The voyage of the Hyas yiem is in the books! I got to Bellingham about 12 hours early, hitting the beach at 8:00pm on Friday night. The crossing from Cypress Island took about six hours, maybe a little less, but when it was finally done, it felt very good to make landfall.

I left from Anacortes at about noon on Thursday, got around Fidalgo Head and hooked into the strong flood coming up Rosario Strait. Once I got over to the east a bit and into the Bellingham Channel current, the cruise up to Cypress Head went pretty quickly. I had an enjoyable evening there and a leisurely morning the next day, waiting for low water and the current to change directions. There is an eagle nest down near the east end of the head and it was fun to sit in the sun out of the wind and watch the adults bringing food up to the youngsters. (I couldn’t see any chicks… not sure how many were in there.)

I couldn’t really leave before 2:00pm. I put the boat in the water early in the morning and anchored it off to a rock which allowed me to keep it out there waiting for departure rather than carrying down all that way before setting out. It held up well, all things considered, and did the job it was designed to do. Can’t ask for much more than that.

A great beach clean-up at Whirlwind Beach in North Bellingham and a film presentation yesterday evening rounded out the trip. (Special thanks to the Northwest Straits chapter of Surfrider for hosting those events and to Brice Boland for the shuttle back to Anacortes to pick up the van.) Nothing left after all that but the long drive back to T-town with the boat on the trailer, back to real life once again.