A Sail to Anacortes: Our First Overnight Voyage

One of the first overnight voyages we took, after we purchased our sailboat, was to Anacortes from Bellingham.  It was during the summer and the weather was predicted to be good for the weekend.  So...we loaded the car with our provisions and headed out to the boat.  Christopher was our only companion at that time, as the girls had responsibilities back home.  

Before leaving the Squalicum Marina in Bellingham, we got out our navigational charts and determined what route we would follow.  The decided route would be through Bellingham Bay and Samish Bay staying East of Eliza and Vendovi Islands.  Once we were past Samish Bay, we would then travel between Guemes Island and the two tiny islands of Saddlebag and Hat and then on into Fidalgo Bay where Cap Sante Boat Haven is located.  In addition, we also called the Port of Anacortes and found out that the Cap Sante Boat Haven was available on a first-come first-served basis.  We were hoping we got there in time for a slip :/

After motoring out into Bellingham Bay, we raised our Main and Jib Sails and were able to sail most of the way there on an upwind sail, tacking often. 

Christopher is a huge help onboard and he is always eager to learn the ropes.  At that time, he was only 10 years old and curious about EVERYTHING, asking millions of questions the whole time!!  He was also really excited for this voyage, because we would be sailing by Padilla Bay. His elementary school class had spent the day there, just a few weeks before, on one of their field trips.  He told us all about their activities and was able to point out areas they scoured in the shallow bay area. 

We all spent most of the time in the cockpit: Tom at the Helm, Me tending the Jib, and Chris watching for wildlife.

   

   

I didn't take a lot of photos during this trip, just a few simple ones like this.  The San Juan Islands are so beautiful and laden with thick evergreens.

   

As we came closer and closer to Fidalgo Island, the refineries of Anacortes became more and more apparent.  Unfortunately, this is also when our good breeze started diminishing and we had to spend the last hour of our trip motoring.

                   Port of Anacortes              

                         Cap Sante Boat Haven                        

                               http://www.portofanacortes.com/marina.shtml                                       VHF 66 U.S.

We had a copy of the map above so we knew where to go after being assigned to a slip.  When we were in close proximity to the marina, we called them on the radio using channel 66.  They told us they had a slip available (WHEW!!) and gave us the number.  Chris and I stood ondeck and helped guide Tom in the right direction.  The slip was easy to find and of a nice size.

The marina was beautiful, clean, and very well maintained.  There were also almost all the amenities a boater could want, either at the marina, or within close proximity.  As you can see, the sun was just starting to set after our arrival, which made the area seem that much prettier.  We made sure the boat was secure in her slip, paid our rental fees, looked around the marina, and then headed to town on foot to explore downtown Anacortes for our first time. 

As we were walking the docks, we spotted this little sailing vessel.  I took a photograph for my Papa because "Mellow Yellow" is the name of his Golden Retriever.  I sent it to him in a card shortly after our voyage.

Downtown Anacortes was a charming little place.  However, most of the stores were starting to close and we ended up doing a lot of window shopping instead.  We were also on the lookout for a great restaurant to get some dinner.  There were quite a few different options to choose from and most of them looked great!! 

Here's a photo of Christopher.  He was so little!!  And he LOVED the statues of seals!!

                                        The Rockfish Grill

                           http://www.anacortesrockfish.com/restaurant.cfm

"The Rockfish Grill serves fresh, Northwest cuisine including steak and local seafood, several varieties of pizza prepared in our woodfired brick oven, creative vegetarian dishes, a great selection of sandwiches and appetizers, decadent desserts, and daily specials. We use local seasonal ingredients and feature coffee, breads and desserts from area purveyors."

This is the restaurant of our choosing.  WOW!!  Was it ever delish!! 

As an appetizer, we all shared an order of their nachos, which had a scrumptuous smoky flavor from being cooked in a woodfired brick pizza oven.....mmmm.....YUMMY. 

And for the main dish, we all chose to have the beer-battered fish and chips.  They too, were to die for!!     

After eating dinner, we headed back to the boat.  You know...I've stayed in charming little B&B's, grand hotels, dive motels, campers, tents and other places, but NOTHING beats staying on your own sailboat.  It's so romantic and cozy. 

Slip 18:  That's ours.  And from the looks of it...the plant growing in such an odd place on top of the pier post, likes spending time in the marina just as much as we do :)

The next morning, Tom walked to West Marine to get a few supplies.  When he came back, we talked of heading home on a slightly different course around the west side of Guemes Island, but the sky was overcast and we were listening to the radio for weather reports.  While we were listening, their were also reports of pods of Orcas in the same area we would be sailing!!  Sadly though, the weather reports weren't favorable to take that course.  Instead, we had to pack up and get going quickly as there was a front coming in from the west in a few hours.  

The wind was strong and steady and we reefed our Mainsail because of it.  But.....we were able to sail downwind, on one tack, WITH the current, ALL THE WAY HOME!!  However, looking out to the West was scaaaaaary!!  There was a dark grey wall of cloud-storm-stuff moving in quickly.  We were about 30 minutes from the marina when it hit us, and we got rained on the rest of the way in, but still had visibility!!  WHEW!!  

When we got back, we secured S/V New Perspective in her slip, finished our closing-up-shop-duties and called the voyage DONE!!  

    s/v NP