I made it to Anacortes yesterday. I got up to Bowman Bay on Friday and tried to do some small repairs to the boat but I was limited a bit by the rain. Still, I was able to replace the bottle that came off the rail last week and I put some padding over the top of it which will hopefully keep it together for the last leg of the trip.

On Thursday, I’m planning on going up to Cypress Island, then on to Lummi Island and into Bellingham next Saturday. I should have plenty of help from the current – the currents in Rosario Strait and Bellingham Channel are among the strongest in the San Juans – and I’ll be traveling on the incoming rather than the outgoing tide, which means I’ll be making landfall at higher water levels. (That doesn’t really matter, except that it means I won’t have as many long boat hauls at the end of my paddling days, which will be nice.)

A reporter and photographer from the Skagit Valley Herald came out to see me on Friday and came out with a pretty good front-page story in yesterday’s issue. the photo at the top of the page was one that photographer Daniel DeMay shot when they were there.

One stage left to go. And I’m looking for a shuttle driver on Thursday morning to get me to Anacortes. Anyone?