Our nap turned into sleeping the rest of the day and through the night. Waking only for a moment to look out when the cruise boat returned to pick up the people. The next morning we woke to the bay by our selves. We enjoyed a relaxing morning of coffee and breakfast. We got ready to go to shore. With the dinghy down and our wide brim hats on we set to shore. It is such a short distance that we chose to row the dinghy instead of putting the motor on. We really should have just SUP’d it over there but we were feeling lazy and didn’t want to dig them out. We were being kind of whiny with the cold water too. So we rowed over to the pier and realize that we missed them taking the dinghy dock out the night before. Here I thought I was a light sleeper. Not so on a boat! So we paddled around trying to find a way onto the pier. 
The beach was so rocky we kind of wanted to avoid beaching. Some times we do have good luck and this pier had ladders that were not locked. We tied off and climbed up. On the pier we peered over the edge to look for fish in the water and scattered the birds when we walked by. Might I just add the birds stink. They are beautiful but they stink. ugh. After spending as long as we could stand on the pier we walked onto land. While we were looking around we ran into one of the Navy guys that works on the island and he told us all the hikes we should do and what to look for. He even explained the local weather and gave us some pointers. He also told us where to hike to to get cell service. So off we went to find cell service so we could check in with the kids, family, and friends. While we were checking in with the kids our view was awesome. We could see clear out to Santa Barbara on the main land. We could see wales spouting and dolphins fishing. We are noticing we are seeing less whales. But the dolphins are becoming more frequent.
We returned to our boat for lunch and a map to plan our next moves. We decide that we would hike up to Pelican Bay as the views are suppose to be one of the best. Then depending on how that went maybe we would hike the rest of the trails seeing how far we could get. To fully appreciate the island you should anchor at the different anchorages and really spend some time exploring the entire island. We didn’t plan on that much time so hiking as much as we could from Prisoners Cove the better. Pelican Bay was a 6 mile hike that quickly took us to a look out that over looked Prisoners Cove where Hiraya was anchored. The trail was well packed and took us up and down through the succulent gardens and desert terrain giving us glimpses of the ocean and mainland California. The brown and tan dirt and scrubs reminded us a lot of home and hiking around Jordanelle Reservoir. As we followed the trail up and down we came across a Santa Cruz Island Fox. They are much smaller than their cousins the gray fox. Weighing in around 4 lbs they are the size and shape of a common house cat but with a fox face. The one we came up on was gray brindle on the body and a fiery red head. We ran into him again down the trail a ways. He never ran from us just kept his distance and continued on his way.
As we arrived at Pelican Bay the views were fantastic. We had almost a 360 degree view of the entire area. The tour boat was just arriving and getting ready to unload their guest so we quickly took pictures and headed back through the eucalyptus forest and back to the dirt trail. Along the way we ran into a few people that chose to hike instead of boat over. One young man, a musician with Jacklen Ro, was so entertaining to talk to. He had such a humble outlook to his path but you could see the excitement for his future beam from his eyes. We visited with him for some time. Told him all about our trip and he shared all his music plans. We also ran into an older couple that giggled when they told us they came from the “tour boat” and that we should “watch out for the teenagers”. Apparently it was a very loaded boat, a field trip, and most if not all of the kids got sick. Between the sea sickness and the sympathy sea sickness everyone was glad to be on land for a bit. Down the trail a little further we ran into one of the Park tour guides who had found a quiet spot mid way where she could take her shoes off and read a book. We didn’t mean to interrupt her peace but she welcomed us to her spot and told us all the great places to go. She had recently been to Utah and visited Escalante. We shared with her our favorite spots as she was returning next year. We could hear the kids getting closer and we said our good byes. Everyone we run into excitedly ask us if the boat is ours. They want to know if we live on it and where we are going. They are mesmerized by the romantic idea of living on a sail boat. It is romantic some of the time. It is unreal some of the time. We hike the rest of the way back to Prisoners Cove stopping to take pictures. and chatting with each other. We return
to the pier to find more people scattered along the beach. It is about time for the boat to return to take them all back to shore. We are tired and start to head down the pier. As we reach the end where another group of people are waiting we climb down the ladder to our dinghy. They all peer over the edge and look down at us. Not knowing that the ladder was there they wanted to know where we were going. They thought we were going for a swim but it all made since when we pulled the dinghy from under the pier. The tide had tucked it under out of view. They too gave us well wishes and excitement for our trip.
We row back to Hiraya feeling the romance of our trip. That feeling stays with us after everyone leaves and we are alone. Anchored in a quiet bay relaxing back in our chairs listening to the sound of waves gently crashing on shore. In the distance there is the soft chirps of birds. The water is flat and silky looking. No sirens or city lights disturb our peace. It is in these moments that our souls begin to recharge. These are the moments that people image life on a boat is like all the time. The reality is that it is not romantic all the time. We work very hard to get to those romantic times. In these moments we reflect back on how we got here and where we are going. It isn’t always easy. It takes extra time to do your laundry by hand. Extra planning for weather and supplies. There are times we are “stuck on the boat” or confined to our tiny space for a variety of reasons. The true reward is that quiet peaceful moment in a secluded bay, a quiet beach, or on the bow of the boat looking out into the blue distance. That feeling continues to push us forward to plan more and do more to get where we can feel that moment again.