Destination: Westcott/Garrison Bays, San Juan Island

So near, and yet so far. That's an apt description of Garrison and Westcott Bays.

Roche Harbor on the northwestern tip of San Juan Island is a busy place. Boats and huge yachts coming and going all the time, many holding position while they are assigned space at the docks, sea planes coming and going nearly continuously thru the day. Dinghies buzzing back and forth. And then there is that Retirement of the Colors Ceremony that is conducted every night at sunset.

Yet in the twin bays just the other side of a spit of land, there is peace and quiet.

Yes, the bays are shallow, but not too shallow.  In the chart above, the depth contours are the 1, 2, and 3 fathom lines...  there is plenty of depth for most boats to anchor, tho you should probably not try to go behind Guss Island.

(That's Roche Harbor at the top of the chart)

You will reach the twin bays thru a narrow passage that opens off of Mosquito Pass (Mosquito Pass leads from the south end of Roche Harbor to the Strait of Juan de Fuca).  Mosquito Pass is a little tricky - you will want to pay attention to your chartplootter and depth sounder while navigating it.  Turn left (east) after passing red Buoy '6' and enter the narrow channel, again watching your plotter and sounder.  Anchoring is good on a mud bottom, but the north shore of Garrison Bay near Bell Point is infested with kelp.  And do pay attention, there is a shoal extending from Bell Point a surprising distance to the northwest.  Because of the contours of the surrounding land, the bays are very well-protected from winds, even from the southwest, which you might not expect.

The formal garden at English Camp

On the northern shore of Garrison Bay is English Camp, a National Park containing the preserved buildings remaining from the English occupation of San Juan Island (1860 - 1872).  Well worth your time for a visit - let your imagination range back a century and a half and try to imagine how things were then, before Kaiser Wilhelm I arbitrated a settlement between Britain and the United States as to where the national boundary would run thru the archipelago.

BBQ'd oysters

Those are baby oysters he is showing me

In Westcott Bay there is the Westcott Bay Shellfish Company (dotted rectangle), a working oyster farm that supplies much of Puget Sound with these shellfish delights.  They also have a casual food service featuring their oysters, clams and mussels.  But if you want to partake, be sure that you arrive before 16:00, when they shut down the outdoor kitchen.  Take the time to talk to the folks running the operation - they take their work seriously, are very friendly, and will be happy to educate you on the process of shellfish farming.

Destination: Westcott/Garrison Bays, San Juan Island

How Washington's Derelict Vessel Program Works: A Real World Example

6/7/2016

We get tangled in a sunken vessel in Friday Harbor - incident detailed here

6/28/2016

I report the sunken vessel to the DNR, who run Washington's Derelict Vessel Program, mostly based on funds collected from boaters when they pay their state registration fees.

6/30/2016

Vessel is listed as priority 4 as a result of my contact, per Jerry Farmer of the DNR

(A year passes)

7/12/2017

A new version of Vessels of Concern list is published (they are published twice a year - the link points to the 10/2017 version)...  our sunken vessel has gone missing from the list!

9/5/2017

I notice that the vessel has disappeared from the list and I contact Jerry Farmer at DNR, asking why the vessel was removed from the list.

9/5/2017

Jerry Farmer replies that "...San Juan County is an authorized public entity (APE) that has the authority to remove vessels in accordance with RCW 79.100"  and that he had closed the DNR case on this vessel accordingly.  He also said, "However; some of our APE’s remove these vessels without following the custody process. If this is the case then they will not receive reimbursement from DNR’s derelict vessel removal account".  He referred me to Mark Herrenkohl of San Juan County, and also cc'd Mark.

9/21/2017

Mark Herrenkohl contacts me and asks if I have the WN number of the sunken vessel.

9/21/2017

I reply to Mark, telling him that in the confusion of having to hire a diver to get loose from Friday Harbor I did not have the foresight to ask the diver for the WN number on the vessel (assuming there was one...)

10/19/2017

I query Mark, asking if there has been any progress

10/19/2017

Mark responds that they have asked NOAA to mark the wreck on their charts.  And that they think the harbor is a busy place and maybe they shouldn't mark the wreck with a buoy.  He also says they are "talking about next steps."

So the current status, after the passing of a year and 4 months of conversations with very friendly, courteous, and open government officials, is that the wreck (and it's two sisters) is still on the floor of Friday Harbor, waiting to snag someone else's anchor or rode.  And I still avoid Friday Harbor, taking my boat and my patronage instead to Roche Harbor.

Apparently I screwed up big time by not asking the diver for the WN number, which would have allowed San Juan County to pursue the custody process with the last registered owner and therefore secure reimbursement from the DNR for the raising and disposal of the vessel.
 
SO REMEMBER:  If you ever have to hire a diver to get loose from a sunken wreck, ALWAYS GET THE WN NUMBER off the wreck!

How Washington's Derelict Vessel Program Works: A Real World Example

Mooring Repair

While we were involuntarily moored in Friday Harbor, this unusual work boat (the aluminum one with the I-beam supported above the foredeck, not the white one behind it) dropped anchor near us.  On board were a diver, a man, and woman: the crew.  And two hefty gentlemen who did not participate in operations except to look over the side.   With nowhere to go, we speculated what they were up to...

As we watched, a diver went down with a heavy line.  When the diver returned to the surface, the woman used a heavy windlass (not visible below the bulwarks) and routing the line over a block on the bow she hoisted up...  a concrete block some 6 or 7 feet square and perhaps 18 - 24" thick.  Trust me, this was HEAVY - the bow of the boat dipped a lot.  Obviously a quite substantial mooring anchor.

With the concrete hanging from the bow, the man attached a brand new pennant line, looking like at least 1-1/2", to the anchor block (with a chafe guard of course!).  He then manoeuvred to a good spot and she lowered the anchor to the bottom.  He then attached a (very) used buoy to the pennant, and they all went home.

Conclusion?

The old mooring pennant had parted, releasing the buoy, which apparently fetched up on shore somewhere in Friday Harbor and was retrieved.  The action we witnessed was the reattachment of the buoy to the anchor on behalf of one or both of the observers, using a new pennant.

Conclusion #2?

That boat was ideally designed for mooring installation and maintenance.  We witnessed the maintenance part.  For a new installation, the new anchor would be placed in the bow, and then once transported to the desired location a hoist rolling along the I-beam would be used to retrieve it from the foredeck, roll it out forward above the water, and then lower it to the sea bottom.  Pretty clever design.

Mooring Repair

Permanent moorage in Friday Harbor

The red arrow shows our location

We dropped anchor in Friday Harbor on Tuesday, pretty much in the normal place.  Well, one of the two or three normal places - anchorage is pretty limited there due to the number of (mostly unoccupied) mooring balls.

Not long after, after the tide had changed, we noticed periodic rumbling from the anchor chain.  This is unusual; we thought that the chain was being dragged across something on the bottom.  So we decided to move.  Well, not so fast, there Pilgrim...  with 125 feet of chain still out, the windlass stalled.  Attempting to free the boat by motoring in various directions was fruitless.

So here we sit, now permanently at anchor in Friday Harbor.  At the moment, our chain is straight up and down, so we are directly over the obstruction.  Our location is (mark this on your chartplotters): 48° 32.137' N, 123° 0.483'W

This makes the third wreck that I know of on the floor of Friday Harbor.  I know that one of them has a buoy marking it, and I know now that one does not.  The third one?  Not sure - maybe one of those unused mooring buoys marks it too.

All I know is that it is going to be very difficult to convince me to anchor in Friday Harbor again until the Port of Friday harbor reports these wrecks to the DNR and gets them removed. 

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OK, here's the postmortem. 

When we anchored, I avoided the wreck marked on the chart, known locally as "the old fishing boat that had been permanently anchored there for years, and finally sank". But when our chain started 'grumbling' as the boat swung to the tides, I thought maybe the position marked on the chart was off. We tried to raise anchor, but stalled the windlass with 125' of chain still out. Thought for about a beer, and then contacted Jill and Brent who live aboard s/v Ambition at the marina for a diver reference; they recommended Kurt Schwalbe. He came out yesterday afternoon at slack water (currents in Friday Harbor can be very strong - trying to do work down there while fighting the current would be terrible). Kurt deserved the stellar reputation he has. He is friendly, professional, deliberate, and a problem solver. Before going into the water, he discussed his plan with us, in detail.

It turned out that this was NOT the fishing boat, but yet another wreck on the bottom of Friday Harbor - a 21' skiff. And our chain had not only sawed partly thru the fiberglass wreck, but had it wrapped up like a Christmas present. Kurt untangled everything, but was not able to pull the chain out from under the wreck, where one turn had wedged itself. So we put Eolian's Perkins 4-236 diesel to work. After 3 or 4 mighty tugs, we were FREE!!!

Kurt enjoying a well-deserved IPA after the dive

I have marked the position of this wreck on our Navionics charts as a community edit, so if you use Navionics, you already have its location. If you don't, here are its coordinates:
48° 32.137' N, 123° 0.483'W

Permanent moorage in Friday Harbor

It's a small world

Who would have thought it?

Puget Sound is big.  And the San Juan Islands, tho smaller are a big and very complicated water space.

Finally, consider the size of time itself, the hours, days, and decades.

So, what are the chances that we would meet, completely unplanned, at one particular place and one particular time one of our blogging friends out here in the San Juans?  Pretty small I'd say.

And yet, we did.   We had left Reid Harbor on Stuart Island and were heading for Roche Harbor on San Juan Island.  And who should we meet on the reciprocal course but  s/v Letitgo.

By the time I realized that the catamaran was Letitgo, it was too late to get the camera for a picture, but we did have enough time to hail each other and shout happy and surprised greetings back and forth.

Now the only thing that could have been better was if we had shared an anchorage.  And a glass of wine.

It's a small world

Funkiness in Friday Harbor

Are you mourning the loss of the Front Street Ale House in Friday Harbor?

Sadly, I cannot report that another brewpub has opened.  But if you are looking for some of the best BBQ you can find this side of Alabama, you only need to walk up the street a half a block.  There you will see this sign...  You will want to follow the arrow to the BBQ Shack.

The first thing I noticed in the place was the unusual ceiling fan.  Be sure to look up when you come in.

Now, when at a BBQ joint we always do the pulled pork, and you should too.  But here it was offered with an unusual side: smoked macaroni & cheese.  It turns out that this is a wonderful, rich combination!  Aside from the BBQ sauce that was a part of the pulled pork, the table was graced with a bucket full of unusual BBQ sauces that you could use to augment.  My favorite was the Gold Rush, and Jane's was the blackberry-based one. 

And tho this is not a brewpub, I can heartily recommend the beer selection.  We chose "The Gubna", an imperial IPA - really imperial (10.5%).  It was so rich and thick you could cut it with a knife - and that is a good thing.  It was the perfect companion to the BBQ.

You should stop in.  And when you do, please say "Hi!" to Kurt for us - he runs a great place!

Funkiness in Friday Harbor

Aand... We're off!

We're off the dock for a couple of weeks, heading for the San Juan islands.

We untied the dock lines and pulled out of our slip on G Dock at 07:17 this morning - that was a little later than we had planned, but we were fogged in, and I wanted to give the sun a chance to burn it off.

As it was, when we left, there was fog on the marina but the Sound was mostly clear, making for some beautiful lighting.

We had good wind for a couple of hours, and good tide. But eventually we had to start the motor.

We're now anchored in Port Ludlow, enjoying some of John Barleycorn's best and watching Amy Hastings (Jane's cousin's daughter) run the 10,000 meter in the Olympics.

Go Amy!

Aand... We're off!

Sadness

Something sad has happened.

When we were in Friday Harbor, we discovered that the Front Street Ale House was closed.

Coming to this pub has been a tradition with us, well forever. (Here's a picture of Jane and Adam there nine years ago. The whole family was there, but if I recall correctly, he bought the beer, thus he is immortalized in Internet fame.)

This was a brew pub. I am guessing that none of the beer they brewed made it off the island tho, so you've probably not tasted it (unless you were there of course). And it was good beer they made - something to look forward to, welcoming you to shore.

Things change, etc. But I am sad that this icon is no longer waiting for us as we walk up into town.

RIP Front Street Ale House

Sadness

Long, but satisfying

Yesterday was a looong day. We hoisted anchor in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island at 06:15 and headed out. We got started this early for two reasons:

• Based on our past experience, we wanted to reach slack water when we were at Partridge Bank. We needed an ebb tide to give us a ride out of the San Juan Islands, but we needed a flood tide for the ride down Admiralty Inlet and into Puget Sound.
• It was a long trip - we needed the time to make it. Our plan/hope was to go all the way into Eagle Harbor, on Bainbridge Island - a trip of 67 miles.

We motored out of the harbor, and caught a nice breeze that carried us about half way out of the Islands. Then it faded, we had to start the motor. We drove most of the way to Smith Island, where the breeze filled in from the West, rising to 10-15 (NOAA forecast: East, 10-15). We sailed basically from there all the way to Eagle Harbor. There were two other short stretches where we needed to start the engine. It was a long day - we dropped anchor at 19:55, after nearly 14 hours.

It was a very clear day - we were able to see Mount Rainier from the San Juan Islands, and when we got into Admiralty Inlet, the Seattle skyline appeared. Looks pretty insignificant, doesn't it?

Long, but satisfying

Destination: Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, San Juan Islands

If you arrived here by searching for a chart, please see this page.

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Sometimes when you are in the San Juan islands, you feel the need for a little civilization. Maybe you have run out of sugar, or maybe you'd like... Electricity! Cell phone reception! Internet!

Friday Harbor is your first choice. It is the county seat of San Juan County (Not to be confused with Washington's other island-based county: Island County, which contains Whidbey and Camano Islands). It has all of the trappings of a county seat, most notably, Friday Harbor's own brewery, the Front Street Ale House, almost directly above the marina. I'm not going to tell you how to find it... you won't be able to miss it (we never do).

The chart shows that you can enter the harbor at either end of Browns Island, but for some reason, we always go in at the West end. You have three choices here:

• You can tie up at the dock (call ahead on VHF 66), or just go to the "North" breakwater - the farthest one to the right on entering the harbor (farthest left on the chart), and tie up if you can - it is first come, first served.
• Anchor in front of the University of Washington Friday Harbor Labs. This is pretty deep water here - like 50-60 feet. Yes, that is Eolian, anchored out there in front of Friday Harbor Labs, with Adventuress (102' schooner) in the background. And that is me rowing back out to the boat because I forgot my shoes.
  
• Anchor between Browns Island and the town. Be careful here of the cable areas... It is not much shallower, but it is more protected. Even from ferry wakes - when the ferries are in the harbor, they are moving slow. This is our favorite.

In recent years Friday Harbor has become a tourist attraction - perhaps because it is an island destination, easily accessible by ferry (out of Anacortes). If you should choose to go to Friday Harbor via the ferry, leave your car in Anacortes. If you really feel the need for wheeled transportation, there are scooter and bicycle rental places within very short walking distance of the ferry terminal.

The town is charming, and is filled with artsy places and galleries... and real estate offices (the days of buying cheap property on San Juan Island are gone). There is an easily accessible grocery store at the top of the hill (follow the main drag) - the other one burned down a couple of years ago, and was rebuilt as a Windemere office. Huh. There are a couple of car parts dealers, should you need, for example, a new alternator, like the guy tied up behind us a couple of weeks ago. There are even a couple of live web cams!

Destination: Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, San Juan Islands