The Sailing Vessel Apropos
Wedding/Gulf Islands Trip
June 26-July 7, 2008
Destination: Canadian Gulf Islands
Crew f0r Seattle to Roche Harbor: Jim, Jim (dad & first mate), Brady (son & cabin boy), Doug (deck swab), Fett (greenhorn)
Crew f0r Roche Harbor to Gulf Islands: Jim (groom), Karen (bride)
Day 1: Lake Union to Port Townsend (33nm)
g
up
out-of-town
guests, preparing the boat, and a hundred more things, a good sail with
the groomsmen in my wedding was what Captain 'groom-zilla'
really needed. The day before leaving, Apropos was scheduled for her
yearly maintanence and afterwards we took her through the locks and
moored at Shilshole marina so we could get an early start in the
morning. The crew was ready to go
after
Captain gave a
quick
speech and handed out custom made t-shirts and mugs. The wind was
light so we motored most of the way until we were about an hour from
Port Townsend. We sailed
the
rest of the way in 10 knot winds. We
found moorage at Port Townsend Marina, then walked to a
fish-n-chips restaurant nearby. Doug bought a new US flag for Apropos
on the way back. When we reached the dock, there were some
friendly sea otters on the dock who let us get pretty close before
jumping in the water. Day 2: Port Townsend to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island (50nm)
Left the dock around 9am
and motored away from Port Townsend. The wind was light
all the way 
across the Strait of Juan
de Fuca so we kept the engine on. Brady 'cabin boy'
used the binoculars to spot some dolphins 
and sea
otters during the crossing. Fett 'greenhorn' was a good sport and
wore the red/green nautical socks proudly (they are normally reserved
for whoever does something stupid on the boat). He's been my friend
since
gradeschool and flew out from
Pennsylvania. Doug 'deck swab'
forgot the power of the sun and turned into a lobster along the way.
Dad 'first
mate' kept the sailors well
fed with his Dagwood sandwiches. And Captain 'off duty'
was able to relax and not have to work a winch or tend a line! The
wind finally picked up after we crossed the strait and neared
the south end of San Juan Island. A northerly made for some good
tacking all the way up Haro Strait to Roche Harbor. Some friends who
happened to be at the lighthouse near the southern end of San Juan
Island saw Apropos tacking up the channel and took some great photos.
They were on the island for
the wedding and didn't realize
it was us at
the time. Thanks to Belinda and Darren for taking these photos.
Day 2: Port Townsend to Roche Harbor
Spent time with Fett
'greenhorn' in the days leading up to the wedding. He was captain
'grooms'
right-hand man
for all the little things needed to get done for the wedding. Here he
is crawling out of the aft berth which he occupied
for the next several days. He and Doug
spent an hour in the hot
sun polishing the brass binnacle for wedding
pictures. They did a great
job and
are welcome to polish the brass anytime! The wedding took place in the
old white chapel overlooking the marina. It was built in 1892 and was
renovated over the years. The photographer
took these
pictures of the bride and groom with Apropos.
The wedding day was one of the hottest day of the year with temperatures in the 90's. Here are a few pictures from the wedding.
After the wedding day, some people spent another day on the island so we took them out for a sail. We sailed north in Haro Strait along Stuart Island to the Turn Point Lighthouse, then spotted whales on the way back. The weather was sunny and warm. Guests included Sue, Ian, Nancy, and Sophie from Australia, and Kit from Seattle.
Day 6: Roche Harbor to Bedwell Harbor on S. Pender Island (13nm)
gallons
of diesel fuel, we left Roche Harbor and headed north. Had a
steady 15-20 knot southerly that pushed us up Haro Strait on 2 long
tacks. Pulled into Bedwell Harbor on S. Pender Island to clear customs.
It was pretty simple--there was a phone on the dock that connected us
to a customs agent who asked a few questions. After clearing customs we
anchored in 45' of water at Poets Cove. Karen cooked up two Dungeness
crabs that we bought at the Roche Harbor dock. Day 7: Bedwell Harbor to Montague Harbor on Galiano Island (16nm)
There was not
much wind so we
motored all the way to Galiano Island and anchored in Montague Harbor.
Karen sat in the chair hoisted up by the main halyard reading and
relaxing while Captain 'spit-shine'
cleaned the boat and polished the brass portholes. In the evening we
kayaked ashore and caught
the
free bus to the Hummingbird Pub where we
had drinks and dinner. The bus-ride itself was fun--it was an old bus
filled with mostly
boaters. The driver played loud music
while driving on a curvy, hilly, narrow road. The food was also very
good at the Hummingbird Pub. As we kayaked back to the boat, we stopped
and talked with an old
salt who had just come down from Alaska on an old rickety trawler that
barely looked seaworthy. He had lots of good stories to tell. A
thunderstorm struck around midnight, right after dropping the crab pot
overboard.
Day 8: Montague Harbor to Ladysmith Harbor on Vancouver Island (25nm)
us to fly the spinnaker most of the way to Salt Spring Island.
From there we went on a beam
reach
and sailed towards Vancouver Island
at about 6 knots with the boat healed nicely. We sailed most of the
long inlet to Ladysmith Harbor, then dropped the sails and found
moorage at Page Point Marina.
The inn was closed because the
owner was
off sailing in the Caribbean, but the dockworkers were nice
and the showers were hot. Cooked steak for dinner and also cooked the
crab for eating the next day. We enjoyed walking the docks looking at
other sailboats. Day 9: Ladysmith Harbor to Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island (36nm)
Another
wonderful sailing
day covering 36 nautical miles. We headed south along Vancouver Island.
The channel narrows with high cliffs on both sides creating strong
funneling winds. We motored thru the channel with favorable current and
opposing wind, so it was quite choppy. The channel finally opened up to
a big bay where we raised the sails and had a terrific sail to
Brentwood Bay with the wind blowing 20 knots. The boat was
heeling at 20 degrees and Captain 'this
is great'
was
having a blast. 
The
only bad thing was having to lower the sails in that much wind. We
thought maybe it would calm down near Todd inlet but
no such luck, so we pointed into the wind and dropped the main fast, not worrying
about flaking it on the boom. It's always a big adrenalin rush dropping
sails in 20 knot winds and Captain 'this is not fun' sometimes gets a bit
grumpy! We found anchorage near the end of Todd Inlet where the wind
died down to about 5 knots. The anchorage was very crowded so we had to motor to nearly the end of
the inlet crossing shallow spots of 10 feet
leaving little water between the keel and bottom. The reason we came to
Todd Inlet was because it has a back-door entrance to Butchart Gardens. 
We hopped in the kayak and
paddled about a half
mile to a dock next to
the garden entrance. We enjoyed the gardens and live music for the next
few hours. In the evening they turn on the colored lights in the
dramatic sunken garden. The story of 
the sunken
garden is the wife
of a
wealthy quarry owner wanted to turn the barren landscape of a mined
limestone quarry into something beautiful. Tons of topsoil were hauled
in by horse and cart to line the quarry. With a lot of work over many
years she transformed it into a spectacular sunken garden. We
left Butchart Gardens at 9pm and paddled back to Apropos in the dark.
Cooked lamb chops on the bbq and ate dinner at 11pm.
Day 10: Brentwood Bay to Ganges Harbor on Saltspring Island (25nm)
the
long inlet to Ganges
Harbor. Dropped the hook near town and kayaked in. This was our first
stop
that had any sort of town since we left Roche Harbor 5 days ago so
we walked around awhile. Stopped at the grocery store, ice cream and
chocolate shop, and then listened to a band playing at an outdoor cafe.
It started getting cold and very windy, so we paddled back to Apropos
and cooked steaks for dinner. The wind blew a steady 20-30 knots until
about 1am making it hard to sleep in the v-berth. When anchoring we
always try to put out more scope than necessary and with our 3/8" chain
and 60 lb CQR anchor, we have never had any problems dragging.
Day 11: Ganges Harbor to Deer Harbor on Orcas Island (30nm)
entering
illegally due to her greencard status in addition to the fact that her
marital status had changed. They didn't care when Karen told them a
lawyer said it would be fine. After a few tense minutes of waiting,
they
granted us entry, congratulated us on the marriage, and even let us
keep the lamb chops in the freezer, telling us to eat them soon (they
were purchased in the US originally, but according to the rule, were
not allowed to be brought back across the border from Canada). Next we
motored to Orcas Island and moored at the Deer Harbor
marina. On our previous two trips to the San Juan Islands, we
never made it to Deer Harbor, but had always wanted to since they have
an outdoor pool to relax in. We had a free night moorage certificate we
got at the Puget Sound Cruising Club anual auction. After tying up, we
headed to the pool for a dip and relaxed in the sun. We read books and
watched the sun go down, then went back to the boat and Karen cooked up
the lamb
chops and corn while Captain cleaned the boat.
Day 12: Deer Harbor to Kingston (53nm)
Got
an early start on what would be
the longest sail of the trip--53 nautical miles in one day. We lucked
out with a
nice northerly wind most of the way. Crossing the Strait of
Juan de Fuca was for the most part hands 
free
sailing as we set the
sails and tied the wheel, making minor adjustments now and then. We
took turns keeping a lookout while the other relaxed or slept. We
entered Admiralty Inlet with favorable currents which added a few
knots to 
our
speed. We decided to keep sailing as far south as we could
so our last day would be short. Spotted lots of interesting vessels in
the busy Puget Sound, including this coast guard training ship.
Finally dropped the sails at sunset and 
motored
into the dusk, reaching Kingston at 10pm. We dropped the anchor in the
bay and
were rocking all night as the ferries came and went.
Day 13: Kingston to Lake Union (13nm)
get
coffee and breakfast. We ate crepes at the french crepe
shop next to the ferry ramp then got underway for the short trip across
Puget Sound to Shilshole. We were excited to get home to see our 1-1/2
year old daughter who returned from the San Juans with grandparents
after the wedding. Pulled up the sails for a beam reach across the
sound with northerly winds of 10 knots. Went through the locks, under
the drawbridges, and reached Lake Union by
3pm.
| Ports visited | 10 |
| Nautical miles | 322 |
| Engine hours | 50 |
| Rocks hit | 0 |