Tuesday August 22nd – We wanted to show my brother and his family some San Juan sights, so we left our Roche Harbor slip and cruised over to Stewart Island’s Reid Harbor. After getting anchored in the bay we lowered the dinghy and piled in. Todd and Tami cruised over in their dinghy and we all made our way to shore for a hike. We had a great hike to the old schoolhouse and back down to the beach stopping at the famous homemade swing tied to a tree branch. Rogue did especially well on the hike. Every few minutes he would complain he was tired but just kept going strong!

Leaving Stewart, we took the long way back through Mosquito Pass but not before stopping in Open Bay to try without success for a salmon. Back in our slip at Roche we cooked up the remaining crab and had a feast! At 6pm Skylar’s friend Johnny caught the Kenmore Air flight back to Seattle. We all said our goodbyes and watched him take off. The rest of the evening was spent with all of us relaxing and cooking dinner on Todd’s boat. A fun evening filled with great food, too much to drink and lots of laughs.

Wednesday August 23rd – We woke up and took Ava and Hannah on a fun dinghy ride through the harbor. David, Celeste and Rogue all came down from their hotel room and we all went to Madrona for late lunch. The kids had fun playing in the grass then at 3pm they flew back home on Kenmore.

It was great spending time with family especially after recent events and Julie and I loved getting to know the kids better. Such nice kids and it was fun showing them a part of the world they don’t typically get to experience. RIP Jeff Morris.

Sunday August 20th – Ok, so as I’m posting this it’s obviously not Sunday August 20th 2017. I am WAY behind finishing up our summer boat trip blog from last year. Go back in time a bit and pretend like it’s still summer. Here’s where I left off, and there’s more to come.

Back to Sunday August 20th – We pulled anchor from Sucia after 2 eventful nights & blazed back to Roche Harbor. My brother and his family are flying in tomorrow and we had to get ready for their arrival. Roche dock hands guided us into a great slip close to everything on the newer docks. Well, it was great until we settled in and realized the vacant boat next to us spewed loud splashing water into the sea for hours on end while Julie and I tried to relax on the upper deck. Who runs the A/C for days while the boat sits empty? They do apparently.

We all went out and set the crab pots then toured the docks looking at all the huge boats. Dinner at Madrona was fantastic then a check of the crab pots yielded 2 nice keepers to add to the stockpile.

Monday August 21st – After we had another delicious fattening breakfast at the grill it was fun to see all the people abuzz over the eclipse that was about to happen. Having been out of reality and retail for a few weeks we were not prepared. Apparently, we needed special glasses to see it. As the full eclipse drew closer the temperature fell, light dimmed and there was an eerie feel in the air. Some nice people on the dock loaned us some glasses and we all took turns looking at the eclipse.

David and family flew in at noon, and we met them as they piled off the seaplane. It was great to see them. As mentioned in a previous post David’s dad Jeff Morris passed away just a couple weeks ago. We were glad to be able to spend some time with family and pull them out of the day-to-day for some time on the water.

We put all that crab to good use in the form of crab cakes for their arrival snack. David, Celeste, Rogue and I took the dinghy out to check the crab pots. It was so fun to see Rogue out of his element, he loved being out there and didn’t even care about having to wear a lifejacket, which most kids throw a fit over. Our friends Todd and Tami came in on their boat and we all hiked to mausoleum. After checking David and Celeste into their hotel we all had a late dinner at Madrona. Hannah stayed the night with us on the boat and the girls got a serious case of the giggles, there was no stopping them.

Friday August 18th – Today we are headed to Sucia Island. Leaving Roche Harbor we pulled the crab pots one last time yielding 2 more legals.

After arriving in Echo Bay on Sucia, Skylar and his friend Johnny packed up the kayaks with all their camping gear and paddled to shore in search of the perfect camp spot for the next couple nights. Skylar came back very disappointed. “No fires”! he said in an angry voice. “what’s camping without a fire”. And what’s worse he forgot to bring his Jet Boil to even cook any food. I actually agree, camping without a fire is just not the same. But they made the best of it and we gave them our portable BBQ so they could at least cook some food.

We set out the crab pots then the boys went hiking on the island. After a few hours we checked the pots but nothing but rock crab. Another pull later and nothing again. Then I remembered a spot we would set the pots as kids. We took the pots over where no one else was and set them in the secret spot for a nights soak.

The boys slept on land while Julie and I kept a watchful eye on a large boat that had a hard time anchoring. After trying to set the hook a couple times they finally settled in way too close to us. They realized and moved again a good distance away.

As the current changed direction, they started getting closer to us. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if perspective just changed or someone’s anchor is slipping. At about 10pm I chalked it up to perspective changing. At about 11:30pm it sure looked like they were really close but in the dark, it was hard to tell. We went to bed but something didn’t feel right so at midnight I got up again knew for sure they were slipping! During the next 5 minutes, they dragged at least 100 yards right past our boat narrowly missing us. As they came by I got out my high-powered flashlight and shined it all around their boat trying to wake them up. They finally got up and realized what was happening. Luckily, they were able to pull the anchor and get re-anchored (away from everyone) without incident.

The next morning our secret crabbing spot had 2 large keepers! The boys cleaned the crab then they kayaked over to Fossil Bay with Julie, Ava and I following in the dinghy. The kids went on a hike while we scoured the beach for treasures.

That evening Johnny, Skylar and I took all the cleaned crab to the beach and cooked it. Then we shelled all 15 crab until our fingers ached! The boys spent one more night at their fireless camp while we stayed anchored in the bay. A fun 2 nights at Sucia Island!