Spencer Spit - Sailing Adventure day two

Day two of our sailing adventure started at a much more reasonable hour, as we needed to catch the Deception Pass current at slack to avoid being tossed into the rocks. We woke naturally at 9 or so and headed to Calico Cupboard for breakfast. The last time we were there, Trent ordered the Cinnamon Roll French Toast and he repeated the order this time, little knowing that these would be the only cinnamon rolls of the journey (after returning home, I looked over my first mate's log and counted six cinnamon rolls consumed last year between the two of us). I ordered the migas and wished that I'd repeated my order of steel cut oatmeal from our last visit.

After breakfast, I made a quick stop at the drugstore to pick up a toothbrush. Somehow on the sleepy morning of the first day, I neglected to put a toothbrush in my travel toothbrush holder and I did not relish the thought of a week and a half with fuzzy teeth. The cashier comforted me with a story of a woman who had left her entire suitcase at home who had tried to purchase socks and underwear there. When the cashier suggested a trip to Target instead, she responded that she didn't want to leave La Conner.

We left at about 11:40 and actively slowed Rock Lobster down when we realized that we would arrive at Deception Pass before the slack tide scheduled for 2:15ish. Quite a rush actually going through the pass that I've seen so often from above. The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived at Spencer Spit at around 5 p.m. We anchored near a number of other boats and enjoyed the view of the boats at the other side of the spit.

I have a love/hate relationship with anchoring. When the wind is light and the ground is right, I enjoy dropping the anchor and releasing the line as Trent maneuvers the boat. The gentle motion of the boat "on the hook" is relaxing at night. When the weather is rougher, panic and yelling often ensue, as well as restless nights, where the anchor alarm reports the boat is dragging (whether or not it actually is). This trip the anchoring process itself was painless, though at night I felt like every time I rolled over the boat rocked for five minutes.

After a celebratory Dark & Stormy, we rowed to shore, avoiding the marshy refuge which is off limits to visitors. Typically when we visit a State Park in the San Juans, there is no car access, so this spot on Lopez Island felt much more crowded with a Boy Scout Troop on a kayaking trip and two women in the bathroom using the electrical outlets to charge cell phones. We may just have to cajole some friends to meet us there next year for car/boat camping.

Dinner was one of my favorite boating dinners - grilled shrimp marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, mint and oregano with flatbread and a golden beet salad from our CSA box. Cooking on the boat is a fun challenge. We have a propane grill and an alcohol stove with two burners, though this time we only filled one of them with fuel. The cabin is not quite large enough for me to stand upright without hitting my head, so I stand by the open hatch as I chop veggies or peel shrimp. Provisioning requires some craftiness, as every year I am reminded that root vegetables survive better than leafy greens and the produce really does better in an insulated bag than in our cooler equipped with a block of dry ice and a bag of ice cubes. The after dinner clean-up is also rustic. We have a cold water sink where we can pump water from a tank, which leads to great water conservation. For all of that, some of the best home-cooked dinners we had in the month of August were on the boat.

An early bedtime at 10 to prepare for day 3 - Stuart Island.