Another early morning departure, leaving Sucia Island for Stuart Island. Work, paddling, fun, exploring a new area, and hiking was the plan once we reached our new destination.
Thanks to careful planning we cruised through the current to our new location. Unfortunately, the weather forecast had changed. We were expecting wind for sailing, but ended up with another morning of calm. Shane was fine with motoring. The batteries needed to be charged after all and we had a schedule to stick to.
The ride over gave us another beautiful sunrise. The real fun kicked in once we made it to John’s Passage. It’s a sneaky one that took us a minute to see as we approached from the north. It was a sight to see! The water looked just like the Snoqualmie River with rocks popping up, some rapids and swirly water. Shane navigated it like a champ.
We reached Reid Harbor on Stuart Island when the next adventure came. Pumping out. I feel like a talk about it a lot. Do any other cruisers worry about it as much as I do?
Stuart Island is another Marine State Park, like Sucia. It’s a popular stop for people traveling back and forth between Canada and the United States. Reid Harbor is large, protected and busy. The Pump-out is a convenience and I’m sure some peace of mind for the state that the cruisers there have the opportunity to keep the water clean.
Stuart Island has no electricity. The Pump-out is manual. A first for us! Talk about an upper body workout for me. I’m sure the nearby boats loved our presence there at 7am too. We whispered and there was noise from the pump, so it couldn’t have been that bad.
Shortly after we arrived Shane’s buddy, who was anchored nearby came over in an incredible boat, designed by the same person who made the PT Eleven. Shane had met him while paddling the Salish 100 back in 2019.
For the most controversial part of my day… when we provisioned last week, I spent more money than I normally would on a “pure avocado oil.” I like to use oil in frying eggs or in making pancakes; the oil keeps them from sticking my to my stainless steel pans. Avocado oil is supposed to have a mild flavor and high smoke rate. On land I had used coconut oil. Still not my favorite. On the boat I worry about the coconut oil solidifying when the residues get washed off and go down the drain.
I noticed that this avocado oil by Primal Kitchen made the pancakes magically not stick. Not even a little. Either the Costco brand oil I had used in the past was not the real deal or this one. I made a mental note to look it up later in the day.
While I wasn’t able to spend much time looking into it, I did find a summary of a test done by UC Davis. It sounds like most oils that claim to be pure when it comes to avocado are in fact fake. Was this brand the real deal? I don’t know. when we run the inverter next maybe I’ll find out the truth.
After my thought provoking morning, I had the kids assist me in creating a pantry inventory. they listed everything in the food locker beneath our salon seat. They practiced their handwriting, creating a list, reinforcing spelling, sounding out new words, keeping tally, and just being part of a team. Kelly paid more attention to the different foods he hadn’t really interacted with I have stored away. In doing so he found out making hash browns can be pretty easy.
He asked if he could make lunch for us and immediately began creating a restaurant with ambient music, nice branding, a cute menu, beverages, and hash browns with sauces.
Unfortunately his restaurant must be understaffed, because I still did the dishes. Wyatt and I loved the experience.
After lunch the boys and i took the paddleboards to shore. It was eighty degrees out with no wind. We decided to postpone the hike we had thought about doing after seeing the stairs up the mountainside. Instead we explored the campgrounds and beach.
We spent the rest of the afternoon paddling the harbor. The boys even played on the paddleboards behind the boat as if it was summer.
Why Jenn, it is summer, you might be saying to me. In the NW its not actually summer until after the fourth of July. As I’m writing this the next day its sixty degrees, overcast and windy.
As the evening went on Shane dinghied to shore for more water. The kids eventually got out of the water and washed off on our swim step.
Shane was able to paddle around Johns Island after dinner. By the way, dinners have been getting pretty creative! Savory tempeh, mashed potatoes, peas and cranberry sauce. the kids have still been eating everything I’ve given them!
Shane read to the boys, I washed my hair, and we got ready for another day on the boat.
