September 2, 2013 - Port Townsend

We took advantage of the 3 day weekend and actually turned it into a 3.75 day weekend :-)

It's a bit of a trek to Port Townsend when you are only travelling 7 knots.  It took about 5 hours to get there.  We anchored in Kilisut Harbor, just across from Port Townsend.  Much to our amazement we were the only boat anchored in the 4 mile long bay until Sunday night when a Fleming 65 (nice boat!) came in and anchored about 1/2 mile from us.

We dinghied over to Fort Flagler state park, which is the site of some WWI batteries.  They were very interesting to explore.  It's amazing to see structures built nearly 100 years ago out of concrete and they are still in really good condition.  We explored underground rooms, and tunnels, and more.  Some things there were a mystery to us, and I was amazed at the intricacy of the concrete work.

Link to wikipedia page for Fort Flaggler

One of several batteries.  The round structure is where big guns once fired
huge shells at enemy ships sneaking into Puget Sound.

Cindy finds a great hiding place ready to ambush Kevin.

When ya gotta go......  not really.

Heading for an underground tunnel leading to another
battery.

Snack time at old gun station.

Kids playing on the sand beach in the park.

Late night swim.  The water was a little chili:  55 degrees.

On Sunday morning we dinghied over to Port Townsend.  It was a nice day and we saw a few boats from Shelter Bay in the Point Hudson Marina, where were tied up the dinghy while we walked around town.

Cindy drives us over to Port Townsend.

Seal sculpture at the new wooden boat center.

"Downtown" Port Townsend.

Since we anchored in Kilisut Harbor, which is surrounded by Marrowstone Island to the east and Indian Island to the west, we had to chose which island to anchor near.  The prevailing winds were forecast to be from the NW so we chose to anchor very close to Indian Island so we would have some shelter from the winds.  Well, Indian Island is all owned by the US Navy and contains a Navy base.  There are signs all along the shore basically stating that you cannot come ashore on Indian Island.  We knew that and were totally fine with that.

Some interesting, and unusual, events occurred over the next several days due our close proximity to Indian Island.  Saturday morning around 8:00AM as Kathy and I were just getting up and moving around the salon/galley when we noticed a man dressed in black walking along the beach heading towards our boat.  We were only a hundred yards offshore and he was headed right towards us.  I could see a gun on his belt and at one point he turned around to look back at something and in huge white letters on his back it said "POLICE".  As he neared our boat I stepped out into the cockpit to acknowledge his presence.  He said good morning, as did I.  He then asked if we knew where we were.  I told him I did and asked it it was OK for us to be anchored here.  He said "yes, as long as you don't come ashore".  He asked a few simple questions like "where are you from?"  "have you been here before".  He said goodbye and then walked back along the beach and disappeared into the woods and we never saw him again.

That afternoon we decided to move closer to Fort Flagler as we were about 4 miles away.  With a light NW breeze blowing we again decided to anchor close to Indian Island.  That night we did some kneeboarding and the kids went swimming just after sunset (very obvious family boating activities).  Sunday morning just before breakfast we noticed a white Police Suburban parked a ways up the beach where there was some sort of an access road.  A man was standing nearby on the beach.  We grabbed our binoculars only to find this other man (presumably a Navy security officer) was scanning the beach and our boat with binoculars.  Cindy went out on the bow and began waving to him.  He saw her and waved back.  We then sat down for breakfast in the salon and Kevin started ,looking at him with our binoculars.  The man was looking back.  After a minute of this I instructed Kevin to put down the binoculars as it may seem suspicious to the police that we are "spying" on them from inside our boat with binoculars.  After 5 or so more minutes the man put down his binoculars and walked away and got in the Suburban.  But he stayed there in the Suburban for another 10+ minutes observing us.

Fast forward to Monday morning when we had to leave to come home.  As we navigated the winding entrance to Kilusut Harbor, which takes you withing a few hundred yards of the Navy base docks and cranes I noticed a white Police Suburban racing down a road towards us.  It stopped directly across from us, hood poking out through some shrubbery, headlights on.  He was obviously watching us.  He stayed there until we were well past him.  I looked back and he was gone.  As we neared the Navy pier the same white suburban was driving rapidly down the pier (which is quite long) and stopped at the corner nearest us, parked so he was angled right towards us.  Again he sat there as we past, with his headlights on.  He did not leave until we were at least a mile away, heading out into Admiralty Inlet.

It was all very strange.  Here we are, a family of 4, with a cat, boating in public waters to visit Port Townsend and access one of our great state parks, Fort flagler.  Yet, we were obviously be monitored by the US Navy during our visit.  It made me feel like I was some sort of criminal with my every move being scrutinized.  I can only assume that on some computer screen there on the Navy base all sorts of information about us (our boat registration, our names and ages, our driver's licenses, our passport photos, our Nexus Pass information, and who knows what else) was being analyzed by a "threat analysis team".

It was a great weekend until the very last hours when an uneasy feeling swept over me.  As I mulled over the strange events at Indian Island I was coming to the realization that perhaps we don't always have the privacy and freedom we think we do. I wouldn't have felt this way if it were not for the actions of that Police officer racing out to the beach, and then the pier, to give us some sort of final goodbye message.  The message I received was "you are not really welcome to come here, even though these are public waters."  I'm not sure we will return......

August 25, 2013 - Hope island

We had a short trip this weekend.  Just 45 minutes from home to lovely, and secluded feeling Hope Island.  It's a state park with virtually no amenities and is only accessibly by boat or kayak.  Steve, Kevin and Cindy left shelter Bay at about 8:45AM Saturday while Kathy went off to Burlington to help staff the "Girls on the run" booth at the Burlington Back-To-School- Fair.

We dropped the anchor on the south side of Hope Island.  While we waited for Kathy to finish her Burlington duties Cindy went knee boarding.  We also played a few games.  Kathy called to say she was on her way.  She was bringing Cindy's friend Morgan and also Kevin's friend Madoc.  We dingied over to the boat ramp on the "mainland" and got everybody.  It was a very fun having their friends on board, but it was also not our usual boating experience.  Having two more kids on board certainly adds to the energy level!  The kids got a safety and rules briefing as soon as we got on board, and they certainly seemed to pay attention as we had virtually no rule breaking :-)  The kids were great.  We had no safety concerns.

On Sunday Cindy went kneeboarding again and Morgan went tubing.  The weather was fantastic on Sunday with clear blue skies, no wind, and warm temps.  That all changed at about 3:30 right after we dropped Madoc off back on shore.  Morgan was returned to shore about 11:00AM.  Anyway, around 3:30 the clouds rolled in and a breeze kicked in.  It drove us back inside the boat where I (Steve) fell asleep on our settee.  After dinner we motored back home to find another boat in our slip.  Yikes, there was no other place to park out boat.  Every place we could fit already had a boat tied up.  Fortunately, the people were just returning to the boat after dropping somebody off.  Phew!  I'm not sure where we would have gone had they not returned right away; there aren't many places to park a 54' boat (overall length, bow sprit to swimstep) in Shelter Bay.

Cindy and Morgan kayaking Hope Island

Bathing beauties!

Kevin and Madoc with Legos in the Pilothouse

Yes, gymnastics are possible in a boat!

Morgan and Cindy with food fun!

Kevin and Madoc love food fun too.

Morgan loving the rope swing.

Movie time (with popcorn) Saturday night

Sunday morning getting ready for the cold water (52 degrees BTW)

Cindy Kneeboarding

Morgan Tubing

Warming up with snacks on the boat deck while Steve works on antennas

Kevin driving with Madoc as co-driver!  Driving a boat at 20+mph is
quite a thrill when you are 8 years old!

August 18, 2013 - Gulf Islands, British Columbia

We just spent 11 days in the beautiful British Columbia Gulf Islands.

ANNETTE INLET:

We dinghied from Annette Inlet to a small island to check out the small
shell beach.  It was worth it!

Kevin water skiing in Annette Inlet

Cindy goes knee-boarding

Kevin takes a spin on the knee-board

the kids head out for a sail, with healthy snacks in hand.

Kevin goes off to do some solo sailing.  He's only 8!

Kevin takes kathy out.  At this point, Kevin is a good sailor so Kathy can
relax and be a passenger  :-)

RUSSEL ISLAND:

Beautiful Russell Island

Over on Portland Island.  These are brave kids.

Family photo on Portland Island.

Cindy does a little knee-boarding at Russell Island

Beautiful Russell Island white shell beach.

SIDNEY SPIT:

Kevin takes us to the beach at Sidney Spit

Our annual family photo at Sidney Spit

CABBAGE ISLAND:

Kevin kayaking in the very interesting shoreline of Cabbage island

Dad!  We need a tow back to the boat.  And we are ready for a snack! :-)

Water toys.  4 people.  4 boats.  No waiting!

paddling an air mattress.  kitty on a rowboat.  Wow, is this normal?

Kevin rowing Dad back to the boat at sunset.  Does it get any better?

Breathtaking.   What an awesome summer.

MUD BAY:

Kevin and Cindy practice docking on the swimstep.
They are getting to be great sailors.

The Elston family PILE-ON

Kathy helps Cindy with her first swimstep launch

Cindy, and Adagio, on the last day of our wonderful trip.

July 13, 2013 - Sucia, Stuart, Wescott Bay, Fisherman Bay, Friday Harbor, and more.

This was our usual 4th of July trip to Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island, but with a twist.  This time, nieces Ayla (13) and Bekka (12) from Colorado were with us.  This is a two week trip, and we also arranged to have additional family near the end of the trip.  Steve's Sister Pat joined us for two days, and nephew Robert from New York also joined us for two days.  At times we had seven people sleeping on Adagio, and the new accommodations proved to be ideal for "overflow" sleeping.  In fact, even with seven people on board we could have still taken two more guests, and everyone would have been in a comfortable bed.  We are VERY happy with the reconfigured master stateroom and v-berth.

Some of the highlights of this trip include:
- 4th of July fireworks in Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island
- Celebrating Cindy's 11th birthday onboard
- beach fire with smores, and our own fireworks in Griffin Bay, San Juan Island
- Zip-lining through the forests of San Juan Island
- Hiking to the lighthouse on Stuart Island
- Playing in China Caves on Sucia Island
- 1 week of sailing camp for the kids on Lopez Island
- Incredible weather for the entire two weeks (not a drop of rain)
- Introducing our niece Ayla to the cruising lifestyle, and sailing

The red dots are where we anchored during our trip

SUCIA Island:

Low tide exploration at Sucia

Great eroded sandstone features

Rock climbing at China Caves

Exploring China Caves

Beach time on Sucia.  Ayla, Bekka, Cindy, and Kevin

Jumping from the Pilothouse level

The girls contemplate the BIG jump from the boat deck

They go for it!

Hanging out on the swimstep after jumping off the boat.
Cindy, Kevin, Bekka, Ayla

More great sandstone features

The girls go sailing on our sailing dinghy.

Cindy, Ayla, and Bekka wash their hair.  Guess where they
have to go next to rinse the shampoo?  Yep, the sea !

Ayla checks out some of the large seals.  Or are they checking her out?

STUART Island:

Cindy and Ayla begin a new day at anchor.  Nice and calm.

The lighthouse keeper's building on Stuart Island.

Steve and Kevin hanging out on the flybridge.

Kevin and Kathy washing their hair in the salt water.

Zappa takes a nap in the sail.

Kevin and Cindy find a Garter snake on the trail to the lighthouse.

The girls out sailing

WESCOTT BAY (San Juan Island):

Kevin takes the big plunge from the boat deck

Playtime in the warm waters of Wescott Bay.

The gardens and British Camp.  A remnant of the famous "Pig War"

Wikipedia link about the Pig War

Bekka enjoys floating around in the tube.

FRIDAY HARBOR:

We went zip lining near Friday Harbor.  It was great fun!

Cindy leaving the launch pad on the first Zip of our tour.

Ayla, Cindy, and Bekka learn to trust their gear by hanging off the edge of
the platform, which is about 50'-75' off the ground!  Scary.

Our intrepid Zippers.  Bekka, Cindy, Ayla, and Kevin.

The entire group, with our two guides.

INDIAN COVE:

Cindy shows Bekka what a skimboard is, and how to do it.

Bekka takes a shot at skimboarding.  There's a steep learning curve though.

Kevin shows how you can make it turn once you get the hang of it.

FISHERMAN BAY:

Cindy, Steve, Kevin, Ayla and Bekka heading back to the boat after
swimming at the Islander Resort pool.

Kids entertaining themselves at the Islander Resort campground.  Beautiful.

Ayla and Bekka at the rocky shoreline of Iceberg Point,
Lopez Island.

Kevin at the helm of the Lido 14' during sailing camp.

All six boats out during sailing school.

Kevin in control while instructor Fletcher rides along as an observer.

Ayla and Bekka out with Fletcher.  Looking good ladies!

Party barge:  drive from your wood fired hot tub.  Wow, unique.

The kids hanging out in the hot tub at the Islander Resort.

Ah, the perfect end to a perfect day.  Typical summer boating sunset in the
San Juan islands.

Cousin Robert from New York takes the helm of our dinghy.  Fun!

Time to take down the sails and put everything away.
They did this for 5 days during sailing camp.

The whole sailing school crew:  Kevin, Bekka, Cindy, Ayla, Braden, Aidan, Grace,
Capt Russ (aka Capt Red-Eye), Tess, Fletcher (assistant teacher), Vaughn, Mason
and Will.  All the kids are from La Conner, except Bekka and Ayla, who are from
Colorado.  they are Kathy's nieces.

X-Games sailing?  Let's play "dodge the float-plane prop".  I love that game.

Fletcher sits on the rail while Kevin shows him what he has learned.

Bekka adjusts a sail while Ayla takes the helm.

A moment of drama for Cindy and Tess.  They almost went over.....

GRIFFIN BAY:

One of the 3 freshwater marshes at Griffin Bay

Making S'mores on the beach.