Langley, Whidbey Island

November 6^th and 7^th

  

I was served coffee in bed around 7:50 this morning which is the official protocol aboard our boat and was given the choice of staying put or helping with our departure. Since I have two able-bodied crew men to tackle that task, I opted to stay under the blankets and gaze through the windows as we slowly drifted out of the marina. What a treat! This will never happen again especially once Geoff leaves us. A gal’s gotta be spoiled once-in-awhile, right?

 We had a 2 ½ hour cruise to Langley with several short blasts of sunshine. It was a balmy 50 degrees as we moved through gentle waters. It wasn’t until Geoff decided to take a shower down below that we started to roll a bit. David explained that because of our speed, we synchronized with the waves causing a harmonic motion. Pretty cool.

I had made reservations yesterday for two nights at Langley Marina. I was told to call about 10 minutes prior to arrival to get a slip assignment. I called several times but got no answer. David eased into the tight marina spotting a vacant dock and aimed for it. As David finessed toward our chosen spot, the harbormaster’s friend, who was in charge for a few weeks, ran down to help. Luckily, David had chosen the correct spot to land.

 Eileen is a very friendly woman who was working hard cleaning the restrooms when she glanced over and saw us coming…you really can’t miss us. Another couple walked on down to watch us dock and were admiring the boat. We do feel very proud when that happens. We invited them to come back later for a tour once we got things in order. Eileen came aboard and encouraged us to take advantage of the great crabbing in the area. We just need to find a place to buy a license.

Once we were all hooked up and organized, we took a walk downtown. Langley is a charming village with lots of shops and restaurants. I managed to find something at the local Chocolate Flower Farm and a darling children’s book store. We ended our mosey at a Bistro for wine, beer and a cheese board. Everyone we met was so very friendly and helpful.

The Whidbey Island County Faire is held in Langley as well as the Choochokam Arts Festival in July. Plenty of galleries to browse in town along with The Star, a dry goods store which has everything from groceries to fine jewelry. Langley has lots of appeal…quite a cozy little town. Along the streets we encountered many large wooden and metal crows displayed in windows, on doors, in gardens and on fences. There was even a live crow making itself comfortable in our skiff yesterday!  

We can just imagine how congested the streets of Langley must get during spring and summer. This is one of the reasons we like to go boating to destinations such as this in the off-season. Not only are the mooring rates cheaper and more plentiful, but we don’t have to deal with crowds of tourists or dodge fleets of boats.

On our way back to the boat, I stopped at the marina restroom and found a walkie-talkie left in one of the stalls. Luckily, I saw Eileen in her truck getting ready to head home, and it just happened to be hers!  The amazing “thing finder” strikes again!

After dinner Dave and I enjoyed a stroll along the wooden docks enjoying the light rain. We kept a look out for otters…a mother and baby apparently frequent the marina according to Eileen. She also shared a story about a boat that was left here for three days without registering with the harbormaster. Some mischievous otters decided to board his sailboat gnawing through the canvas cover. They also chewed up the couch cushions and left mussels and ling cod remnants scattered about. When the owner returned he was greeted by otter destruction and the most unpleasant odor. She had no way of contacting him to alert him of these messy intruders.

During our walk taking in the fresh air, we saw a young woman drop her crab pot off the dock railing. Seems the locals know just what to do when it comes to crabbing. We made it back to our boat before the real rain began and wind started in. Early this morning we listened to the wind fiercely whistling through the marina. There is a high wind advisory tonight until 8 p.m. in our region. The radio reported major traffic jams and car accidents in Seattle caused by the storm. Winds are forecasted to reach 45 mph before subsiding this evening..

We spotted a crab boat leaving the marina at 5 a.m. this morning. We felt sorry for those crabbers having to deal with this nasty weather out in the open waters. We have
the luxury of staying put today, they don’t. When we were at the Oak Harbor fuel dock a crab boat came in and unloaded three large garbage cans full of crabs. Crab claws were sticking out of the many holes on the sides of the cans. One of the crabbers dropped the cans into the water to keep the crabs as fresh as possible. We estimated the weight of each can to be about 200 lbs. David made a comment that dropping them into the water was going to be a heck of a lot easier than hoisting them out. The crabber responded, "You better believe it!"   

 We plan to brave the elements and walk to town this morning to a recommended breakfast café. There is a free island bus we hope to hop on for a tour of the island today. We will stay as dry and warm as possible while we let someone else do the

driving.

 

We easily found the Useless Bay Café and had a hearty breakfast before checking out the shops on Second Street on our way to the bus stop. We found a thrift shop that was a great source of used books for the boat and another chocolate shop where Geoff had his first taste of gelato.

 

We enjoyed an hour bus ride north to Freeland which looped back through Langley on its way to Clinton where you can catch a ferry to Mukileto which is north of Seattle. We were sitting on the bus dumb and happy thinking it was going to loop back to Langley where we would get off and hike back to the boat. We were the only ones on the bus and luckily the driver asked where we were going. When we answered, “Langley” he laughingly said, “Well, I’m not going there. I am heading to Oak Harbor” Oops!  He kindly got us to a bus stop in Freeland near a cozy coffee shop and told us the bus to Langley would be by in 45 minutes.

Our bus ride back to Langley took the coastal route and was quite lovely. Along the highways we traveled, it was very wooded. You would occasionally get a glimpse of a clearing with rich green grazing land and gentle rolling hills. I spotted not only cattle but goats and sheep enjoying an afternoon snack.

Again, we encountered very friendly and helpful islanders. It was fun to hear the conversations of locals on the bus…everyone seeming to know each other. What was surprising to me was that the drivers were kindly stopping not just at designated stops but wherever passengers requested and picked up a hailing individual on the side of the road no matter where they were. Now, that’s service and it’s FREE!

We made our way back to the boat around 3:00. It was so cozy warm inside. Dave is busy making cinnamon rolls, and I have some researching to do for tomorrow’s cruise to Eagle Harbor. Winds are supposed to die down to 15 mph tomorrow so all is good to go.

 

                                           David unleashed in the galley

 

                                                    We do stand out...

                                                   There are still phone booths in Langley

                                              Take a book...leave a book

                                                                 A boy and his dog

                                          Langley...a town of crows