After a leisurely breakfast and a morning of enjoying our good fortune at having this boat and these cruising grounds, we hoisted anchor at the crack of noon, cruising further north at our putting speed of 6 knots.
Just north of Hunter Bay is Spencer Spit, a natural formation and a state park. The spit has been slowly advancing, on a geological time scale, towards Frost Island and from a distance appears to almost touch it. On either side of the spit are several mooring buoys and there is plenty of room to anchor as well. This wasn’t our destination, but we passed between the end of the spit and Frost Island, made all the more dramatic looking by the fact that it was low tide.As we cruised past Humphrey Head and Upright Head on Lopez Island, we were adjacent to the major ferry route, where all the boats traveling to and from Anacortes come through Thatcher Pass to head to their various destinations. We must have hit the ferry schedule jackpot, as we had 4 ferries pass us heading north or south within the 15 minutes or so we were in that area. The Lopez ferry dock is on Upright Head, and the last boat made a turn to the ferry dock, coming around behind us shortly after we passed by.
We had decided to explore Grindstone Harbor, a small bay on Orcas Island, just east of the Orcas ferry landing. At the mouth of the bay is a reef, with another rock centered further in. Safe passage can be made on either side. Grindstone Harbor became famous, or maybe infamous, around here many years ago when the captain of a Washington State jumbo ferry, the Elwha, took a detour through the entrance to Grindstone Harbor to show off to his girlfriend, who lived nearby. Well, he ran that jumbo ferry smack into the reef in front of the bay, most likely making a lot of grinding noises and knocking a few tourists akilter. He was able to get off the reef and continue on to the ferry landing, just minutes away, where all the cars and passengers, whether that was their destination or not, were offloaded. I think they had divers check the extent of the damage, some of which was apparent down in the bilges where some water was coming in where it shouldn’t. The Elwha was sent back to Seattle for repairs at dry dock, with an Orcas Island pumper fire truck on board as an auxiliary bilge pump. Within days a new hit song was playing on the radio, “Elwha on the Rocks”. An investigation of the incident ensued, and I think the captain got off with a 30 day suspension without pay – although I don’t recall for sure.
We passed the reef and rocks and proceeded to the back of Grindstone Harbor, which ended in a small basin surrounded by a few homes, and with several mooring buoys placed. There really wasn’t a lot of space for a boat our size to anchor between the buoys, and we headed back out and towards today’s destination, Blind Bay on Shaw Island.
In all our years of boating, we’ve never been to Blind Bay. I guess we were always heading to or returning from points further north and always passed it by. Our friends Craig and Kristine stop here frequently, and we decided to see what it was all about. We’re glad we did.
Shaw Island and Orcas Island lie on either side of Harney Channel, and Blind Bay is adjacent to the Shaw Island ferry landing. Across the channel and a bit to the west is the Orcas ferry landing, so we see quite a bit of ferry traffic from our anchorage. The bay is large with a lot of space for anchoring boats, and according to the cruising guides is one of the best protected bays in the islands. We’re anchored next to a tiny island with a view of farm houses and fields in one direction and the ferry landings and Harney Channel in the other. We went for a dinghy ride around the shore, and over to the ferry landing, where we passed under the ramp to a small dock with moorage for the local store. We had neither any money with us nor a need for anything and didn’t go in, although I suppose we should have just for the island ambience. Other than the store at the ferry landing, there are no commercial enterprises within the bay and we are enjoying our rural setting.
Dinner tonight was a fresh garden salad with a tuna melt sandwich. Erin has made a fruit buckle using the blackberries I picked the other day plus a few strawberries. It just came out of the oven and smells delicious. We’ll know for sure soon enough.
At dusk we were treated to a full moon rising in the east over the trees. It’s now about 30 degrees further up in the sky.
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