Day 7 – Stuart Island to Friday Harbor – 14.2 miles

Tuesday, September 20, Stuart Island to Friday Harbor

We were excited to see Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We dropped our mooring ball in Prevost Harbor and headed south threading our way past smaller islands. This day we had some wind [Bass: emphasis on “some”] so we raised the main and enjoyed a nice day trading turns at the helm. [Only interruption of the pleasant day was a cell phone call telling us a loose boat might have run into Turnstone back home on Redfish… it took a few days and some stressful cell phone calling in of favors to get some eyes on T, but she turned out to be fine. Phew.]

As we sailed down the east coast of San Juan Island we could see ferry traffic coming from and going to Friday Harbor. As we sailed closer we also saw several sea planes taking off and landing in what appeared to us as totally random intervals. Plenty of boat traffic added to the scene making my heart beat a bit faster. [If you ever find a trawler named “Little Toot” coming up fast from behind while squawking on the radio about getting a slip, just get the heck out of the way… trust me!]

We dropped the main sail and Bass called the harbor master to request a slip of the night. We noticed there were several slips open on the dock to which we were assigned so we headed to the pump-out station first. This required tricky maneuvering which Bass did slowly and perfectly [Disturbingly enough, I even have the GPS track of the pooper-detour.]

After, as we were pulling into our slip, a crew from a boat a couple of slips over asked if they could help with our lines. It did not take long for me, as crew, to realize I should never turn down an offer whether I think we need help or not. And the “sailboat thing” to do is reciprocate whenever possible.

We headed to the marina laundry which is clean with many new machines. In general Friday Harbor has great amenities; plenty of bathrooms, garbage bins, recycling, rolling carts for easy provisioning and even an on-site fish monger. The town is charming and again we found ourselves welcoming the opportunity to walk. [Maybe we’re just somewhat immune, living in a tourist town, or maybe things were really quieting down by this time of year, but we found Friday Harbor to be very mellow and low key, not the mad house we were dreading.] Passing a bakery and internet café we saw a man struggling with a giant, stand-up (4 feet tall) mixer known in the restaurant world as a Hobart. He was trying to lift it out of his truck and wheel it into the building. This was not a one person job, especially since his wheeled dolly was missing one wheel. Bass helped get the Hobart into the bakery [partly out of the goodness of my heart, and partly trying to stay “off duty” as a paramedic and not be first on scene to a blown out back!] and in return the baker offered to deliver freshly baked goods and coffee to our boat the next morning!

For dinner, we were advised by several locals to visit the most popular tavern in Friday Harbor, Herb’s Tavern. But the service for just two draught beers was horrendously rude so we decided to find another place for dinner [I’m all for local joints as that’s our preference in our home valley, but seriously, did I run over your dog on the way in the door?]. The Blue Water Grill is right on the water with floor to ceiling windows to watch the busy harbor and ferry traffic. We had a great, leisurely dinner here.

[After showers, a beer or two and a good meal we were more than ready for a good snooze, especially a “we’re very securely attached to our slip” type of sleep!]

Google Earth Tour

Click the link below to download a Google Earth .kmz file that will take you on a fly-by tour of our route from Stuart to Friday harbor:

Pictures:

Video from Day 7 (1 mins 14 seconds):