Monday, August 1, 2016

We had a nice lazy morning and cast off by 11.  

As we were leaving we heard “The Ride of the Valkyries” by Wagner and saw the water taxis doing a ballet to the music.  We’d seen them practicing the morning before.  Very fun.

Good bye Empress.

Our destination was Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.  The weather was warm, sunny and breezy.  It continued to build and after about an hour we were crossing Harrowing Strait – I mean Haro Strait.  It felt like we were being tossed about like a cork.  The swells were really big as we rocked from one side to the other.  Fortunately, we’d learned a lot about battening down the hatches so most things were pretty secure.  One surprise was that at least one swell was so big that the heavy dining room table slid all the way across the Salon floor.  That was pretty amazing. 

As we passed through the worst of the turbulence we hit a wall of fog.  We could see only about a hundred yards ahead of us.  A huge tanker ship passed right behind us.  EAK!

The fog eventually lifted and we could finally see land again – and this great view of Mt. Baker.

Finally, around 2:30 we arrived in Friday Harbor where it was sunny and windy 

and docked at

near the ferry and seaplane docks.

In the evening the African Star tour boat passed by.

And of course the ever present fascinated visitors chatting with Justin.