Once again, the wind blew all day, and then shut off around 1700 hrs.  Today I decided to venture outside the harbor.  Currents can get pretty strong outside, but there isn’t a spring tide, and the wind is almost non-existent.

Paddling along the shore, I found interesting rock formations.  

And, a beautiful succulent in full bloom.  I found out later that it is a sedum, called Broad Leaved Stone Crop.

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While I took shot after shot of the beautiful sedum, I noticed a lone Canadian Honker just sort of floating around, not headed anywhere, just hanging out in the area.  I thought that was odd, but I was so intent on getting some good shots of the colorful sedum, that I put it out of my mind.  

Well…..while looking for more patches of sedum, my eye caught a flash of white, just above the sedum.  When I zoomed in on the white, I discovered a female Honker sitting just below the top of the bluff.  I’d bet money that she was sitting on eggs, and I’d bet that lone Honker hanging around is the daddy.

There was still light, and so inside,  looking for photo ops.  I didn’t have far to go before I spotted a raccoon working the shore.  Low tide is a veritable shellfish buffet for the raccoon.

What a feast this raccoon had enjoyed this evening.  And, I felt so fortunate that he had allowed me to record his evening repast.

 

It’s another sunny, windy day until about 1700 hrs, when the wind died completely and I was able to get in another paddle.  I set out for the southern point again, hoping to find the goslings, and sure enough, there they were, momma and her six little ones paddling for all they were worth.  The race was on.  

I had to get closer if I wanted any decent photos, but not so close as to scare them off. 

Pretty soon, it was time for mom’s nap.  They’d worn her out.  So, they hauled out and started looking for a little snack before bedtime.  

As soon as she felt they’d all had enough food before going down for a nap, she started giving signals to her brood that they’d better gather close, because she was going down, and they’d better be under her when that happened, or they’d be left out in the cold.

Of course, there are always those little ones who aren’t ready to go down for a nap.

It was like herding cats, but eventually they all huddled in a pile, waiting for momma to cover them for their nap.

I felt so fortunate that this momma Honker had let me witness this little ritual.

Gorgeous wall-to-wall blue skies greet us this morning, but the wind is blowing 15-25 knots.  I spend all day hoping the wind will die down.  At 1600 hrs, I get my wish.  There isn’t a breath of air.  Perfect!  

We headed for shore to get ice cream cones… first things first.  And, they were delicious.  The chocolate peanut butter is just as good as I remember it from last year.  As soon as we got  back to the boat, I launched my kayak and headed for the southern point, in search of wildlife.

As I slowly made my way along the shoreline, I spotted a pair of Canadian Honkers on the beach.  I thought the one Honker looked a bit odd.  She appeared to be sleeping,  which wasn’t unusual, but she seemed to be all puffed up. 

All of a sudden, out popped a little gosling!

And then, another, and another.  

She had the whole family under her wings!  They were sooo cute!  And, they were so active!  They were running everywhere, exploring everything. 

The parents finally decided I looked a little suspicious.  So, they rounded the brood up and headed for cover. 

I continued paddling along the shore looking for photo ops.  I spotted something white at the water’s edge that caught my eye.  While I was trying to figure out what it was, I suddenly realized that something else was equally intent on trying to figure out what I was.  A raccoon, not 100 feet away, sat transfixed.  By the time I grabbed my camera and zoomed in on him, he’d seen enough and was long gone.  Darn!

I headed back to the boat, anxious to see if any of my gosling photos were worth keeping.  The little goslings were almost impossible to photograph, because they were so tiny and in constant motion, and they were in deep shade.  But, I figured, If the camera didn’t capture them, I would still have the sweet memory.

The sun is out bright and early this morning, but the wind is up bright and early also.  So, I spend the day working on my blog, and checking YouTube for photography tips.  I think I’ve finally figured out how to use a couple of other settings on my camera.

The wind howled all day and into the night.  No kayaking, but I did get these photos of a beautiful Montague sunset.

We have wall-to-wall blue skies this morning as we head out for Montague Harbour, just about a four-hour run from Blind Bay.  The wind is only blowing about 5 knots and the seas are flat.

By the time we headed up Haro Strait the wind had picked up to 15 knots, gusting to 25 knots, but the wind was behind us, so the seas were not all that bad, even with the rips.  It wasn’t long before we were crossing Boundary Pass, entering Canada.  We made good time, and entered Montague Harbour at 1135 hrs.

Montague is just the same as when we left here in October.  The summer crowd hasn’t arrived yet, so we were able to anchor in our favorite spot, just off the marina.  

As soon as we finished anchoring, Al called Amy in the marina office to get the password for the internet.  I’m hoping that the signal is strong enough to upload posts to my blog.  We’ll see.

After a delicious lunch of barbecued ribs, we headed ashore for our first ice cream cone of the summer.  

Amber is still running the store, but she has a new assistant, Amy.  Business must be good.  The owners, Mike and his brother Dan, came over to welcome us.  They said we were like the bookends of their summer.  We’re the first to arrive in May, and the last to leave in September. 

Al picked up a couple of bell peppers for the spaghetti sauce he’s going to make tomorrow, and we headed back to the boat to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.

Two days after we arrived in Seattle, we were scheduled to haul the boat out for new bottom paint, and to switch out the old props for the newly repaired props.  Meanwhile, I was busy doing most of the provisioning. Everything finally came together, and it looked like we had a weather window this morning, so we took it.  

We got away from the dock at 0645 hrs, bidding farewell to the sights of Seattle.  

I spotted bright yellow mustard blooming on this bluff.

We were loving the fact that the wind was calm.  However, when we checked to see whether the tide was rising or falling, we discovered that today is a spring tide!  That’s all we need.  Luckily, the current would be going with us.  OK.  That’s good.  Pretty soon we were doing 10 to 11 knots and loving it.  

I decided to ask Siri what the wind speed was at Smith Island, out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  Siri replied, “The wind speed at Smith Island is 2 knots.”  Sounds great.  Just to make sure Siri knew what she was talking about, Al turned on the weather channel.  According to the weather channel, the wind at Smith Island was blowing 12 knots.  So, who do you believe?  We had to choose between going the long way to Blind Bay, up through Deception Pass; or gamble that Siri knew more than the weather channel.  Al decided to put his money on Siri, and headed straight up Admiralty Inlet, which would save us 15 miles.

We were doing great until we got into the tide rips off Point Wilson.  Al headed for the eastern shore, where the rips are less severe, and we toughed it out.  

I took this shot of Partridge Point, where the rips were starting to subside.  Luckily, the wind was still calm, and we were making good time. Even so, it was like riding a bucking bronco.

Once through Lopez Pass, we opted to head for Blind Bay, rather than spending the night at Hunter Bay, since we were making such good time.  Getting around Spencer Spit was a bit of a squeeze, because of the spring tide.

By 1420 hrs, we had the hook down in Blind Bay, where we were the only transient boat in the anchorage.  Life is good.