The municipal marina at Friday Harbor is quite large and this late in the year on a Monday, we had no difficulties getting a slip. Ashore we had before dinner drinks at a brewpub followed by a seafood dinner of freshly caught salmon. In the morning,we got fresh provisions, the "T" shirts for the grandchildren, fuel and ice. The wind remained light out of the southwest and so we motored north to Stuart Island. Along the way, we passed what at first appeared to be a large ship in the San Juan Channel but on closer inspection was a tug pulling a barge with two large houses aboard. Rounding the top of San Juan Island we passed to the south of Spieden Island. The water in the channel was initially rough with the tidal current from the channel meeting the tidal flow from the San Juan Channel. After a few exciting moments we were again in calm water and had no further problems getting to Stuart Island.
Stuart Island has two anchorages, Reid Harbor on the southeast side and Prevost Harbor on the northwest side. Both provide great shelter and both have state park moorings and floats. Reid Harbor also has a pump-out barge, the first I have seen. Boats tie to the barge and can pump their holding tank using the hand-pump. We elected to go in Reid Harbor and picked up one of the mooring balls. After lunch aboard we took the dingy ashore, paid for the mooring and hiked one of the trails in the park before returning to the boat for a quiet afternoon followed by a great dinner aboard
