Back in the US...

On Tuesday, we left Dodger Channel at 6:30am for a 72 mile, long day to Sooke. For 2/3rds of the trip, it was thick fog and 6' swells on the stern. The last 1/3 we sailed in windy and wavy conditions. I was pretty nervous surfing down the waves at 9.5 knots but it was a great sail. We pulled into Sooke after 11 hours... tired and hungry. Just up from the public wharf is an excellent, artisan restaurant called
Markus'. We felt we deserved the pricey, delicious meal!

The next morning we set off for Sequim and easily phoning into Customs with our Nexus cards for clearance back to the US. We went to Sequim because Chuck and Wendy from our dock in Tacoma have moved their boat to Sequim.

John Wayne Marina is quite nice and we had a great dinner with them. After blueberry pancakes this morning, we said goodbye and are currently headed to Edmonds. Yes, to see more friends for dinner! We are making up for no restaurants for 3 weeks.

Today, we got to see some of the canoes in the Canoe Journey 2012 heading our way. The First Nation and Tribes in the US, paddle their big, gorgeous canoes to Olympia. Very cool! We absolutely enjoy the NW Native culture and seeing them enriches our experience up here.

Tomorrow, we head to Shilshole Marina. Just north of Seattle, I have never stayed there. Its a HUGE marina and we'll enjoy walking the docks and looking at the cool sailboats!

Pics below are Sequim Marina, one of the canoes by Protection Island and a cat who is happy to be headed home.