Prevost Harbor for the Holiday Weekend – Stuart Island

Fourth of July Weekend in Prevost Harbor – the San Juan Islands –

We arrived at Stuart Island early in the morning, choosing Prevost Harbor over Reid Harbor for our 3-day stay. The last time we were in the San Juan Islands, we anchored in Reid Harbor. Although at that time, we anchored only one night in Prevost Harbor; it was a means to an end. We were positioning ourselves to cross the border to North Pender Island, Canada, in 2016.
Poets Cove – Ranger Tugs/Cutwater Boats Cruise.

As luck would have it, there was space at the dock when we arrived in the harbor. Having caught a mooring ball in Sucia four days earlier, it was a pleasant change to tie to a dock where we could socialize a little (6 feet apart) with other boaters while hopping on and off the boat at will.

Not long after we tied up at the dock, Lisa Corona, her husband, Karl, and daughters Maya and Kira, on Adventres II, pulled up to the dock. We know Lisa from many Ranger Tug events. Plus, she is a member of Ranger Tugettes, a Facebook group for women Ranger Tug owners. It was July 4th weekend; we were happy to have the company of all the boaters on the dock, even though we kept a suitable distance and wore masks. It felt more like a holiday than with just Jim and me by ourselves.

Another reason we chose Prevost Harbor is that we wanted to hike up to Lover’s Leap again, then walk from there down to the Turn Point Lightstation. Although both docks are right across from each other on land, they are quite a distance apart by water.

From Prevost’s dock, we could shave off a long rocky hike through the woods for our hike west to Turn Point. If accessing the trails from Reid Harbor you have to walk through the woods and it seemed it took us the better part of the day to do that hike up and back.

This year, Jim’s idea was to leave from our dock in Prevost, we could then just dinghy over to the County Dock on the other side of the harbor and walk through an open farm-like setting, straight up the hill to a mossy, fairytale forest leading to the breathtaking views of Lover’s Leap. After relaxing on the cliff above the straits, all the while watching for whales (this time we remembered the binoculars), we hiked down again to the Turn Point Lightstation before we retraced our route back to the dock and our dinghy.

The woods leading to Turn Point are magical indeed. Mossy clumps on rotted, downed trees made me think of fairies and gnomes.

Lover’s Leap is aptly named and a very special place. This beautiful cliff overlooking Haro Strait is a great spot for whale watching. We sat here for a long time, with our binoculars, watching for whales.