After leaving Deer Harbor we turned north and aimed for Sucia. Sucia is probably our favorite island in the San Juans. It is beautiful and has nothing onshore other than a state park with beautiful hiking. As we learned for the first time on this visit, it also has a robust mosquito population, but that’s a minor inconvenience. After anchoring, we first did some kayaking around Echo Bay.

After kayaking, we decided to head to shore and go for a hike. Because we came into the beach in Echo Bay on the dinghy at very low tide, we had to figure out how to secure the dinghy in such a way that a rising tide wouldn’t create a problem. This was more complicated than it should have been because there was no driftwood in close enough proximity to tie our bowline to it. We ended up rigging something up using some of the larger rocks on the beach and it ended up working out perfectly.

Finally on the island, we didn’t do the full loop but we did hike from Echo Bay East Camp out to Johnson Point and back. On the way, we discovered a MUCH better spot to secure the dinghy. Note to self: bring the dinghy in to the next beach over to the south of East Camp. We had a really nice hike, but we did get eaten alive by mosquitos. Another note to self: remember the bug spray next time.

After our excursion on the island we returned to the boat to enjoy happy hour, dinner and some intense Yahtzee. Somewhere in that process we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.