March 13, 2010 - Cornet Bay and Hope Island

It's been a little while since our last boat trip.  Steve has been working at his marine electrical business 7 days a week for almost a month.  It was time for a break!  The weather forecast was not looking great for Friday afternoon with Gale Warnings overnight.  But the warning was over at 9:00AM Saturday with a nice forecast for Saturday, but increasing winds on Sunday.  We are going anyway!

Roxy, a good friend of Cindy's came with us.  She's been out a few times before and is a great guest.  She is very considerate, polite, and appreciative.  We walk down to the dock at about 11:00 and it is still a bit gusty.  We pull out of our slip and a neighbor that we know yells to us from his house that it's "a little windy, isn't it?"  Is this a good way to start to a boat trip????  Oh well, we've decided a while back that we are not going to shy away from boating due to a little wind.  We know the boat can take it, and we need to get more used to poor conditions, and get the kids (and cat) used to it as well.

Kevin, Cindy, and Roxy heading down to the boat from our house.

It's an easy trip over to Cornet Bay on Whidbey Island. We grab an empty mooring float; there is nobody on the other one either. The main dock is full though and it appears to be a yacht club trip as they all seem to know each other. We have lunch and then put down the rowing dinghy and the kayaks. Roxy really wants to kayak so Kathy and Roxy get in and row around Ben Ure Island and then back over to shore (Whidbey Island) where we do some beach combing.

 Roxy and Kathy kayaking

Kevin out for a turn with Kathy

We then go for a nice hike in the woods on a wonderful trail.  There are some HUGE old cedar trees in here.

After our hike and more beach explorations, Cindy and Kathy kayak back to the boat while Roxy, Kevin and Steve walk back to the dinghy which we left tied to the main dock. Once back on board we have a little snack and decide there is still time to take the big dinghy down and test out the "new" outboard. Steve found a great deal on a used Yamaha 25hp four-stroke and installed it last week. This will be the first time out with the new motor. It is great! We head through Deception Pass and go over to Bowman Bay. There are NO boats there, much to our amazement. This motor is quiet, smooth, and fuel efficient compared to the old Mercury 35hp two stroke. It even pushes the boat to about the same top speed, but gets there quicker, and there is no smelly two-stroke blue exhaust with this motor. It seems to be a perfect match for our 12' inflatable.

 

Dinghy ride under the Deception Pass bridge

After our fun dinghy ride we come back for dinner and to play games. All three kids like "Sorry" and they play it for quite a while. We have a calm night on the dock with no winds. The kids sleep until about 7:30 (now 8:30 due to daylight savings). We decide to pack up the water toys and motor over to Hope Island for the day. There are a couple of big rope swings there for the kids to play on, and the beach can be interesting too..

The two rope swings at Hope Island.

There never was ANY wind on Sunday, despite the forecasts.  We got back home and walked home nice and dry, but about 15 minutes later the rain started.  Perfect timing!  A great overnighter!