Joel wrote to vote for his favorite reciprocal stop. He mentions two clubs and tells us why. Read on and you will find out which he liked best. What about you?
With my friend Camille, I left Olympia on June 29 for two weeks of cruising, with the San Juan's as our hopeful destination. I do not think we could have picked a better two weeks of wind, weather, and great moorages. In total we logged approximately 340 miles, stayed at nine reciprocal docks and visited two others.
Although there was something to enjoy at almost every location we stopped, our favorite reciprocal locations were Eagle Harbor and Port Madison.
Eagle Harbor had complete and super clean facilities. It was only a few blocks from Winslow, where we found a great restaurant and a couple of good nautical book stores.
Port Madison's setting is idyllic. However the facilities are minimal with no shore power or showers. The clubhouse is in a residential area so there are no other facilities nearby. It was perfect for campers like us, since we did not need power and had a sun shower.
We stopped in Langley, on Whidbey Island, about noon. We enjoyed the many art and craft shops, especially glass galleries with museum quality blown, etched, and molded items. We had lunch at the Dog House tavern; good fish (small portion) and plenty of greasy chips.
While walking back to the marina we decide to continue south and try to make Port Madison on Bainbridge Island. We pushed off from Langley with a favorable current. A strong NE wind kept us moving at speeds of seven plus knots, over the ground. We had a strong breeze all afternoon.
We made Camille's day about a mile south of Whidbey. We saw killer whale fins. One surfaced about three or four miles further south.
We crossed the shipping channel into Port Madison. Our GPS helped lead us directly to the opening to the small harbor. I would have miss-judged had I relied on landmarks alone.
Beautiful little harbor, we easily found the guest dock. All the vessels are sailboats. There is a cute little clubhouse over looking the harbor, with a nice kitchen, deck, and bathrooms.
We met Howard Frey, who owns Gitano. He was a gold mine of information as he finished second in the San Juan 24 Nationals when they were held in Seattle a few years ago. He said they usually did not see a whole lot of visitors, although we could not imagine a nicer setting. He even offered to run to the store if we need anything.
Guess we are getting down to leftovers since everything in the cooler has that same green color we refer to as Pesto. Actually I have dined luxuriously during the whole trip, thanks to Camille's meal planning and culinary skills. Sure beats Cheerios and beer.
We made a mixed left over dinner of broccoli, sausage, pesto, and pasta. We had dinner while watching the sunset. Then we walked the docks and checked out two San Juan 24s moored near by. The end of an other almost perfect day.
Joel Rett, WaterbearFilucy Bay first night TYC for lunch, reciprocal Gig Harbor reciprocal Blake Island Eagle Harbor reciprocal Poulsbo YC reciprocal Everett YC reciprocal Oak Harbor reciprocal Flounder Bay YC reciprocal Friday Harbor rafting only at reciprocal dock, so anchored out. Roche Harbor did not spend night Blake Island Marina La Conner reciprocal Langley Port Madison reciprocal Quartermaster YC reciprocal Coon Bay, Squaxin