Waking in Effingham Bay to a cold, dripping fog dropped the motivation to swim to a new low. My friends back on Lake Washington texting about swimming in the lake helped me look at the positive: water calm, all to myself, mystical, Loch Ness Monsters must be friendly in such a beautiful setting. The biggest …
Author Archives: mjkintner
8/28/21: The Broken Islands
A slip of fog in the Port San Juan (Renfrew) led us to a thick fogbank that enveloped and accompanied us all day. Glad for radar but tired as we monitored it along with the charts and the disorienting, hallucinatory fog. Swells grew to 4-6 feet, 6-7 seconds apart, uncomfortable but the wind, thankfully, died …
8/27/21:Heading West
Up at 6:30, filled the water tank, shoved off ~7:20 AM. The Juan de Fuca Strait forecast was for 2 knot winds. It was blowing 20. Plenty of chop, 2 foot+ swells and white caps. We had discussed bagging the West Coast and heading to the Gulf Islands but decided to see what ocean boating …
8/25/21: Victoria or Bust!
We had celebrated getting negative COVID tests the evening before, with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, woke early on 8/25 to a perfect boating morning and set off at 6:50 AM for Victoria. We had the Straits to ourselves. Several hours later, as we approached Victoria, Pat reports that we have visitors off the Port …
Swimming for Ed!
Most of you who are getting these blog posts know this already. Our friend Ed was diagnosed with Lymphoma this summer and is in the midst of chemotherapy. Fighting cancer, finding a cure, raising funds for top rated, local research organizations across America, is what Swim Across America is about. It is my favorite fund …
8/24/21: Waiting for COVID Tests
Well the tests weren’t back in 24 hours and we decided to move a bit closer to Victoria to maximize our time in Canada. Fisherman’s Bay on Lopez or Friday Harbor on San Juan Island sounded good, a bit closer, less of a straight shot across the Juan de Fuca Straits which can get pretty …
8/23/21 Port Hadlock
Whew! Crazy busy day with parent care, COVID tests, more parent care, wash, cleaning, packing, driving, unloading, loading “Jo, you ready to go?” YES! We’re off at 3:25 PM. Blue skys, squinting into the sun reflecting off the water, gentle breeze, fish jumping, engines humming….all the stress of the day melts away. Supplies stashed, Bailey …
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 …
Blind Bay
Our very 1st overnight stay on Arcturos was here at Blind Bay on Shaw Island off of Blind Bay State Park. Fortunately, it was not filled with boats as it is today. We would have provided endless entertainment for any neighbors as we demonstrated our ill equipped incompetence in hooking up to a mooring buoy …
Swim Around Vancouver Island??
Swim Across America is a favorite fund raising event which supports primary cancer research in cities across America. In Seattle, it is held on the 1st Saturday after Labor Day each year, this year on 9/11/21. I had swum in the event for 10 years before last year when we signed up for a guided …
Holeinthewater 