We kicked off the month with a visit from our daughter, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Max. The weather did not cooperate for our broader plans, but a 12-hour window between gales allowed us safely out for a day trip. It was new territory for all of us visiting Vendovi Island Preserve for the first time. On the way back, we stopped by Inati Bay on Lummi Island and they took the dinghy out to get a closer look at the waterfall. (Melinda)

Skipper’s Perspective

Until I came across an article on the San Juan Preservation Trust this spring I hadn’t realized that Vendovi island is accessible to the public. We’ve sailed past it nearly every time we’ve been in the San Juan Islands over the years. It quickly became a must-visit on my list just to see a new spot inside our well-trodden cruising grounds. Since we had just a day of comfortable sailing weather ahead of us the weekend of April 7th, we decided to go for it.

The anchorage on the northwest corner of Vendovi is well-formed, but feels small as you enter. We were visiting at low tide, not ideal for a first view of a rocky harbor. I first went for the north side of the dock, trying to fit in-between the dock and the breakwater, feeling that the water would be deeper there. I quickly abandoned that plan for the south side as I was nervous about getting blown into the breakwater without having room to rotate. The south side looked shallow, but even at low tide we had about 10 feet of water.