October 6&7 - Sucia Island (#8)

Monica and I went for an overnight to the San Juan Islands. We set off from Tulista ramp in Sudney and made our way over to Roche Harbor to clear US Customs. We had lunch in Roche Harbor and then made our way up the coast of Orcas Island and over to Sucia Island (I had heard of some fossils there!). We picked up a state park mooring and spent a very relaxing evening and the following morning there.  Natural C-lection worked out well for camping, though we have lots of things to reorganize for next time!
We hiked over to Shallow Bay and Fox Point in the evening and then went for a hike to Ev Henry Point in the morning. On the morning hike we saw hundreds of clam fossils in the Nanaimo Group rocks along the shore. Sucia Island was a beautiful spot with weathered sandstone shorelines, honeycomb weathering and plenty of glacial erratics. We were by far the smallest boat in the bay. We saw a 25 ft C-dory over in echo bay on our way to Patos Island, where we checked out more anchorages and possible future destinations. We also checked out Reid and Prevost harbors on Stuart Island.
Clearing customs and immigration was remarkably simple on both sides - no idea why I have avoided it for so long! This was my first trip into the San Juans after 26 years in Victoria!

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115 km (approx 74 L, 1.55 km/L, 3.66 mpg)