Shearwater, July 16th-18th

Leaving Pruth Bay, we had a nice ride through some outer coastal islands before we headed out into open water

                                         

We arrived at Shearwater around 2:00 pm. Strong winds were forecast for later in the day but the anchorage outside of the marina had good protection. Also, as there was a flotilla with lots of boats at the dock, we preferred to anchor out. We stayed on the boat for awhile to make sure the anchor was secure. Thisa good decision as it turned out – we noticed a boat near us who arrived the same time we did. They lowered their anchor and then headed quickly to shore. They beat us to the laundry and we ended up having to wait. Grrr. However, later that night, when the winds blew 25-30, and Pete spent part of the night in the wheelhouse, that boat ended up dragging anchor as did two other boats. Ours stayed secured the whole stay. Lesson learned - always take care setting your anchor and prepare for changing conditions. We then tossed our garbage and laundry into the dinghy and went ashore. Not much to see, but Shearwater did have a small laundry, grocery, coffee shop (w/tasty carrot/ginger muffins) and restaurant/bar. Oh, and of course a fishing supply store. After doing the laundry and shopping, we headed back to the boat expecting to leave the next day.

That was not to be.

The other thing Shearwater had was good wi-fi - we were able to make phone calls & catch-up on the blog and things back home. This ended up being most of the reason we spent two nights. I had to deal w/some business related things that took much longer to resolve & put me in a foul mood. That, and just a rainy day, and Pete was tired from lack of sleep, made the decision to spend an extra night an easy one. Pete made the best use of the layover and made a delicious crab chowder that made everything better including my mood. Later, it stopped raining, so we decided to go back to town and stretch our legs a bit. After picking up another muffin (or two) for the coming days, we ambled. Not much to say - we did discover a nursery that sold fresh blueberries but unfortunately they were closed. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner out at the restaurant. As the flotilla was still around, we ended up eating in the bar which turned out great. We watched a little baseball, had a surprisingly tasty meal, and ended up sharing a table with Fawn & Jim, fellow cruisers from Seattle. Always nice to chat w/others who are sharing the same dream as you. They also have a blog (very well-written w/great photos) at trueloveadventures.com. Pete kept eyeing the windows as he noticed the wind picking up and was itching to get back to the boat. We said our goodbyes and headed home. When we got there, another boat was dragging its anchor and got fairly close to us. Luckily, just as Pete was thinking about getting out the fenders (just in case) the owners came and started her up and left. Shortly after that the wind died down and we had a restful evening, ready to leave “civilization” and head back out into the wild.

Cooking up the last of our crab catch from Pruth Bay. Crab Chowder!