Circumnavigation of Fidalgo Island

Dec 25, 2000
5,702
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Our plan is set, sort of. Number two son and his family from Texas want to circumnavigate Fidalgo Island for a day sail. So, come this Monday we will leave our Mukilteo home at 5:00 A.M. for Shelter Bay one hour away. Once there, we have an hour to get over to Deception Pass for a 7:36 A.M. slack water time; that be a slack before the flood. Once through, we will head over to the south entrance to Rosario Strait and catch the flood north.

On our way, I've suggested a stop at Watmough Bay for some hiking time to the cliff top. Gorgeous views from the top of the cliff via a well groomed timber canopy wilderness trail. Their two teenage children (boy and girl) are old enough to enjoy the experience, I hope. After that will continue north towards Guemes Channel and follow the flood past Anacortes to the Swinomish Channel and back home.

Do expect to get some sail time once through Deception Pass. A 30 minute slack water window gives us a bit of time to cross without mishap. Should be pretty quiet that early in the morning. Quite the awesome experience doing it for the first time. Yes, I'll take some stills and video clips of our little journey and post them later.

Busted my hump last week to clean all the winter gunk from Belle-Vie until she sparkled in preparation for the season. Took eight hours with a pressure washer. Dodger and Bimini needed cleaning, too, but oh does she shine up nicely.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Wait! You mean you don't have to use a toothbrush to clean the decks anymore? Power tools? Who knew....

Have a great trip.
 
Dec 28, 2015
1,837
Laser, Hunter H30 Cherubini Tacoma
So I tried “non-skid wax”. For the first time after me pre summer trip and I’m pretty impressed. Waxing non-skid is a contradiction of terms and I did some research prior to buying. it has kept the nonskid a lot cleaner over the past couple weeks comparatively. I do notice the surface isn’t as ”grippy” and there is some chalky runs over the smooth surfaces that wipes off. I think this is a application issue. I do notice the side I didn’t wet down prior to application is a lot more slippery than the side I did apply following the instructions.
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,702
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
A slight change in plans. Driving to the boat after dinner tonight and staying on the boat tonight rather than getting up at oh dark thirty to drive to the boat tomorrow morning. Should make the crew less cranky, eh?
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,988
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Much prefer to sleep aboard for an early next-day departure!! That way,
I can get underway even with me crew still racked out. Bon Voyage!
 
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Dec 25, 2000
5,702
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
I can get underway even with me crew still racked out.
Yup. Arose at 4:30 A.M. before the alarm went off. Tried to keep quiet so as to not wake the crew still racked out. Hard to do on a boat where some of the crew remain asleep in the main cabin. Needed to ready the boat for a 6:15 A.M. cast off in order to arrive at a Deception Pass slack before the flood at 7:36 A.M. sharp. So glad we decided to stay on the boat the night before heading out.

Clear sunny cloudless summer solstice morning and nary a breath of wind. Got fuel in my belly, shaved and cleaned up and dressed ready for a long day of sailing. Cast off on schedule and arrived at Deception Pass on time. Looking out where Admiralty Inlet and Rosario Strait join, is glassy smooth.

Several boats already in Watmough Bay, but the head is empty. Some dislike dropping in shallow water, but okay by me. We arrive at a 0.6 minus low tide, I find a nice spot close to the beach and drop in seven feet of water with a good set. All the crew of five are awake and ready for some shore duty. Skipper has to make three runs to shore in the dingy; slow rowing with three people in an inflatable.

The admiral has knee issues, an age thing, and my grandson struggles with Autism issues, so when we arrive at the trail wye, my son and I take the trail to the cliff summit and the others hike the low trail loop around the lake. By now it is getting warm. We work up quite a sweat getting to the top. Rope swing still works and a few hikers have similar plans. The views across Rosario Strait have not changed; still impressive.

By the time we get back on board there is about three hours of flood remaining, so best we get into gear, have lunch and make ready to get under sail. Still nary a breath of wind as our granddaughter of fourteen takes the helm for the first time steering a 030 course for the west entrance to Guemes Channel. She drifts off course from time to time, but she does a great job. Lo and behold as we near Guemes Channel a nice ten to fifteen northwesterly breeze arrives, so up with the Genoa. That breeze carries us all the way to the twin fixed bridges, where the flood has ended and the ebb begins to push against us.

Our iron genny takes us the rest of the way back to Shelter Bay and home by 7:30 P.M. The entire crew and skipper are exhausted from this long day sail. But we had a great time with lots of good sail time. Must do it again soon. Time to rest up now and get ready for our number one son and his family from Texas who will want to spend a couple of weeks out on the water doing what we just did. Whew! Skipper will be glad when summer is over so that he can rest up, not!
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Great write up. Sounds like a lot of fun. Nice outing for those that are not mad crazy about boating.