JONES ISLAND STATE PARK

       On Monday morning, April 16, we moved over to Jones Island State Park.  It's really a treat to stay here as it is so busy in the summer months that we never can get in here.  Today we have been the only boat here all day.
Jones Island is located 1/2 mile off the Southwest tip of Orcas Island.  It is 188 acres and is accessible only by boat.  We are staying in the cove on the north side which has a brand new dock.  On the south side of the island is a shallow bay and the remains of an old apple orchard.  A 1/2 mile trail connects the two.

A small herd of black tail deer live here and you can sometimes even pet them.  In 1990 a hugh wind storm blew thru here and knocked down hundreds of trees .Here are some more pictures of the island.

Trees knocked down in 1990

 

Most of the trees are down on the hillside

                                                       
 

Black tail deer

                                                                     

The walking trail on Jones Island

We are really impressed with all the new improvements here at Jones Island State Park.  The new dock is absolutely built to last forever.  The camping spots have really been upgraded and the trails are really nice.      The following pictures show what I'm talking about.

Picnic shelter for larger groups

Restrooms are all wheel chair friendly

A water tower that supplies several locations on the island

 
T

This shelter has four bunk beds

 

WE SAW LOTS OF INTERESTING BOATS TODAY

The tug Lindsey Foss

In a short 1.5 hour cruise we saw 4 interesting vessels today.
  This first picture is the tug Lindsey Foss.  This is a sister ship to the Garth Foss which we saw last week.  This tug was built in 1994 and is 137 feet long.  It's home port is Seattle . This boat also has two 4000hp engines.  I would not want to be buying the fuel for this baby!!!

Oil tanker Polar Discovery

                                                                                       

This ship is the oil tanker Polar Discovery.  It was built in 2003 and is 894 feet long and has a beam of 151 feet.  This vessel is used primarily to bring crude oil down here from Alaska.  She can hold 1,000,000 barrels of crude oil!!
 The small red vessel tied along side is a water taxi that runs from Anacortes out to these ships several time a day. The tanker is sitting very low in the water so it has not been off-loaded yet.

The tug Liberty

This is a very unusual vessel to see in our waters.    This is the last of three new tugs built for Crowley Maritime by Dakota Creek Industries here is Anacortes.  Powered by two 8,000 hp diesels this tug will be used to push 650 long oil barges.  It sure looks very tall for its length.  These tugs are currently the largest in the world for their class.

The ferry Elwha

Right next to the tug Liberty was the Washington State Ferry Elwha.  It is hard to tell in this photo but it is actually out of the water.  It is on a floating dry dock.  These dry docks are filled with water so they submerge and the vessel can be floated on to it.  Then the water is pumped out of the dry dock and it rises along with the ferry   It looks like it is getting it's bottom painted.  This ferry is 382 feet long and 73 feet wide.  It has a capacity of 2500 passengers.

On Thursday morning we arrived at James Island, just across the straits from Anacortes.  There is a state park here with a dock with just enough room for 2 boats. Shortly after arriving this 61 foot sail boat came in with 26 kids aboard. These kids were all 7th graders and were from Colorado and have been out all week on a science trip. I wasn't sure how quiet the night would be but they were all in bed by 9:00pm.
   After dinner we took the dogs for a walk and got caught in a rain storm.  We were all just soaked when we got back.  When we were back on the dock Max fell overboard when trying to jump on to the boat.  He was completely under the water when I lifted him out.  Good thing I still had a leash tied to him.

Friday turned out to be the warmest day so far.  The sun was out most all day.  Really felt good. had the place to our selves all day. That's about it for now. Would love to here from you guys. Either send me an email or you can post a comment on the blog. See ya. Russ

EARLY SPRING IN THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS

Sucia Island

   We are really surprised  to see so many boats this early in the season. Every night the dock here has been full. When we get up in the morning there has been frost on the docks but it warms up nicely in the afternoons.This is the first time I have been to this island when the grass is green and not dried up and brown.

Still trying to find just the right place to store things. Everything has to fit just right when you are dealing with a small living space.  Yesterday I replaced the water filter on the ice maker and spent some time cleaning.

The tug Garth Foss

                                 

                   When we left Anacortes we saw the  tug Garth Foss standing by just outside the marina. It was built in 1994 and is one of the most powerful tugs in the world. It is 155 feet long and 46 feet wide. It's twin diesels have a combined horsepower of 8000 hp and will push it to 14 kts. It can also double as a fire boat and can spray 6500 gallons of water a minute. The crew works15 days on and 15 days off.  The oil refinery at Anacortes is in the background.

The Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk

We passed the Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk on Wednesday. This vessel was built in 1988 and is 110 feet long. It's home port is in Port Angeles. It's missions include law enforcement, drug and illegal alien duties, also search and rescue. They will often stop boats for a safety check but so far we have never been stopped.

The dock at Sucia Island

Taking the dogs for a walk

                       

Boats at anchor early morning

   Sucia Island is one of the islands that forms the northern boundary of the San Juans. This island was never officially opened for homesteading but in the early days cobblestone for the streets of Seattle was quarried on Sucia.  In the 1950s' Sucia was purchased in part by the state and in part by an association of boating clubs and turned over to the State Parks and Recreation Commission for use as a marine park.
    The park consists of 564 acres and is accessible only by boat. It has over 50 campsites.The name Sucia, meaning "dirty" or "foul water" was named by the early Spanish explorers who noted the dangerous rocks and reefs near it's shores. It's attractions include beachcombing, fossils, crabbing, hiking, fishing, and scuba diving.
    Most of the San Juan Islands have wild animals on them but I have never seen any on this island. Lots of bird life but not a squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, deer, or any other animal.

A RAINY COLD DAY IN ANACORTES

We left La Conner on Monday morning, a day later than planned. I had taken our home personal computer apart on Saturday to do a "little maintenance" on it. Just wanted to blow out some of the dust before bringing it up to the boat. Turns out this was not such a good idea. After I finished the computer would not work. I was able to take it to a small computer repair place in Arlington and he said the power supply had gone bad. While he was in there he suggested we upgrade the speed a little so he put in two new RAM boards. When I left  everything was working OK.

When I got to the boat the computer would not work. We have our laptop with us and we found a computer store in Anacortes. So Monday morning I called them when they opened and explained that I was here in a boat and my navigation computer was not working. They said bring it right in and they would get on it right away. Two hours later it was fixed, one of the new RAM boards had failed!! Oh, I forgot to mention; I had to carry the computer 5 blocks to the store and 5 blocks back to the boat. It got pretty heavy.

So the reason we are still here is that some medication for Max was to be mailed here today for us to pick up, but never showed. Hopefully tomorrow.

Pat playing cards on the computer

Last night it really blew and today it rained all day. So we just spent the day doing little jobs around the boat. Mostly just trying to find the right place to store things.

The dogs have the right idea of "taking it easy"

The dogs are slowly getting use to the boat. I must say there were advantages to opening the patio door whenever they wanted to go outside. Now its get the dog collars on,  get the rain gear on, and go for a walk.At least I'm tied to a dock and don't need to row to shore!!

The navigation computer

Today I spent some reviewing our navigation system since we have not used the boat much the past two years

Pat making dinner.

I  guess it's a good thing we do have the dogs to walk every day so we get some exercise.