After breakfast I headed out from Wallace Island with no
particular destination in mind. Based on
the guidebook I though Rum Island might be a nice place to stay, so I figured
I’d check it out and if it didn’t work out I’d be just a few miles from Roche
Harbor and the US customs dock.
There were a ton of boats out as I made my way through the
Gulf Islands. Big boats going fast, big
wakes, strange, zig zagging courses…all reminders that I was getting back
towards cruising areas that are often frequented by less experienced weekend
boaters, or at least boaters who don’t display the same courtesy that the
people further north seem to. I’m sure
the beautiful September weekend brought out additional crowds, too.
I got to Rum Island in just a couple of hours and poked
around. Two sailboats were already
anchored and I confess the crowded waterways experienced on the trip down from
Wallace Island made me frustrated. The
best anchoring spots were taken Roche Harbor was 30 minutes away, and then our
cabin on Decatur Island (with a shower and a hot tub…pretty nice after 100 days
on the boat!). I promptly throttled up
and set the course for Roche Harbor.
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| Spieden Island, visible from Rum Island |
Roche Harbor was chaotic.
Lots of boats coming and going, boat owners (typically with 24-28 foot
express cruisers) driving around the harbor too fast (not on plane, not off
plane, just digging a big hole in the water and throwing out a big wake), sea
planes taking off and landing, etc. A
massive yacht was taking up the entirety of the customs dock when I arrived,
and I tied up right in front of it. I
grabbed my passport, boat registration, and Canadian clearance number and begun
waiting in line to get checked in.
10 minutes later it was my turn and I handed over the documents. Officer Holmes then asked which boat was
mine. I pointed it out, and he promptly
yelled at me that I was not docked within the designated customs dock area and
needed to move the boat and wait in the line again. It didn’t seem to matter that the behemoth
that had been tied up before had totally obscured the signs marking the area of
the customs dock. So I moved the boat to
another spot maybe 50 feet away and waited in line for another 20 minutes.
Finally officer Holmes had time for me again, and his
thorough unpleasantness continued. I’ve
gone through customs many times in a couple dozen countries and never dealt
with an officer as unpleasant as officer Holmes. Thankfully he didn’t find anything wrong with
my story or anything I was carrying (I was in total compliance) and let me back
into the country.
From Roche Harbor it was about an hour and a half through
the San Juans to Sylvan Cove on Decatur Island.
The trip was easy and familiar and traffic was surprisingly light. After all these miles, all these stunningly
beautiful places, the sight of glacier-covered Mt. Baker rising above the San
Juan’s hadn’t lost its magic.
 |
| Mt. Baker is still spectacular |
As I approached Sylvan Cove, I could tell the dock was
mostly empty. I tied up in front of the
other boat and walked around on shore a bit.
The rest of the day was spent lounging in the sun, sitting in the hot
tub, and enjoying a hot shower without feeding quarters/loonies into the
machine.
 |
| Retriever secure in Sylvan Cove |
43.1 nm today and 3,200.6 total
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