In our last blog, our crew left Roche Harbor and headed about 8 nautical miles northwest to anchor at Stuart Island. We originally wanted to visit John’s Island along the way, but dealing with a leak it was best to get to the anchorage right away.
It took us about 45 minutes to get there, because we had to stop every 15 minutes to let the bilge pumps catch up and dump out the water that was in the engine room. Even after that, the high water alarm still triggered twice along our way.
There are two anchorages at Stuart Island: Prevost Harbor and Reid Harbor. Based on Kurt’s recommendation, we chose to stay in Prevost Harbor over Reid Harbor because he thought it offered a better sunset and a prettier anchorage. It did not disappoint.
One thing to note is when you charter with AYC, they will give you a “hazard” map. On the map, they have marked in red, areas that you should not enter (if you do and you run aground, you’re not covered by insurance). With that said, we chose to go clock-wise around the island to Prevost Harbor.
As we entered the Rosario Strait, we noticed the smoky haze forming in the islands from the wild fires in Oregon & Washington.
Entering Prevost Harbor
As you approach Prevost Harbor, pay close attention to your depth and your charts. There have been numerous stories of boats hitting rocks entering the bay. There are parts of the channel that are only about 25′ deep.
Scott and Kurt picked a spot next to Satellite Island that gave us enough room to swing without hitting the shore or boats nearby. We dropped the anchor and five minutes later we were hooked! That was easy! Let’s hope it’s that easy when we are cruising the BVI’s in February!
Time to explore Stuart Island
Kurt, Scott and I jumped into the dinghy and headed up to the mooring dock to do a little exploring of Stuart Island. The dock is only 128′, but it does allow for overnight moorage.
As you walk up the hill from the dock, you’ll come upon the state park campground. From there you can walk over and check out Reid Harbor. The two harbors are literally separated by 500 yards of land.
Stuart Island is known for its’ one room school house and I had hoped to check it out. Looking at the trail information, it looked like we would have to find the county road to get to the school house.
We have seen plenty of YouTube videos about exploring the island, but didn’t know exactly how far away the schoolhouse was. So we decided to skip it and walk the Prevost Loop instead. Be sure to wear tennis shoes or shoes suitable for the trail – I did not! Lesson learned.
If you look closely at the shoreline below, you’ll realize that the “waves or logs” are actually rock, worn from the water!
Time for cocktails and a sunset cruise on the dinghy
Just as the three of us were heading back to the dock, Cal called me to say there’s another alarm going off. I could hear it in the background, so we hurried back. We also knew it wasn’t the highwater alarm, because it wasn’t a high pitch alarm.
Turns out it was the low voltage alarm on the GPS. Not sure why the GPS didn’t turn off when we turned off the electronics? After another round of “drama,” we were ready to relax and enjoy the view.
One warning to other boaters coming to visit, there were tons of yellow jackets and they were annoying. Now we know why our charter yacht came with a bug zapper!
The anchorage was like glass, so once again Kurt, Scott and I hopped in the dinghy for a sunset cruise. Having never stayed here before, I was in absolute awe of the natural beauty of the area.
We headed south and decided to cruise around Satellite Island (which would take us out to the Salish Sea). As you can see, it was dead calm and we couldn’t have asked for better weather!
As we came back into Prevost Harbor, we had a lot more boats anchored in the bay. One of which, was a Bayliner 4087! Could that be our old boat? Of course, we had to go check it out.
It wasn’t our old boat, but we did have a nice talk with this couple. They are heading up to Alaska next year and they love their Bayliner 4087!
Wish we could have stayed longer
Scott grilled up some fabulous steaks that Cal had sous vide‘d for us and they were delicious. There’s nothing like cooking at anchor and enjoying the ultimate scenery.
One thing we were grateful for is the boat had a generator, which allowed us to run the fridge and the A/C. Definitely worth it. We only ran it for an hour or so during the day, so we didn’t disturb our neighbors. With that said, at 3am another alarm went off! I recognized the sound and headed up to the bridge. Sure enough, it was another low voltage alarm for the GPS. Every time the boat was running off of batteries, the alarm would go off and I would have to turn off the GPS again.
More things to see
The next morning, Kurt, Cal and Tracey headed up to the Lighthouse Road dock, to explore the island. We wish we could have joined them, but the dinghy only held 3 people and we also felt the boat should be watched after taking on water.
As they walked up Lighthouse Road, they came upon the Ralph Ericksen yak farm!
From there they walked along the road and came upon the infamous Boundary Pass Traders “honor system souvenier store.” They each bought a shirt. You then mail in your money. Be sure to click the link above for more information.
Off to Friday Harbor
Our stay at Stuart Island was definitely too short. There is so much to explore and we definitely plan on coming back. If you are planning a visit here, we recommend staying at least two nights.
While Scott and I were waiting for them to return, we watched a 58′ Meridian pull up their anchor on which they had a massive ball of seaweed! It took them 30 minutes to remove it. Would we have the same thing? Let’s hope not! Be sure to tune in next week to find out and see if we made it safely to Friday Harbor.
As always, thank you for following our journey! We’re committed to making our blog and YouTube channel informative and entertaining, all the while we’re searching for our liveaboard boat (and slip!). Be sure to subscribe to our channel and follow us on social @BoatingJourney. Our latest episode is at the end of this blog.
Cheers! Scott and Ally #BoatingJourney
