Belweather Hotel in Bellingham
May 27th
Oak Harbor, Whidbey
Island
Rain and wind conditions were
expected so we decided to stay another day at Bellingham. This bonus day gave us a chance to get the Belle
shipshape and our bodies a bit more rested. This vacationing takes a lot out of
you!
Took a walk and found some
fish and chips at the Bella Dona near the fishing boat marina. Out of
curiosity, we walked into the Harbor Office and asked about moorage. To our
astonishment, we were told there was a 10 year waiting list!! We were only looking for maybe a couple of
months but even that isn’t a possibility unless someone vacates their spot for
that long. Quite a popular place!
It was a 6:00 shove off this morning (ugh!). The weather was perfect and the ride through Deception Pass was trickier than David expected at slack tide but
manageable. When we cruised by the La Connor Channel we witnessed a convoy of
crab fishing boats speeding out off to work.
After almost 6 hours of cruising, we arrived
at the fuel dock in Oak Harbor. We were going with the tide so reached almost 12
knots…we were racing across the water! David
had checked fuel prices and once again the best bargain was here, plus we got
free moorage for filling up!
David is in his element here
in Oak Harbor. We have had several curious boaters visit us on the
dock asking questions about the Belle. David loves “show and tell”. For whatever reasons, good or not so good, she
definitely stands out wherever she goes.
We are celebrating our 35th
wedding anniversary today! The fuel dock
operator gave us a recommendation for a “gourmet” restaurant in walking
distance. The wine will flow
tonight! Hopefully, we lovebirds will
find our way back to the boat…
We have surpassed our 3,000
total nautical miles (since connecting our navigation system) on this
trip. Cheers to us!
Enjoying watching the chefs at work
It’s 8:30 in the evening right now and we have just
returned from a marvelous dinner at Fraser’s.
We sat at the bar and watched the chefs perform their magic before being
seated at our table. They put on quite a show for us. I had black cod (sable
fish) in a saffron sauce that was amazing! We reminisced about
our 35 years together…what a ride!
We are trying to
decide whether or not to stay another night. There is another storm coming in tomorrow, and
we were invited by one of the yacht club members to come over to their “club
house” for a chicken and steak dinner Wednesday night…”Best deal in town”.
While waiting for
our taxi tonight (my dress shoes were not walking shoes), the fuel dock
attendant and the VP stopped to ask us if we wanted a ride to the restaurant.
This has to be one of the friendliest marinas we have ever visited. David was
engaged in conversation earlier today for at least 30 minutes with a gentleman
who shared his tales of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and working various jobs in all the different ports.
Fellow boaters here are quite helpful and gregarious.
This was absolutely delicious!
A monument to the grand purse seiners which was another lifetime for our Lillian Belle.
Happy anniversary!!
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