In my last post, I shared our journey getting out of winter moorage in Olympia, WA and the slow boat trip getting Mosaic, our 1978 Fuji 40 sailboat (and our home) moved all the way north and to our favored cruising grounds in the San Juan Islands. We left Olympia on April 6th, and arrived, finally, in the San Juan Islands on May 5th.

We quickly fell back into our cruising rhythm, well-established from spending July through October cruising the San Juans last year. We generally move from one anchorage to another every 3-4 days. Many factors play in to when we move the boat and where we go:

• Weather, primarily wind- it’s strength and direction
• Cell signal for internet- Brenden and I both still work remotely fulltime from the boat
• Anchorage quality- we try hard to avoid going into marinas because they’re expensive
• Walkability- with two rowdy kids on board, we try hard to get off the boat every day for exercise and exploration

So, as you can see, cruising the Pacific Northwest while working and homeschooling our kids is a bit of a dance. Today is May 27th, since our arrival in the San Juans on May 5th, we’ve ‘parked’ Mosaic in 13 different locations (including multiple times in Friday Harbor, Roche Harbor, and Sucia Island).

1. Swift’s Bay *hiding from big SW winds
2. Jones Island Marine State Park
3. Roche Harbor
4. Sucia Island Marine State Park
5. Reid Harbor (anchored outside the state park zone on this visit, at the east side of the bay)
6. Roche Harbor
7. Garrison Bay *hiding from big SW winds
8. Friday Harbor
9. Park’s Bay
10. Sucia Island Marine State Park *hiding from big SE winds
11. Prevost Harbor Marine State Park *hiding from big S winds
12. Friday Harbor
13. Anacortes- Cap Sante Marina *hiding from big SE and W winds

Every stop noted above, save for the last where we are right now paying to be in the marina at Cap Sante in Anacortes, was either free anchorage or pre-paid dock or moorage buoy through our Washington State Annual Moorage Pass. Right now, as I write this, we’re riding out 30-35 knot winds in the marina in Anacortes.

But wait, you say? Rachel, I thought you stayed out of marinas? And why are you even there in a blow ranging into the mid-30s? Good questions!

Normally, we absolutely would NOT be here right now. 😂 But today, Brenden and I both have our appointments for our second round of our Covid-19 vaccinations. The Moderna vaccine was what was available and, since there seem to be quite a frequent occurrence of poor reaction to the second dose of the Moderna vaccines, we decided that we would suck it up and pay for a night or two in the marina here when the time came to get our second dose.

We didn’t want to have to worry about the boat being in an unfavorable anchorage or even have to deal with a dinghy ride to shore to get the kids outside if we happen to be knocked down a little by this vaccine. So we had planned in advance to come into the marina for this – it just so happened that there is also a couple big-ish weather systems coming through here right now throwing big winds at us.

Okay. That’s enough about that- now I’m just going to throw some photos in here to appease the fans. 😉 Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! Until next time… ~Rachel

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