Last year in late July, Tim and I went up to Seattle to visit our friends Peggy and Rolf, who have a cabin on Lopez Island. I was just reviewing photos of that trip and thought I'd post a few here as that trip really got us rolling on the idea of sailing. Peggy and Rolf bought their property some years ago with their friends Chris and Nancy, who built a second house on the property right next door. Both are right on the water in Mud Bay. They all share everything, like a family compound--a vast barn full of sea kayaks and bikes, a bunkhouse that could sleep an army, a pile of crab pots, and an oar-powered dinghy to set the pots and collect the crabs.
The week we spent on Lopez was full of beach combing, hikes, bike rides, crabbing, eating crab, sea kayaking, and sailing. Tim and I arrived during crabbing season. I bought my license, which entitled me to go out in the boat and watch Peggy and Rolf sex the crabs, throwing back the females and juveniles, and then prepare them for the pot by ripping off their backs and separating the edible parts from the seagull food. I didn't want to interfere in what was clearly a professional operation. These guys know their crabs. This year, though, I'll do some of the dirty work, at risk of getting pinched.
One day we organized a sea kayaking expedition to Spencer Spit, about 6 miles up the coast of Lopez. Some of us kayaked and some sailed. Then some of us traded places after a walk on the spit. Chris has a 23 ft sailboat that he keeps on a mooring by their house. In that 6 miles back to the mooring, in which I became enchanted with the GPS chart plotter and fish finder, I realized that I really missed sailing. And that was all I needed to get me going again. Next thing I knew, I was looking for a boat of my own.
This summer, we'll tow Valdesca up to Washington and sail her over to Lopez. With a base at Peggy and Rolf's, we'll sail all around the San Juans, hopefully circumnavigating Lopez, San Juan, and Orcas Islands and getting out to Patos and Sucia.
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