally decided teamwork was the best way to do it.

Taylor and Christopher (in the Coleman Inflatable) decided the best way to get the boat somewhere was to be towed by the dinghy with the ENGINE!!  Now THAT was getting somewhere!!

They did this for hours...

and hours...

until the sun started setting.

On this particular evening, after the sun had set, a cruise ship (probably bound for Alaska) passed by off to the West.  All of its lights lit up the night and looked magnificent.  We all sat on deck and watched it go by.

DAY TWO

The kids loved to go pull up the pots every few hours or so, to check for crab.

Maggie is holding a keeper!!
Guess you know what we had for dinner!!


There is so much to do on these trips... 

like hangin' out on deck...

and in the cockpits,

or playing guitars...
Maggie was our awesome musical entertainment!!

We usually "raft" all the boats together depending on the weather, tides, conditions, and how many boats are with us or around us. 

Here are S/V's Cyclone, Air Apparent and our New Perspective all rafted together. 

It's like a giant party deck!!


 Other things to do are...


after beachcombing and collecting broken shells, driftwood, and other tiny finds...

the kids made name plaques out of the found items.  A bottle of glue was all that was needed!!
 
They were all so creative finding things to do...

like stunts...

and more stunts...

and swimming...

The water was super cold at first!!

 But they had a blast!!

The sunsets were spectacular!!

And when darkness came, we were still out playing!!

 

On this night, there was a Bachelor party going on...until the wee hours of the morning.  A HUGE group of guys had a couple of power boats and a bunch of tents onshore.  They had bonfires, played guitars, sang songs...it was fun to listen to!!  We even sang along with them!! 

DAY THREE

In the morning, before loading up the boats and heading home, we all went to shore.

Chris, Ainsley and Maggie explored the "China Caves."

 

Ainsley and Maggie

Raymond explored the caves too.

Josh rock climbed while Bill looked on...

and scaled the heights!!

He worked his way up...

all the way to the top!!

Emily started the construction of a "Wee Beach House"...

while Ainsley covered her legs with a volcano.

So cool!!

And Maggie found the perfect smoke.

Run!!  It's erupting!!

We laughed so hard!! 

We all went digging for clams too...

 

Jim showed us how to find them.

We didn't have shovels with us, so we just dug with our hands.

Taylor was SO GOOD at whipping those buggers outta the ground before they disappeared too quickly!!

You have to dig fast!!

 

Taylor kept getting one after the other!!

It was the perfect trip!!

s/v NP