Sailing Trip, South Puget Sound, June/July 1996
Saturday
We all got up reasonably early. My cousin Niall from Scotland had spent the night in the spare bedroom, recovering from the day-before when we spent the morning touring the Boeing aircraft manufacturing plant in Everett, and the afternoon trying to get the boat ready for departure. A gang of friends from Portland had crashed on my living room floor and sofas, comprised of Maria Winner, her two kids Tyson and Erica, and Peggy Hennessy (who was carrying Christopher in her womb). The gathering was international and multi-generational, both of which were quite the contrast from the house's normal complement of 1.
While Maria got the kids squared away, Peggy and I set off in search of provisions for the trip. Although the grocery store was closed, we found a coffee shop open, and had a nutritional breakfast of scones and chocolate chip cookies. Thusly fortified, we launched a second attack on the grocery store and took a goodly portion of it back to my house, where we found the rest of the gang ready to go.
Step 1 was to get everything to the Rainier Beach marina. We basically dumped the contents of two cars onto the marina parking lot, then assigned Niall, Peggy, and Tyson the thankless job of loading and stowing the supplies on the boat, filling the water tank, and rigging the sails. Meanwhile, Maria, Erica and I took off in both cars, destination Shilshole Marina. We needed to leave Maria's car at Shilshole, since that is where the Portland crowd would get off the boat Sunday afternoon before returning to Portland.
After a brief stop to check out the troll under the Aurora Avenue bridge, we all drove back to the Rainier Beach Marina in my car. The boat was all loaded up and ready to go, so we cast off the lines and headed into Lake Washington. It was mostly a slow trip in light winds, but we managed to sail from just outside the marina, all the way to the night's anchorage in Cozy Cove. Niall even managed to sail the boat under the I-90 and Highway 520 bridges without turning the motor on. Tyson also got into the sailing action, steering the boat and sheeting in the sails. After a great pasta salad and bread dinner, courtesy of Maria, we all eventually found a place to sleep. Maria and the kids were in the V-berth, Niall was in the quarterberth, and Peggy and I (and Christopher!) slept out in the cockpit.
Sunday
On Sunday morning, I volunteered for galley duty. Maria had a really cool gizmo for toasting bread on top of a stove burner, and we used it to make toast. She later gave it to me, which I though was fantastic since I had been trying to figure out how I was going to make my morning toast on the boat. There was also some pancakes and orange juice and other yummy things. Tyson and Erica provided the morning entertainment with their "Lion King" soundtrack cassette tape.
We left Cozy Cove around 9:00 and met Tim and Janet and baby Teal around 10:00 at the University of Washington canoe dock. With everyone piled in the boat (which by then was quite a pile) we motored through the Montlake Cut and on into Lake Union, bound for the Ballard Locks. We were able to pass under most of the draw bridges without having to ask them to open up, but the Fremont bridge was just too low for us to squeeze under.
Although there were several boats waiting for the bridge to open up, the bridge remained closed as we drew near. However, as soon as Tyson blew the horn with the open-the-bridge signal, the bridge immediately open up and let all the boats pass through.
There was a lot of boats waiting at the locks to make the transition between the fresh water lake level and the salt water Puget Sound sea level, so we had to wait a while. However, every time someone came on board to join the trip, they brought all sorts of food along with them, so we had lots to munch on while we waited. We finally managed to get into the big lock, and a half hour later we were on our way, out into Puget Sound. We had a great sail in wonderful weather for a couple hours, and managed to somehow eat yet more food. Tyson was busy out on the bowsprit looking for jellyfish, and Teal was either down below getting a momma-milkshake or out in the cockpit chewing on ropes and generally monitoring the overall situation.
Around 4:00, we headed into the boat ramp dock at Shilshole, where the Portland gang and Tim-Janet-Teal headed home. It seemed awfully quiet on the boat for a while until Niall and I joined up with Gary Dunkley, who was just returning from a mountaineering trip on Mt. Baker. With Gary aboard and Niall at the helm, we did a screaming reach across the Sound and anchored for the night off a quiet but exposed shoreline across the water north of Port Madison. That night, we dined on spaghetti and salad; a quick and entirely satisfying meal. The view was spectacular from the boat, with the Cascade Mountains and Mt. Rainier on one side, The Olympic Mountains on the other side, and Puget Sound all over the place. To top it off, we were able to watch the full moon rise before we all went to sleep.
Monday
We started the day with some toast, complements of the new toaster-toy that Maria had contributed to the ship's galley. With very light winds, there was no motivation to get a particularly early start, but we did eventually manage to stop eating long enough to get the anchor up, and sailed away toward the town of Winslow to the south. The sun was bright, the winds were light, and I was in the mood for something a little different, so we launched the kayak Gary had brought along and I paddled out ahead of Spirit as she slowly made her way south. It felt good to be in a kayak again. I could not even remember when I had last been out paddling. After an hour or so I pulled into shore to wait for Spirit to catch up. The tide was low, and several people were out digging for clams. Every now and then I would watch a hidden clam shoot a small stream of water skyward as I walked along through the tidal pools. When Spirit got close, I jumped back in the kayak, did a few practice Eskimo rolls, and headed out to meet Niall and Gary, both of whom looked VERY relaxed.
We had some sandwiches for lunch as we continued to creep southward, and eventually reached Winslow in mid-afternoon. The wind seemed to pick up a bit, and we had a great sail in to the harbor. We sailed the boat close to the public dock, dropped the anchor, and then inflated the raft that I had borrowed from my friend Gregg. Gary and Niall headed into shore with the raft while I stayed behind and admired the boats in the harbor. When the group returned in the raft loaded down with provisions, we got everything aboard, pulled up the anchor, and Niall sailed the boat out of the harbor and back into Puget Sound.
We were headed for Blake Island, a state park located a little further south. Gary jumped into the kayak and beat us there, since the wind remained light. Niall sailed up to a park mooring buoy which I tied the boat to. Despite the lack of wind, the anchorage was very unsettled, and the boat tended to roll quite a bit. We had the rest of the spaghetti for dinner after Gary's return in the kayak, but decided to move the boat to the other side of the island in search of a quieter anchorage.
We found just what we were looking for, and tied up to yet another mooring buoy. With some daylight yet remaining in the evening, we all decided to hop in the dinghy and go ashore for a while. There was an American Indian tourist shop and restaurant which we explored. Niall and I later found Gary outside photographing the tail end of the sunset. We decided to hang out a while longer in hopes of getting a great shot of the moon rise, but clouds near the horizon hid the moon until it was fairly high in the sky. We all piled back into the dinghy, rowed out to Spirit, and headed for bed.
Tuesday
Gary was feeling energetic that morning, and kayaked ashore while Niall and I stayed behind and started work on breakfast. Niall cooked up toast, scrambled eggs and ham, with some orange juice to wash everything down. After Gary was back aboard and fed, we hauled up the anchor and headed south once again under power. The morning was pleasant with little wind as we headed down the west side of Vashion Island.
About half way down the island, the wind filled in enough that we were able to sail the rest of the afternoon to our destination at Gig Harbor. The last 40 minutes of the sail was in very gusty winds, which seemed to be rolling off the cliffs above in blast after blast. It made for some great sailing.
We eventually motored into the little harbor, found a public dock to moor the boat, and then took off on a walking tour of the waterfront. The view on the east side of town was fantastic, with the entrance to Gig Harbor down below, Puget Sound all around, and Mt. Rainier dominating the eastern sky. We then turned around and headed toward the far end of the harbor, passing lots of tourist looking shops along the way. Gary then headed off on one of his jogs as Niall and I wandered back to the boat. We had dinner that night in a small un-exceptional restaurant close to the boat, and finished off the evening on the boat reading and listening to music.
Wednesday
For once we were up early, leaving the sleepy little harbor around 6:00 am in order to get through the Tacoma Narrows before the tide turned against us. We passed under the Tacoma Narrows bridge, which had literally destroyed itself years ago then the winds unexpectedly started it rocking out of control. We got through before the current really kicked in, which reaches 4 or 5 knots on a pretty regular basis. However, the sky was gray and the wind had deserted us, so we pulled into Steilacoom where we anchored off of the city park. I stayed behind to look after the boat and generally enjoy the quiet morning, while Gary and Niall took the dinghy ashore and eventually returned with yet more food to eat. Food is something that was never very far from our hearts and minds. It was seldom more than a few hours between meals and snacks. One of the more humorous food-related activities was to watch Gary and Niall dig into a bag of chocolate chip cookies. They were both utterly shameless about their chocolate chip addiction, and a bag of those cookies never lasted very long on the boat. I must admit that I wolfed down my fair share as well.
We remained at anchor most of the afternoon waiting for some wind, but all we got were clouds and drizzle. I had a small tarp, and we rigged it over the cockpit to keep any rain off the cockpit crew, who were generally catching up on their reading. We also invented things to keep us entertained. Gary went ashore for a jog, and I cut up an old piece of line into smaller pieces to be used for tying down sails. The Dinghy must have preferred the shoreline that day, since it managed to escape from its tie-down lines and head off by itself. Niall volunteered to rescue it with the kayak, but had a bit of difficulty getting into the boat, and ended up taking a short swim. However, not one to give up easily, he got back in the kayak, completed his dinghy rescue mission, then paddled around in the kayak for a while. Late in the day, we finally gave up on the wind and motored through calm waters and gray skies toward our evening anchorage in Filucy Bay, passing the big state prison on McNeil Island along the way. After we had the boat secure for the evening, Gary fixed up a dinner of salad, baked potatoes, and fried onions and garlic.
Thursday
We started the day with a big breakfast of juice, scrambled eggs, beef sausage, and pancakes. Afterwards, we motored over to a little marina in the bay and made some phone calls. Gary made arrangements to spend the afternoon with friends in Seattle, so we headed back towards Steilacoom where Gary was to meet his ride. It was a nice, partly cloudy day, but the winds were light. I took advantage of the situation and hopped into Gary's kayak for another morning paddle. The tide was on the ebb, and I encountered some unsettled water as I passed by little Eagle Island. There were also several seals that checked me out as I paddled by, but I was probably going far too slow to be of much interest to them.
An hour or so later Spirit picked me up, having changed from sail to power. We continued on into Steilacoom under power and anchored there again briefly as we got Gary and his gear ashore. Niall and I then upped anchor and headed south along the shore line.
The sun was bright and the winds were light, but there was enough of a breeze that we could sail slowly with the jib set. We didn't set the mainsail for a while, and it was pleasant to just sit under the tarp out of the sun as we sailed (and ate) our way along the east side of Ketron Island. Along the way, we got a great view through the binoculars of a couple raccoons slowly working their way along the shoreline looking for goodies. I decided to take a salt water shower on the foredeck, and briefly got some chilling insight into what Niall had to endure on his unexpected swim the day before.
The rest of the day was spent slowly sailing around Anderson Island. The winds were generally light and sometimes quite variable in direction. We would no sooner get the sails trimmed for one wind direction when it would suddenly die or switch to another direction. We briefly toyed with the idea of grabbing a mooring buoy on the west side of Eagle Island, but it was a bit too shallow for my liking. Dinner was fixed while we were sailing that evening, consisting of little salmon cakes, baked potatoes, and salad. We even had live music for a while as we passed by a small marina where a Fourth of July party was just getting started.
After dinner was finished, Oro Bay conveniently showed up dead ahead, and we went in to anchor for the night. We got a glimpse of a Fourth of July fireworks display far away on the eastern horizon, but the best fireworks display was put on by some of the residents of Oro Bay. Happy Birthday, America.
Friday
On Friday morning we left Oro Bay around 8:00, munching on breakfast as we headed back to Steilacoom to pick up Gary once again. Upon reaching Steilacoom, Niall stayed with the boat while Gary and I walked into town in search of supplies. The store owner had a reputation for opening and closing the store at times that were significantly different from the posted store hours. Although the store was suppose to open at 9:00, we finally gave up around 10:20 and headed back to the boat empty handed. One thing we did manage to get in Steilacoom was an American flag for my boat. There had been a Fourth of July celebration yesterday at the little park where we were anchored, and Gary had picked up quite a selection of US flags that people had left behind. We picked out the best flag in the bunch, took it back to the boat, and tied it to the backstay. Spirit was now an "official" US flagship.
A bit of a breeze had sprung up during our unsuccessful provisioning reconnaissance, so we sailed off the anchor and headed back toward the Tacoma Narrows bridge. It was a fantastic day with blue skies and a nice north wind. The current was running at least 4 knots under the bridge, so we made excellent progress as we tacked back and forth. Gary had done some shopping that morning prior to meeting us in Steilacoom, and for lunch he whipped up a great meal of potato salad and turkey sandwiches. We passed the entrance to Gig Harbor and headed up toward Commencement Bay, which is the big shipping terminal for Tacoma. However, the winds went light and sailing got sort of slow again. Gary took the opportunity to go for a brief swim in the cold waters of the Sound. We eventually grabbed a mooring buoy off Point Defiance State Park and put up the little tarp to keep the sun at bay.
Around 4:00, we took Gary to the ferry dock where he had left his bicycle earlier that morning. He would bicycle back to his car in Steilacoom, then drive back to Portland and get ready to lead a climb on Mt. Hood in Oregon. Niall and I continued on to Quartermaster Harbor on Vashion Island. The north wind had returned, and we had a nice sail up to the Dockton County Park. It was fairly crowded in the anchorage, so we sailed through the anchorage once and then headed back towards the mouth of Quartermaster Harbor where we anchored for the night. We had an exceptional view of Mt. Rainier to the east. One of our anchoring neighbors from Oro Bay last night was also anchored near by, and he came over in his dinghy with is little dog for a brief but pleasant chat.
For dinner, Niall went berserk in the galley, and came up with a 12 course meal, which included salad, leftover salmon cakes, potatoes, bread, and soup. We got to watch Mt. Rainier turn colors from white to pink to gray, then we both headed to bed.
Saturday
We motored out of Quartermaster Harbor around 7:00 and resumed our travel northwards. Niall cooked up some English muffins and pancakes for breakfast. The wind alternated from light to non-existent for the first couple hours, and we mostly motored through that period. I got to watch a large dog on shore in a fearsome struggle with a half submerged bundle of seaweed that he was trying to drag onto the shore. I think the dog was pretending it was some kind of sea monster, and he seemed to be totally caught up in his fictional role as defender of the tidelands. After a few false starts, the north wind finally kicked in beneath bright blue skies, and Niall got the sails up completely by himself (I was down below working on this story) and continued northward toward the Des Moines marina. When we reached the marina, there was no sign of Sue Sandford, who would be joining us from Portland for the rest of the trip. It was fairly windy and lots of boat were busily buzzing around the marina, so I dropped Niall at the dock to do a few phone calls and general scouting while I motored around in the boat.
In order to kill some time, I eventually decided to motor around the Des Moines marina and look at some of the boats. Spirit and I motored downwind along the many docks, admiring the various yachts along the way. However, when it came time to turn around and go back, I discovered I could not turn around. Normally it would have been no problem to turn around, but with the strong wind, every time I tried to make a tight turn, the wind would start pushing on the bow of the boat as she came into the wind. This transformed the "tight turn" into a very "wide turn"; wider than the channel in the marina. I had my choice of either crashing into the yachts on one side of the channel, or crashing into the rocky breakwater on the other side of the channel. I kept trying to make the turn and failed, always ending up further down the marina channel. I think that there was a way to get back into Puget Sound from the downwind end of the marina, but I could not see it, and did not want to go exploring in these circumstances.
I finally found a spot that was just wide enough to make the turn, and motored back upwind in the little channel. There is something about boats and cross winds that tends to keep life interesting from time to time. Sue showed up a short time later, and I managed to get the boat along side the "short term parking" dock without destroying both dock and boat. We got the crew and various food goodies on board, then headed back into the Sound for a fantastic afternoon of sunny sailing in great winds with two great people. We sailed until very late in the afternoon, and eventually approached the same anchorage we had used on the previous Sunday evening.
As we were getting close to the anchorage, a kite came by. Ordinarily, a kite is not all that note worthy, but this kite was unique in that there was no one holding the other end. It was dragging a long, broken string in the water, and had managed to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium between the strength of the wind and the friction of the kite string as it drug on the water. The kite string crossed paths with Spirit, but as the end of the string rose out of the water to pass over Spirit's rigging, the equilibrium was destroyed. There was now not enough pull on the kite string, and the kite started to wobble down toward the water. We had messed up the kite's universe, and it was headed for disaster. I was very tempted to change course and rescue the distressed kite, when an extraordinary thing happened. Once the string had passed Spirit, the string eventually drifted back down into the water, and the equilibrium was restored. The kite then slowly regained the altitude it had lost, and continued its ghostly way downwind. I felt there must be some pretty powerful symbolic significance to this little drama, but I could not for the life of me figure out what it might be.
We soon had the sails down, and Niall maneuvered us into the anchorage while I took charge of lowering the anchor. That done, we turned our attentions toward the food that Sue brought with her, and had a great pasta salad dinner. Although Sue had neglected to bring a sleeping bag and mattress, she managed to make-do with a bed of life jackets and covered herself up with the rain tarp and some fuzzy jackets. Sue is not one to be easily defeated. After dinner, Niall went on deck to do a "bang start" on the anchor light. There had been a short circuit in the anchor light wiring for a couple years now, and after the light had been switched on, it was necessary to strike the mast with your hand in order to encourage the electrons along on their way. However, on this night, all our mast banging was in vain, and the anchor light refused to shine. I guess I'll need to add that to my boat's to-do list. On the other hand, maybe the haunted kite had cast spell on my mast!
I was sleeping on deck again, and as it started getting dark, I heard a drum on shore and the singing of a Native American Indian. Perhaps they were holding an annual ceremony to mourn the Forth of July, and the genocidal outcome this event had on the original population of this continent. The singing continued on and off all night, and into the early morning. I had never experienced such a thing, and between the singing in the darkness, and the ghostly kite encounter, my imagination was really working overtime.
Sunday
Our last day on the boat was another "severe clear" morning; warm and sunny with a light northerly breeze. We had another rendezvous that morning, this time at 10 am at the Shilshole marina boat ramp. We had a great breakfast of toast and pancakes, then headed across Puget Sound toward Shilshole on the opposite shore. Niall got us there right on time, and we stopped long enough to pick up Kathy Lau and DOCTOR Sandy Yuter.
Niall then pulled the boat out of the marina and we all headed to the Ballard Locks. The locks were busy, but we were squeezed into the big locks with a zillion other Fourth of July boaters and managed to "lock through" in pretty good time. After motoring out of the locks and back into fresh water, we decided to resume the on-going week-long eating frenzy by stopping in at Little Chinooks for some fish and chips, which we ate on the boat as we resumed motoring toward Lake Washington.
With Sandy at the helm, we took the scenic tour of Lake Union. Sandy showed us a N.O.A.A. research ship that was similar to the one she will be on next year, serving in the capacity of "Chief Scientist". After ducking under a few more bridges, we arrived at the University of Washington canoe dock where we dropped off Sandy and Kathy. Sue, Niall and I then continued the rest of the way southward on Lake Washington until we finally arrived back at Spirit's marina in the late afternoon. Sue wanted to stick around to help clean up the boat, but I knew that she had a 3 hour drive ahead of her when she headed back toward Portland. So, despite her protests, Niall and I drove Sue to where her car was parked so she could start making miles toward Portland. Niall and I then went back to Spirit and did a quick clean-up of the boat, although there was not much to do besides fold a few sails and haul some gear to the car. After that, we headed back to my house to get our first fresh water shower in a week.
The trip, in my view, had been a complete success. The southern portion of Puget Sound had turned out to be far more enjoyable than I expected, and the weather had been unusually cooperative. Best of all, I got to spend the week sailing with a great bunch of people. "We done good."
