Dolphin In Bow Wave

Fog in Johnstone Strait

"Cajun" night at Jennis Bay

Jennis Bay Dog-lost eye to a wolf!!

Jennis Bay Docks

Monday, August 3rd

Hi Everyone

This will be our final blog for cruising in 2009. We are currently back where we started from, Oak Harbor, Wa. Our boat will be hauled out of the water for winter storage on August 13th and we return home on the 15th. We are very fortunate in that we put our boat inside a building. It is out of the weather and we have no fear of freezing issues. We are cutting our season short this year as we leave September 7th for a trip to Ireland. First we will visit my sister and her husband in Raleigh, N.C. then fly to Ireland for a 14 day tour in mid September. Margaret has not been "home" for 25 years and she still has family in Dublin. It will be fun for Chuck to meet them for the first time. One brother still lives in the house Margaret grew up in. How interesting.

Picking up from our last blog, we left Greenway Sound Marina and went to Jennis Bay. This is a very small "marina" where a young couple (late 30's) live year round in the "middle of nowhere"!! They have two children ages 8 and 10. The son's name is Orion and the daughter is Charlie. Very cute. They live here year round. There are literally NO neighbors other than animals. In the middle of the winter the bay they live on is frozen over so there is no way to leave. There are no roads, no telephone, but there is INTERNET! Of course. Using Direct TV satellite dish they can get internet. Seaplanes bring in supplies or there is a water taxi to the nearest city, about 25 miles by water. They homeschool the children. For those who read this from the big city, this is an unbelieveable place. But, when you visit, it is like heaven on earth. One of the most beautiful places you could possibly imagine. Go to http://www.jennisbay.com/ to learn more.

After three nights in Jennis, on July 22, we decided it was time to head south. Chuck's broken rib, while not terribly painful, was really holding us back from being able to be very active. We basically reversed our original route that we took going north. Overall we had a pleasant trip back to Oak Harbor. While in Oak Harbor we will be doing various end of year projects. Chuck changes the oil in both engines (16 qts per engine), our generator and transmissions. These is a full day project. Most marinas have oil disposal systems, so after changing the oil you cart it up to land in containers where it is dumped for recycling. We also have a water maker, where we desalinate ocean water into fresh water for our usage. These has to be winterized. We also have to lubricate many items. Our inflatable boat has a 25hp outboard, and this has to be serviced too. Chuck has to finish varnishing our rails. He is about half done now.

It will be great to get home to family, yet it is bitter sweet for us as we really enjoy being on our boat. We didn't travel as far this year, but what we did was very enjoyable. Here are some year end statistics:

Engine Hours 136

Miles Traveled 904

Diesel Fuel Used 643

Miles Per Gallon 1.41

Average Speed 6.65 knots

Average Cost Diesel $2.50 Per Gallon