Get away from the dock

We are always scrambling as the anointed hour approaches. Never seem to get all the details handled. This time was no exception to the rule. We did depart Lopez Sunday July 30th (only one hour late!) and headed for Blind Bay. This is always a good choice because it is only 3 miles away but meets the criteria of having "left the dock." Ta-Dah!

Discovered we'd left a couple of minor things behind -- we decided we would be a able to cope.

Today - bright an early got away by 8:30 and headed for Deer Harbor. They have very good water -- since we did not need fuel this time we thought we had to arrive before the crowds so that we did not occupy gas dock space when it was in high demand - and that worked out great. Mary snapped a pic from the dock

We then headed for Canada -- Mount Baker was lovely on the distance as we motored between Orcas and Waldron.

We have to clear customs by phone and our phones only work on the U.S. We also have to tell the officials when we will arrive and it can't be any more than two hours from the time we call. So it's a bit of a guessing game -- how long can we wait before calling so that we are within the two hour window and still expect to have cell coverage? The theory is -- as long as we can "see" Mount Constitution we should be OK. We phoned as we crossed the international border and got put on hold -- hoping that the coverage would hold, we kept heading towards our goal of East Point on Saturna Island. We finally did get through and are now tied up to a bout off of Cabbage Island.Read more