Our Independence Celebration!

What a great weekend thus far!  We spent Thursday night on the south side of our beloved Hope Island where we snagged 3 dungees and a red rock on our way to an early morning slack at Deception Pass.  It was a beautiful morning!

Deception Pass, westbound

The kids enjoyed a fun snack to get in the mood for the 4th.

A peaceful day of motoring took us along Cypress and Orcas Islands and up to Sucia Island.  We found an anchorage away from the "crowds" in Echo Bay.  It's really amazing how many moorings are there, and how much other good anchorage is available.  Right away I saw folks hiking along a trail overlooking our spot...very nice!

 Echo Bay, Sucia Island

 Frank relaxing in the sun

We pretty much spent Friday afternoon kayaking, hiking a little, and checking out the beaches.  Saturday morning we kayaked to Ewing Cove (totally cool little spot), then spent the afternoon playing around at the beach.  The kids loved splashing around, even though the water was freezing!  We rounded out the afternoon with a paddle through the anchorages, checking out boats and hailing some folks Frank was acquainted with through Cruisers Forum.  We weren't able to get them, but after dinner while we were checking out the amazing bald eagles and dancing in the cockpit (ok, just Katreina and I there!), the couple came up to our boat for a little tour.  They had hiked something like 7 hours and were pretty hungry, so I think our gift of 2 beautiful, cooked Dungees made them pretty happy!

Sunday morning we did one last paddle before heading towards Deception Pass for the 3:30 slack.  It was a rough day, 2-4 seas, variable winds then gusty 20+ kts, a big swell off the quarter.  The kids were lucky to sleep through most of that.  We anchored briefly in Bowman Bay awaiting the slack, then slid through for what might be the last time.  That was a little sad...not sure if we'll make it back up here after deployment. 

The wind kicked up and a small craft advisory was issued as we headed for Oak Harbor.  Not always fun heading to a new place with 20-25kts blowing!  We did manage to set the hook upwind of most of the other boats at anchorage and it held well, with gusts just about up to 30kts.  We also got a front-row seat to the Oak Harbor fireworks display, though it was wicked cold outside!  This came with some entertaining boating, too, as many small boats were out to see the show and not everyone was real savvy with an anchor!

 I've never had to bundle this much for 4th fireworks!

The fireworks, both pro and amateur, were really good and the kids really liked them.  Partly because of the crazy wind that was forecast to blow until 1am and partly because of the crazies out on the water, Frank stood watch on deck for a few hours after we all went to bed.  He came down shortly after and told me about this big powerboat that we saw set its anchor about a dozen times coming within about 7ft of our stern as they left.  As he's still snoozing I don't have all the good stories from after that, but I can report that the anchor held!

Happy 4th, everyone!  Enjoy that freedom!