Bellingham WA stopvover

On our way to Bellingham from Roche Harbor we stopped for the night at Echo Bay.   This large cove is among the finger islands and offers a peaceful place to enjoy the evening or a week.  We plan to go ashore next time we stop in.  Several mooring balls and a lateral mooring line run along the back of the harbor but there is plenty of room for anchoring.  It was a cool and rainy evening but  

peaceful and calm. 

The view as we enter the finger islands of Sucia Island.

Left for Bellingham WA, only about 19 miles away after a leisurely breakfast.  Smooth crossing of Rosario Strait led us to Bellingham Yacht Club dock for the evening.  Our friend Dennis from Sea Fox N55 met us at the dock and helped us settle in a tight slip just below the clubhouse.  We moved the next day to a slip on the outer edge of the harbor.  Its a long walk from the slip to the shore and just 4 round trips a day provides me with the 10,000 steps per day that my exercise tracker goal demands.  Keela normally goes along for the walks and they assure she will sleep well that evening. 

One highlight of our time in Bellingham was a tour of the Boeing factory in Everette WA.  The size of the operation is hard to wrap your head around.  The assembly building below is the largest building (by volume) in the world.   (472,370,319 cu ft) and covers 98.3 acres.  This is the factory where the wide-body Boeing 747,767, 777, and 787 are assembled.  

In addition to the plant tour Boeing has an educational display that includes the electric airplane below and several jet engines with the covers removed.

The complexity of the fuel delivery piping on a 787 jet engine below

We left the factory just at shift change in the afternoon and were quickly reminded of why we enjoy living on a boat and cruising without a rental car most of the time.

Bellingham is a waterfront community with roots in the fishing and oil refining business.  Good rail transportation and a large bay provide plenty of ways to commercialize  the water.   Odds are if you are walking on concrete docks they came from Bellingham Marine.  Fishing is still a major industry with cold storage and processing operations shoreside.  The commercial docks were filled when we visited.

Took advantage of the commercial operations and fueled WORKNOT at commercial pier.  The price was favorable and the service first rate.  We backed into a slip under the harbor crane and a fuel truck sent a hose down to us.  The driver was patient with the slow (relative to a fishboat)  of 1100 gallons of fuel and genuinely concerned with spillage.  It took just under 2 hours to  complete the transfer.  We last bought fuel in La Paz Mexico last year.  We hold 1300 gallons so it was time.  Glad fueling only happens a few times a year!

Dennis and Julie gave us the VIP treatment in Bellingham including a tour of the area and its rich background in lumber, farming and fishing.  A great place to live for at least 6 months during the summer.  Still not sure I'm ready for cold weather.  We got crab pots and salmon fishing gear and now ready to head north.  Hope to catch at least enough crab and salmon to break even on the gear purchase.

We get to see a wide variety of boats during our travels.  Over the years the idea of a yacht has evolved and stayed the same in may aspects.

Left Bellingham for Pender Island.  We will clear customs into Canada here before heading to Vancouver.   

BOX SCORE   4 HOURS 13 Gallons 29 Miles 

Keela wondering what's for dinner.