Sucia Island

We left Reid Harbor a bit early to head for Sucia Island. I had wanted to stay and hike out to the lighthouse on Stuart Island, but that we would have had to stay another night in Reid Harbor or go directly against a strong current to Sucia. I was very excited to get to Sucia and we decided we’d stay there for two nights, so it was time to leave Reid Harbor.

At Sucia, we picked up a mooring ball – something we had never done! And it went very smoothly! We got it on the first go round! Kathy used the boat hook to attach a thin line, then I swung down and got our mooring line on it – and all was set! Afterwards we realized that I didn’t have to lean 3 feet over the side of the boat on the very uncomfortable toe rail to get a line around the ball…I wasn’t familiar with the mooring balls and it turns out you can just pull the metal ring up with a boat hook. Either way – I was very excited to not worry about dragging an anchor and getting a good night’s sleep!

I feel like a different person from the beginning of the week. I went from having panic attacks prior to crossing the Juan de Fuca to feeling much more confident about my abilities! I ran into a 3 guys on the boat next to us at Sucia and told them yesterday was our first night anchoring. And one said, after years of owning his boat, he and his wife hadn’t even tried yet! It makes me feel good that I’m out there trying and it’s going so well so far!