Waiatt Bay (Octopus Islands)

By Nicole

Spending the afternoon poking around the islets of the Octopus Island group under the warm sunshine was heavenly.  We picnicked on a rock outcropping overlooking the archipelago with the smell of wildflowers in the air (yellow monkey-flowers, allium, wild strawberries, field chickweed, death camas and blue-eyed Mary were all in full bloom).

Picnic spot!

Along the shoreline we spotted crabs scurrying about; purple and orange sea stars, sun stars and leather stars clinging to rocks; anemones waving their pinkish tentacles (or closed up, waiting for the tide to turn); gooseneck barnacles and mussels holding tight and clams squirting water high into the air from underneath the sand.

And the islands here are full of weasels!  We spied the reddish brown guys scampering over rocks and into dark holes (and even swimming across channels).  I thought they were pretty cute until I read in my field guide that it “wraps sinewy body around prey as it kills by biting the base of the skull.”  Hm.  Not quite as cuddly as they look.

The National Geographic scene was interrupted, though, by the sound of boats approaching.  Who did we see pulling into the very cove we were exploring but s/v Estrellita!  The four of us had a great time chatting and catching up over a delicious dinner and drinking wine (they do have wine!).

The weather has been nothing short of spectacular here.  I’m sunburned (yes, yes, shame on me) and fully relaxed after a few days of hiking, reading in the sunshine, drinking ice tea on the foredeck and catching up with friends.  Ahh, this is the life.

Sunrise over our anchorage.  Aaron was still fast asleep…

Lest you think we’re all play and no work, we did manage to install our new triducer (which measures our speed through the water, water temperature and depth) without sinking the boat.  I told Aaron it was easy – just like the scene in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indy has to oh-so-carefully replace the golden idol with a bag of sand.  All Aaron had to do was pull out the plug and quickly insert the triducer into the gaping hole (as it gushed water into the bilge).  No problem.

Also, we got our SSB radio up and running!  With a few turns of the dial and a few button pushes, we were able to have a crystal-clear chat with Estrellita and listen to some Hawaiian music straight from the shores of Hawaii.  Awesome!  With the radio functioning, we’ll (eventually) be able to send emails, receive weather files and communicate with other cruisers far and wide.  That ham radio license class I took way back when is finally paying off. 

KD7SHT, clear (yep, I’m the SHT).