sailing to sucia

I suppose one could say that my mama grew up on sailboats. My grandpa had a charter business when she was growing up, and he would pilot sailing trips for folks on one of his boats. Of course, he also took his family on trips, and they would "putter" around the San Juan islands, sleeping in the cockpit under the stars, running all over and exploring the islands, eating food prepared carefully by my grandma and great-aunt. When I was much smaller, he still had one of his boats, and we would take trips around the islands too. My mama dreams of someday having our own sailboat, but for now we have kind and generous friends and cousins who take us sailing about with them.

On Sunday afternoon, we drove two hours north, met our cousins at the marina, and motored out of harbor. The sea was glassy, disturbed only by our passage and sprinkles of rain. We passed people headed back to the mainland, and as we watched the sky and knew the forecast, we asked ourselves if we were crazy to head out in such weather. Answering our own question with "yes," we forged on, because we are the kings and queens of crazy. We motored all the way out to Sucia Island, ate lots of snacks, and talked about tiny things.

As it turned out, crazy worked out well for us this time. Buoys were in plentiful abundance, despite that it was Memorial Day weekend (most folks didn't bet on crazy, I guess). There is nothing quite like sleeping in the cockpit of a sailboat, out under the sky, lulled to sleep by the swells. Monday dawned bright and windy. After stuffing ourselves with breakfast, consisting of fruit and good things from Trader Joe's, we rowed and kayaked to the island and commenced exploration. Sucia is almost all state park, and ripe with opportunities for adventure. We hiked down the western arm of the island to Fossil Bay and Fox Cove, discovering the places my mama remembered from her childhood. We waved "hello" to the north end of our beloved Orcas Island, sat in the sun, and put our feet in the ocean.

After more good food (our family always eats well, even on a sailboat) we caught the wind, and made it back to mainland in record time. Being on a thirty foot boat overnight with seven other people and three small dogs might not be everyone's piece of cake, but it sure is ours'. And anyway, we had the sea and the wind and islands to keep us company.
Thank you, Uncle Grape and Cousin Cricky and tiny dogs. We love you.