July 10, 2022 - Roche Harbor Washington

So this is Terri and my first attempt at a blog. Many people are asking for details of our trip and encouraged us down this path. No promises here, but here goes. This first blog will be longer due to covering multiple days. Future ones will be shorter I promise.

Background:

This past Thursday, July 7th we were introduced to our new family member the Shorebilly Too. The S2 is an Aspen C108 built in Burlington WA. When we arrived it was sitting at the Cap Santa Marina in Anacortes WA just waiting for us.

Thursday was mechanical training. This boat is a step function over our past experience in terms of sophistication. There are a lot of systems to learn. One of the really pleasant surprises was to learn that the DC based air conditioning can reverse cycle giving us heat. Therefore the boat has both an electric and gas hearing system. The electric will be great when on shore power.

The training was supposed to be conducted by the Aspen owner and chief engineer. He decided to go on vacation and left the training to his son who is number two in the company but serves as head of sales.

Training went poorly at first. At one point I said, "Nick, you are just guessing. We need to get someone here that knows the systems.". He called and got the electrician who worked on our boat out and then things went much better. At the end of the day, Terri said "well, Nick sure learned a lot today!".

Friday (July 8th):

Friday was operational training. The boat is a breeze to drive. Having been on catamarans since 1998, it was very comfortable for me. However, this boat is so much more advanced driving that it is almost boring. This is to say it is smooth as silk. At 20mph (Crusing speed) it almost feels like it is parked.

At trials, the autopilot had a minor stroke and started driving in circles. A quick re-calibration fixed that. By the end of training, we had a very short list of issues that Aspen was ready to address.

One GREAT thing that then occurred was that the electrician that lead the training (Ian) came back to the boat relaying that he and his wife were taking their boat to a location called Spencer's Spit and invited us to join them on our boat. PERFECT.

Reaching Spencer's Spit was our first solo voyage, our first anchor, our first meal on the boat and our first night not on shore power. Ian proved a god send coming over multiple times as issues / user error created stress and conflict. In the end, all was well. Thank you Ian!

Saturday (July 9th):

Emboldened with our successful first trip, we headed back to Anacortes to re-provision for a trip to Friday Harbor. Reading the data on Friday Harbor, there are strict controls over where to anchor due to underground cables. Arriving and being confused, I did what I thought was the smart thing ... I asked a fellow boater where to anchor. He said "right where you are" ... WRONG. I was in the restricted area. When the harbor patrol came around today (Sunday), they were very respectful as they told me I screwed up. Fortunately, we retrieved the anchor without a high voltage wire attached.

Friday Harbor is a stunning /picturesque waterfront community. We enjoyed dinner at San Juan Brewing. The Salmon sandwich was outstanding.

One humorous item to mention: When coming back to the boat from the town of Friday Harbor, Terri attempted to board the Shorebilly from the dingy but didn't move fast enough. As a result, the dingy went one way and the Shorebilly went the other, with Terri having one foot on each. At the point she was in a Russian split sufficient to make an Olympic gymnast envious I reached out and tugged her back to the dingy. She avoided the 54 degree water by inches. We both laughed.

Bringing to Current (July 10th):

Waking up on the water of Friday Harbor was wonderful. After a satisfying breakfast aboard the boat, we headed to shore. Waking the streets we found the most delightful chocolate shop, CIN CIN. When in Rome ... yes, we bought 4 and they were AMAZING.

Sitting on the dock eating chocolates, watching the sea planes arrive and go, seeing the ferries that are integral to the economic system here dock and depart ... just a great way to spend the day.

Around noon we decided to visit Roche Harbor so to the maps and chart plotter we went to figure out a course. Off were full of bold confidence and ambition. Then ... we met the infamous San Juan Islands currents. WOW. The water looked like it was boiling due to currents rounding the islands and colliding.

The boat did amazing and never was there an issue of control or direction ... a great confidence builder in the craft. However, we did see the Shorebilly go from 20 MPH to 11 in seconds as the current tried, but failed, to take control. Amazing. I have never been in water like that.

Our expectations for Roche Harbor were undefined. Arriving, all such expectations were vastly exceeded. WOW, what a town. Beautiful. The harbor was filled with boats 5x the size and 20x the price of ours. The town was small but contained multiple vendors tables and restaurants. We walked until my knee was unhappy and then boated through the entire harbor.