Plans go Awry 8/6/21

It was a beautiful morning. Seas were calm. Sucia Island was in view, an hour away.  I took over driving Arcturos as Pat went down for a routine engine check.  It’s never good news to see a cupful of oil coating the floor below an engine.  The hydraulics of the Starboard engine had sprung a leak.  Pat checked the breather tube (whatever that is) which wasn’t clogged.  That would have been the only easy fix. 

The good news is that Arcturos has twin Lugger engines.  Shut down Starboard, turn towards home on Port engine, we did. 

I’ve always wanted to stay in Bowman Bay at Deception Pass State Park which has wonderful trails, swimming & kayaking opportunities.   But, as it is open to the South and West and situated at the end of the Juan de Fuca Straits, swells from the Pacific Ocean find little to no hindrance, nor do the 15+knot Southwesterlies that accompanied us into the Bay this day as waves crashed over Coffin Rocks daring for us to enter.  Pat humored me coming here, maneuvering past the ominous rocks and the obstacle course of crab pots coming perfectly alongside the creaking, groaning, rolling, partially floating dock and shattering the peace of a lone fisherman and a small sailboat.

Keeping the bucking Arcturos perfectly alongside the rickety dock was the next challenge.  I was able to meet the rising dock amidships to secure the forward Spring line but as Bruce hopped off and pulled in the Bowline the stern tried to escape.  Cindy tossed me the aft Spring line, as the fisherman joined me in a tug of war with the sea.  It was close but we won.  Despite our heartfelt thanks the poor fellow left to find a more peaceful fishing spot. 

The dock was not as bad as initially thought.  Several parallel sections allow it to rise and fall with the waves.  We hogged 1/2 the dock, the newer distal section with metal railings.  The bowline was tied to the older wooden dock which is trying to sink.  Good enough. Not ideal!  While we enjoyed the beautiful Park, hiked and kayaked, viewed a gorgeous sunset, slept well and woke to a calmer morning, we won’t be back.  Besides the previously mentioned reasons, this is a very shallow bay.  We deserted the dock in the morning to avert grounding in the almost minus 2 tide, anchoring among the crabpots while awaiting slack current through Deception Pass.

Instead of a bay full of boats at Sucia, though, we were gifted a sunset all to ourselves in beautiful Bowman Bay.