We woke up early this morning, with one final narrows to navigate.  The bustling city was still asleep as we cruised out into the early morning light.  The Dodd narrows are a tight little squeeze just south of Nanaimo that need to be navigated at slack tide.  It is a straight shot through, but only has space for one way traffic.

By the time we were through, the skies to the east had lit up with a pink sunrise.  We cruised through the Gulf Islands enjoying the layered views of rocky reefs, rounded islands and snow covered mountain peaks.  We had great views of the Olympic mountain range as well as Mount Baker, both with new snow up top!

It seemed to be a good morning for fishing.  We saw Stellar sea lions, seals, porpoises, cormorants, murres, and multiple gull species all fishing in the changing tidal currents.  By midday we had crossed back into the US and headed to Roche Harbor to clear customs.  After doing so, we cruised down to Friday Harbor to spend the night.

Once settled on the dock, our crews got out to explore the town.  Friday Harbor is a cute little tourist town in the San Juan Islands, with lots of fun shops and restaurants to explore.  Many of our crews went up to the Whale museum, which is focused on the Southern Resident Killer Whales which live in the area and are critically endangered.

Since it was our final night all together, we hosted a happy hour reception on Deception.  Everyone came over, and we snacked and toasted and shared memories and photos from the past two weeks.  It was a lovely gathering and made us very grateful for the easy-going comradery of this wonderful group of people and the amazing experiences that we’ve been sharing.  Tomorrow, we’ll pack up and head back to Bellingham and back to reality.  We’ll be coming back feeling rejuvenated from our time on the water, living at the pace of the tides and sunrises, with many great memories and new friendships.