25 June 2013, Tuesday
I have a short cruising day to get to Cypress Island, but it is not easy. The weather has winds, lumpy seas, I have to buck the tide which is swift and the waters are open, big and with ferry traffic. At one point I am making one knot, so I jibe and head with the current going farther off course and in doing so I am able to switch back and forth for a while and free myself from the grip of the bucking tide. All in all my efforts pay off and I arrive at Cypress Head at 1145 hrs. This is DNR property now with buoys at several locations, steep hiking trails and beautiful scenery. Eagles greet me, banditos, aka raccons, are cruising the minus 3.7 tidal area and I slither into the small cove with its stunning tombola from Cypress Head to the main island and grab a buoy. I feel as though I am in the bottom of a bowl and the tide will take forever to refill the place. This cove is getting a real flushing for about 4 days. Isn't nature wonderful? Later that evening when the bowl got refilled I could see over the tombola and there was Anacortes with its city lights on. What a surprise.
On 11 June 1792, Captain Vancouver on the HMS Discovery anchored on the west side in Strawberry Bay. On the previous expedition by the HMS Chatham with Lt Broughton he had anchored here and named the bay Strawberry for the numerous fruits that were there in the spring. This trip the Chatham had anchored on the east side near some rocky shoreline and this is where they loose their stream anchor. This anchor has been been a long time search project of many a Voyage of Discovery historians. Edmond Meany
Todays run: 10nm
Total: 305nm
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| Cypress Head to left, Cypress Island to right |
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| Shatoosh looking good on buoy. |
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| South cove |
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| North cove |
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| drift wood |
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| Camp spots with tables and fire pits |
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| Forgot again to count those rings |
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| An old Douglas fir |
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Kelp seeking out Rocks
Lummi Island in Distance |
