Riding the ferry is always wonderful.

The hike is rated as both easy and picturesque, winding down through a half mile of cedar rainforest then along the long, long narrow spit to the lighthouse at the end – five miles, one way. And then back. Hiking guidebooks recommend doing this hike at low tide; I second that! As the tide rises, there’s an awful lot of scrambling through driftwood and deep sand required.

The wildlife refuge exists to protect native colonies of Brant geese and other birds; we saw cranes, murres, murrelets and finches. I didn’t even try to get pictures, still, it was fun trying to spot them.

I’d never done a day hike this long before, but figured it would be flat and easy, why not try? And I did it. Still, with the shifting sand and beach pebbles and the driftwood scrambling, I’m definitely going to feel it tomorrow.

Ben and I went hiking today at Fort Flagler State Park, on Marrowstone Island, about an hour from home. It’s a pretty fascinating little piece of military history in our own backyard.

Marrowstone Point

Gun emplacement at Battery Lee

Fort Flagler, along with two other Puget Sound area forts, guarded the waterways. Established in the late 1890’s, they became the first line of a fortification system designed to prevent a hostile fleet from reaching the Bremerton Naval Yard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett.

Battery Revere

Winch at Battery Rawlins

During World War I, ten of the fort’s guns were redeployed – only two remain onsite. During World War II and the Korean War the fort was used for training in amphibious warfare, and at the end of the Korean War, June 7, 1953, Fort Flagler was deactivated.

Battery Calwell

Battery Wansboro, with one of the two remaining guns.

As always, click through to enlarge an image, or for more pictures in my Flickr photo set from the day’s adventure.

Day 4: Roche Harbor to Friday Harbor

Roche Harbor is amazing – more huge power yachts there than anyplace else I’ve seen. There must be more than a billion dollars worth of fiberglass and wood floating in the marina.

We woke up the morning of day 4 to more testing – the offshore cruising certification exam. If you have to take a test, doing so on deck, with coffee, sunshine and seagulls for company is not a bad way to go!

We spent the morning of day 4 on docking and close handling practice, then when we finally saw some wind after lunch, sailed for the afternoon. Our destination was the far side of the island, Friday Harbor, the largest town in the San Juan Islands.

Day 5: Friday Harbor to Rosario Bay

We had time for more docking and close handling work in Friday Harbor, then headed out for our next port. I had the chance to be the decision maker on this one; we needed to determine whether to shoot the San Juan Channel south, with the current, and around the island the long way, or instead sail the shorter northeast route to that night’s harbor. The distance on the longer route was too great for a reasonable day of travel – would have required more motoring time – so we chose the shorter, less picturesque journey and more sailing time.

We started working on man-overboard drills under sail, as well as ships’ system knowledge in preparation for our final test. I sucked at my first attempt at sail-based man overboard recovery – I managed to lose the (floating) boathook overboard as well. Zach redeemed the family honor by recovering both it and the fender with the long-handled scrub brush. Go, Zach!

By the way, we did man overboard practice with a fender – a floating buoy, which we named “Chicken”. “Chicken Fender”. Creative, huh? Apparently most classes name it “Bob”.

We headed first for Spencer Spit, on San Juan Island, but it wasn’t sheltered from the expected wind, so we sailed on north to Rosario Bay, where we had the bonus of *showers*. Did I mention that I love a long, hot shower?

Day 6: Rosario Bay to Chuckanut Bay

Rosario Bay was lovely, and sunrise on the still water was spectacular. I’m using the first shot below as my desktop wallpaper now, it will remind me of the peaceful and soul-renewing qualities of our journey.

We set sail for the mainland to drop anchor in Chuckanut Bay for our last night – the boat needed to be back by 1pm and we wanted a short final journey on that last day. En route, we passed the historic schooner Zodiac – *that* is some serious sailing!

Day 7: Chuckanut Bay to Bellingham

Our final exam was to take the boat in ourselves while the instructor slept in. In practice, this wasn’t quite the case; she wanted to see a couple more man overboard drills and a couple more docking drills. Still, we did the majority of the sailing and navigation without assistance.

We were on the books for Rick to be skipper, me navigator, Zach mechanic and Travis deckhand. Since it was final exam day, we tossed it all up in the air and left it up to consensus. Rick and I were both decent open water sailors at this point, but he was better at close handling and would be better able to dock at the fuel dock and slip – I was fine w/ him remaining skipper. I was the fastest and most accurate navigator, although Zach was a close second, so I remained navigator. Zach and Travis shared their responsibilities.

We made it back to Bellingham uneventfully, with an excellent (and unusual) morning wind all the way. I am now certified at all three levels – basic sailing, offshore cruising and bareboat charter, while Zach and Travis are certified at the first two levels and can retake the third (at no cost, I believe) when they’re 18.

There’s an independent study advanced navigation course, and an advanced coastal cruising course, offered fall and spring – Zach and I might see about booking that for next spring.

For more pictures, go to my Flickr photoset.

What we really wanted to to was charter a sailboat and live aboard, but our basic sailing skills weren’t quite up to the task, so we chose a learn and cruise sailing class from San Juan Sailing. It was a great experience – a lot of work, but very rewarding. We finished up the week with three levels of US Sailing Association certification – Basic Keelboat Sailing, Offshore Cruising, and Bareboat Chartering.

We departed Saturday, August 22, from Bellingham. Our boat was the Sundance, a 37′ Jeanneau cutter – a beautiful, late-model, three cabin boat. Our instructor, Captain Leslie Senn, was excellent – very knowledgeable, patient and supportive.

The below was, eventually, our course through the San Juans – and it was beautiful, sunny, warm, and breezy every afternoon. (Although I would have preferred more wind in the mornings – Zach and I both share a distaste for operating a sailboat under motor just because you have a destination to reach.)

Day 1: Bellingham Bay to Sucia Island

We arrived in Bellingham the first day at 11am, ready to take our first test – which we passed. We loaded our gear on our beautiful boat, stored our provisions, and headed out to the sea and sun. We began learning immediately – close handling, maneuvering under motor, sail handling, and learning the points of sail.

At night, there were about fifty other boats anchored in the bay as well. The sailboats all turned on their white anchor light, at mast-top. Combined with a clear sky thick with stars, the glassy water, and the dead quiet, it was spectacular out on the water – I could could have stayed up in the cockpit to drink it in for hours.

Day 2: Sucia Island to Stuart Island

We took the dinghy ashore in the morning for a hike, since it was foggy out in the strait, then raised anchor and headed further west.

We began in earnest to learn more about sailing and boat handling. We started man-overboard drills, practiced more sail handling, and each assumed what would be our rotating daily duties – skipper, navigator, mechanic, deckmate/chef. (I love navigation – makes me an odd duckling, I’m sure. I plan on taking the advanced and even-more-advanced classes.)

We made our way to Stuart Island for the night, found another peaceful spot to drop anchor, just offshore of an osprey’s nest.

Day 3: Stuart Island to San Juan Island/Roche Harbor

Our instructor kept us very busy, from 9am-ish to 9pm-ish, every day. After breakfast we did classroom work, practical drills, ship’s system work, and then set sail. My only down time was early morning, when I’d take a cup of coffee up above deck and enjoy the sunrise on the water – utterly lovely, and food for the soul.

The afternoon of the third day we reserved a slip in Roche Harbor. The initial plan had been to anchor in Garrison Bay so I could do an open water swim, but we had great wind and decided to sail for the afternoon. Still, Roche Harbor was a priority because we wanted real showers. The ship’s head had a tiny handheld shower nozzle on the bathroom sink, with only a main and reserve 20 gallon holding tank, so showers onboard were really not a great option. We all were looking forward to that first long, hot shower on land!

To be continued, with days 4-7, here.

For more pictures, go to my Flickr photoset.

It was a lovely day on Liberty Bay and the sun on the water worked its stress relieving magic. I’ll definitely do this again.

This was NOT the boat we rented, but was easily the loveliest boat on the water today – a racing sailboat of some sort.

Zach and Cheri watch the windvane.

Zach the helmsman steers the boat.

Zach watches from the sail deck.

Apparently I was the captain since I signed the rental contract. Who knew?

To celebrate, I went hiking, independently. I drove the MINI up to Cape Flattery and walked the Shi Shi Beach trail.

It was a lovely day in the Puget Sound area, predicted to hit 80+, but on the coast it was 60 – perfect for hiking. Parts of the 4.5 mi trail were deep rainforest, parts were sunny boardwalk, and parts were misty ocean bluff – totally gorgeous.

The first 2 miles of the trail were easy, wide trails and gradual incline. The last ¼ mile, though, was the killer – about 300 vertical feet, scrambling up and down steep switchbacks, and using tangled tree roots like irregular stairsteps. The view at the bottom was worth it, though!

There are more pics on Flickr, which all these images link to, of the day’s scenery.

Even though Maggie the MINI is fun to drive, the drive was a bit long – three hours each way. The last 45, though, was pretty much perpetual S-curve and hairpin turns, as fun to drive in the MINI as a roller coaster ride.

I’m glad I got out and pushed myself!

Mt. Rainier looms over the marina.

Me in my (rented) kayak.

Zach and Ben conferring about something. Zach has his own inflatable kayak; it’s not quite as efficient as a traditional one but boy is it portable!

Ben takes a break and waits for us in front of the Gran Kirk condos. The bottom right one is for sale and I can afford it, but I’ve resisted going to look at it.

The breakwater was inhabited by a very tame colony of seals.

It was a lot of fun – and we’ll definitely try to do it more frequently.

Port Townsend main street.

Wonderful old buildings.

Even more architecture.

Port Townsend from the water.

One of Port Townsend’s many tall ships.

I’m glad I had great company for the day; it was my first Fathers’ Day with both my father and Bryan now gone, and it would have been my 12th anniversary.

For anniversaries, we used to find and buy a piece of art we both loved. Port Townsend has wonderful art galleries and antique stores, but I didn’t see anything that screamed, “Take me home with you!” (Besides jewelry, which is coals to Newcastle.) And, I guess coming home empty handed is ok, it’s the thought that matters.