Stuart Island

Prevost  Harbor ,Stuart Island

Stuart Island is probably our most favorite place in the San Juan Islands.  It lies just 3 miles from Canada and consists for two separate bays, Reid Harbor and Prevost Harbor.  Our favorite is Prevost  as it is a little more protected from the winds and has lots of room to anchor out.  So far this year we have already spent 14 nights here.  A short 5 minute walk across the island gets you from one bay to the other.

Hiking on Stuart Island

There are several miles of hiking trails on the island so the dogs really like it here also.  Russ has even lost a few pounds as a result of all the dog walks.

Wind blown logs on Stuart Island

On one day six of us and four dogs hiked out to the light house at the point.  What a fabulous view of Boundary Pass that divides Canada and the US.  This light house has been here since the 1800's.   Lots of big ships pass by here every day on there way from overseas to Vancouver.

School house

Stuart Island has it's own one room school house. What a neat place.  The flowers were in bloom the day we were here here and the humming birds were everywhere.  There were also several bird houses scattered around the property.

Storage shed

This is a small storage shed next to the school. Notice all the firewood that heats the school in the colder months.  There was a satilite dish on the roof . Not sure if it was for TV or internet service.

Maddy and Max

On May 5 the shrimp season opened . I probably shouldn't tell about me doing this stupid trick but not every day is a glorious adventure.  I went out at 7:00 am when the fishing started and dropped the first pot in after carefully watching my depth finder to make sure I had enough line to reach the bottom.  Well. the current was really running hard and the wind was blowing so it was a little rough.  I thought I was in about 300 feet of water but after letting out 400 feet of line the pot never hit bottom.  I was drifting so fast that I could not hang on to the pot any longer before I had it attached to the pot marker.  So I lost everything.

Then I went in a little closer to shore and let down my next pot in 235 feet of water. Now this line was 300 feet long so I should have had plenty of extra line and I had it hooked to the marker.  But because of the strong currents the marker went under the surface, never to be seen again.

Soooo. Two shrimp pots lost along with the lines, markers, and extra led balls for added weight, all gone. About $300 worth of gear!!!  Needless to say we aren't eating any shrimp this week.  But we did get some nice oysters last week and we wave caught several nice ling cod also. Very good eating.

Tonight we are back in Friday Harbor.  Did the laundry and bought groceries.  Pat got some new hiking boots and I am pricing new shrimp pots!!!!.  Hope all is well with everyone.  Russ and Pat