Sunday AM- Taking the boat to Roche Harbor
Trip Start
Jul 11, 2008
1
3
7
Trip End
Jul 17, 2008
Roche Harbor,
Washington,
United States
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Waking up early was easy for Geoff and me, so we got coffee made and waited until Grandma got up as well. We had to get to the boat early (by 8:30) according to mom and Ben so that we would miss the scary waters crossing though Deception Pass. We got up early enough, but then Greg Jr. called Grandma from arriving in St. Louis for his National Guard Training, and after passing the phone around we lost track of time and of course were late getting to the boat at 8:45. We got Grandma, all our supplies, and ourselves on the boat and were off for a hasty start to the day. We were prepared for a bumpy ride through Deception Pass, and as we made our way through, we were jostled around quite a bit. But then we made it through, and we all survived that part. What really got to us was going through the Strait of Juan De Fuca toward San Juan Island. We were rolling at this point! It was nearly an hour of bouncing back and forth, then left to right, up and down with 8-10 foot swells and a small craft advisory. Ben (our captain) was smiling the whole time, so I didn't think we were going to die, but we all were shaken up a bit from that (I know, horrible pun)
View from the boat- Front
. Two people (I'll be nice and keep it anonymous) needed the puke bucket, to give you an idea of all the rocking and rolling that was going on. Once Ben got us to Lopez Island, we called Uncle Rick on his boat (we were all meeting up at Roche Harbor for the few days) to tell him to go up and through the Islands, rather than out to the Strait. Apparetly, Deception Pass was worse when they came through, because it was reported that they ended up going through the pass sideways. So, taking his own advice, Ben decided to take us north and then around Lopez rather than stay south of Lopez heading West to San Juan. It was a longer trip, but our stomaches were definitely much happier to have the smoother sailing by traveling with the protection of the Islands rather than in the open ocean. We all were very happy to meet up with Uncle Rick and his crew at Roche Harbor at 1:30. We were greeted at the dock by Kaiser, staff from last year who remembered Grandma- probably because we always have fun with Grandma. Kaiser got us a ride on the golf cart to the hotel, who told us that check in wasn't until 3pm. So, we went back to the dock, pulled up some chairs and just hung out with family for a while. I think we all were still rocking with the dock moving back and forth. Ben, Geoff and Vannessa got the canoe down off the side of the boat Cathy kept joking that we looked like the Clampette's, so Geoff kept joking that we needed to put a rocking chair on the fly bridge. Ben hooked the outboard motor up to the canoe, and took it out for a spin
Out the back of the boat
. When he came back he said that it was pretty fun except it was a bit tippy taking the turns. I wasnt too interested in the motor part of the canoe, but wanted to row, so Geoff and I jumped in and paddled around for a while. When we got back it was time to head back to the hotel to get our keys for the cabin. Kaiser again picked us up with the golf cart (for Grandma- Geoff and I just rode along), and took us to our cabin, which ended up being different from last year, but in a good way. The kitchen and bathroom were way bigger so we were very happy, knowing that dinner always ends up being at the cabin. However, that night, dinner was on the docks, with Ben cleaning and cooking up the crab that they picked up the day before. Cathy made a great cucumber salad, and we were lucky enough to dock up right next to Rick and Cheryl, so they brought their crab along also, as well as a salad to round out the meal. Afterward, we got grandma back up to the cabin and we turned in for the night. 
