Blake Island Camping: Day 3

Departure: 11:30 am
Return: 3:30 pm
Weather conditions: Cloudy and calm
Tide: flood tide
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: Family (6)

This is it! D-day. Departure day. Our oldest is anxious to get going and really jumps in to help. She folded up all the bedding deflated the mattresses and swept out the tent. She was in a hurry, but not the rest of us.

Picture 1: If you enlarge the photo, you can see the "wildlife cans" near our tent. This is where we kept the raccoons and deer during the night. Okay, actually, that's where we kept our food so they raccoons wouldn't get into it.

We still took time for food. We had a great breakfast of pancakes, sausages and eggs. We also prepared sandwiches, chips and treats for our lunch on the way back. Everything was cleaned and then we were ready to pack.

At least when I pack, I have the excitement of the trip to encourage me. Nothing is more tedious than packing after an adventure to go home. By the time we were done, it was almost lunch time. We left the dock at 11:30.

I should mention that the weather was gray and overcast, but not foggy luckily. There was a slight breeze blowing across the island all morning, but there wasn't much to it when we finally left.

I decided to loop around the western side of the island since we'd never been that way by boat before. I found it interesting, but the others were too busy huddling under blankets and sleeping bags to notice or care. When we rounded the northwester corner of the island we picked up some good wind so we cut the motor and proceeded under sail. This only lasted about a mile however, before we were back to the "iron genny" (sailing slang for a boat motor. A genoa is a large foresail and is sometimes called the genny. Thus, an iron genny would be the motor). It stayed completely calm all the way down colvos passage until we rounded on the entrance to the harbor.

As we rounded on the entrace, we hit a strong westerly, with some large choppy waves. It was exciting, if not brief. By the time we entered the harbor, it was calm again.

Once in the harbor, we were all ready to be finished. We did stop at the public dock to use the restrooms, and to put two of the girls in the dinghy for a tow. Near our dock, we cut them loose and let them row in. It was definately worth the entertainment. We circled around outside the docking area until we could see they were safely in and then we were done. Another adventure.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.