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First Day - Departure to South Pender Island

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The morning of July 15th, I got up early so we would leave the dock as early as possible so in case
there were any departure mishaps, I wouldn't have a huge audience. Fortunately, nothing happened.
It's always nerve wracking though. I read that this particular boat has a bit of prop walk and you never
know how that's gonna be until you actually try to maneuver the boat. Unfortunately, when you're
leaving this dock, it's pretty tight quarters so there isn't much room for the unexpected. I had the
whole family up on deck with fenders ready to fend off. But like I said, nothing exciting happened
except that we successfully left the dock and began our vacation.

It was a cloudy, typical Northwest type of day. This whole summer, seemed to be late in coming and
we naturally wondered if the trip was gonna be like this for the whole two weeks. If it was, it was gonna
be hard on us fragile Californians. Fortunately, the skys cleared about the time that we entered Canada
and it was beautiful weather for the rest of the trip.

There was neglible wind and what little there was seemed to be coming from where we were going so
we motored for the whole day. Our destination was Bedwell Harbor on South Pender Island where we
would clear Canadian customs. We eventually anchored near the Skull Islets in the Harbor and went
exploring in the dinghy. We stopped on a beach and did some rock stacking. That was the funnest rock
stacking that I did all trip. Then in our crowded little dinghy, we went under the bridge over the Pender
Canal. This used to be a little shallow place that connected North and South Pender Island. Now after a
channel was dynamited between the islands, it's deep enough for a power boat to get through however
the bridge prevents passage in a sailboat.

We discovered on the way back that the motor we had for the dinghy wasn't working right. It would cut
out periodically which led us to some anxious moments. It was also much more powerful than we were
used to from last year. Clearly we would have to reevaluate our our strategies with the dinghy.


Departure from Bellingham. That's the fuel dock.		I take a picture of this building on every passage through this channel. That's because for the whole year (except for the two weeks that we're up there), it's only through the camera mounted on the top of this building that I get to experience the San Juan Islands. The camera is just to left of the wind sock.


Jack taking his first turn at the wheel. This was before I figured out how to work the auto pilot.		The first SUFWE (Spencer Ugly Face With Eyebrows)


		There wasn't as much wind as it looks right here. We tried to sail cuz the wind was coming from behind us but we just wallowed so we went back to motoring.


Donna getting something to eat. That's Lummi Island on the right.		Jack sleeping in the cockpit


Oreo break		Traffic separater with Clark Islands in the background.


Same traffic separater. Lummi Island in the distance with some of the more easterly of the San Juan Islands in the distance on the right.		The sun is breaking through. We're starting to see some of the current that we were racing to beat. You can see the northern San Juan Islands in the back ground. The low island to the left is the Sucia group.


Pass times during the passage...


The Patos Island lighthouse. This is located on the Canadian side of the island. You can see the current on the water. From here to Canada, we would be fighting a current that was getting stronger with every passing minute.		To the left of this bouy is the U.S. and to the right is Canada. The islands to the right are the Canadian Gulf islands and the furthest one is our destination for the day.


Leaving the U.S. behind... that's Patos Island in the distance.		Here we are in Bedwell Harbor on South Pender Island. This picture was actually taken the following morning but it was the only one I seemed to have taken of Bedwell Harbor so it will have to do.

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First Day - Departure to South Pender Island

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Departure from Bellingham. That's the fuel dock.

Jack taking his first turn at the wheel. This was before I figured out how to work the auto pilot.

The first SUFWE (Spencer Ugly Face With Eyebrows)

There wasn't as much wind as it looks right here. We tried to sail cuz the wind was coming from behind us but we just wallowed so we went back to motoring.

Donna getting something to eat. That's Lummi Island on the right.

Jack sleeping in the cockpit

Oreo break

Traffic separater with Clark Islands in the background.

Same traffic separater. Lummi Island in the distance with some of the more easterly of the San Juan Islands in the distance on the right.

The sun is breaking through. We're starting to see some of the current that we were racing to beat. You can see the northern San Juan Islands in the back ground. The low island to the left is the Sucia group.

Pass times during the passage...

The Patos Island lighthouse. This is located on the Canadian side of the island. You can see the current on the water. From here to Canada, we would be fighting a current that was getting stronger with every passing minute.

To the left of this bouy is the U.S. and to the right is Canada. The islands to the right are the Canadian Gulf islands and the furthest one is our destination for the day.

Leaving the U.S. behind... that's Patos Island in the distance.

Here we are in Bedwell Harbor on South Pender Island. This picture was actually taken the following morning but it was the only one I seemed to have taken of Bedwell Harbor so it will have to do.