Summer! des moines, langley, anacortes
Date: June 23, 2018
Time Start: 1:45 p.m.
Time Finish: 6:25 p.m.
Cruise From: Swantown Marina, Olympia
Cruise To: Des Moines Marina
Engine Hours Start: 778
Engine Hours Finish: 782
Weather/sea conditions: Cloudy, warm, muggy summer day, light wind, upper 60's
At last! Our summer cruise begins! Exhilaration is what we feel as we bid farewell to Olympia and are on our way. Our itinerary is open to serendipity and our whims as we make our way north toward the waters of British Columbia in Canada. NORTH STAR is loaded to the gills with food and necessities, along with a few water toys. Let the cruising begin!
We leave gray skies behind in Olympia. Sunshine greets us by the time we reach little Eagle Island and continues to be with us through the Narrows, where a few shy porpoises arch off our bow.
Time Start: 1:45 p.m.
Time Finish: 6:25 p.m.
Cruise From: Swantown Marina, Olympia
Cruise To: Des Moines Marina
Engine Hours Start: 778
Engine Hours Finish: 782
Weather/sea conditions: Cloudy, warm, muggy summer day, light wind, upper 60's
At last! Our summer cruise begins! Exhilaration is what we feel as we bid farewell to Olympia and are on our way. Our itinerary is open to serendipity and our whims as we make our way north toward the waters of British Columbia in Canada. NORTH STAR is loaded to the gills with food and necessities, along with a few water toys. Let the cruising begin!
We leave gray skies behind in Olympia. Sunshine greets us by the time we reach little Eagle Island and continues to be with us through the Narrows, where a few shy porpoises arch off our bow.
It's good bye to South Sound. We are through the Narrows. Point Defiance is busy with small boats, fishing must be good today. The Vashon ferry crosses our bow. A 740 foot cargo ship at the entrance to Quartermaster Harbor looks so out of place in this non-urban setting.
We pull into the Des Moines Marina and are in good company, with two other Ranger Tugs on the docks.
Dinner time! We walk to our favorite fish place, Wally's, for some fresh halibut and chips and a terrific local musician is playing guitar and singing right by our table. The flowers are pretty fantastic, too.
With the long daylight hours of early summer, we still have time to enjoy our parklike surroundings and the public pier. We have clear skies tonight with a 3/4 moon shining down on us.
Date: June 24, 2018
Time Start: 10 a.m.
Time Finish: 3:25 p.m.
Cruise From: Des Moines Marina
Cruise To: Langley Marina, Whidbey Island
Engine Hours Start: 782
Engine Hours Finish: 788
Weather/sea conditions: Windy a.m. with fog banks and sun, choppy water.
We make a fuel stop before heading out of Des Moines on a blustery morning with drifts of fog hovering over Puget Sound.
Time Start: 10 a.m.
Time Finish: 3:25 p.m.
Cruise From: Des Moines Marina
Cruise To: Langley Marina, Whidbey Island
Engine Hours Start: 782
Engine Hours Finish: 788
Weather/sea conditions: Windy a.m. with fog banks and sun, choppy water.
We make a fuel stop before heading out of Des Moines on a blustery morning with drifts of fog hovering over Puget Sound.
The sun is breaking through with blue skies, but Seattle is still lost in the fog as we pass the Alki lighthouse. The Olympic Mountains are emerging from the gray mists.
A sea lion rocks the buoy off of the West Point lighthouse, and sailboats enjoy the wind off Shilshole.
We have white caps until we reach Possession Head and the shelter of Whidbey Island. Our mountain "icons" have switched from Mt. Rainier to our south to Mt. Baker to the north! At Mukilteo, we are once again in sloppy water and decide that Langley is a good place to pull in for the night.
Assigned a slip inside the marina, we are thrilled to find our Ranger Tug friends Cindy and Gerry on Celtic Sun here as well! They are on a group cruise with the Port Townsend Yacht Club.
After rinsing the salt off of NORTH STAR, we have time for a scenic walk through "downtown" Langley. It is so picturesque with streets lined with flowers, artworks, and views off across Saratoga Passage toward Camano Island and the Cascade Mountains.
Dinner is in the cockpit on a windy Sunday evening.
Date: June 25, 2018
Time Start: 11 a.m.
Time Finish: 4:50 p.m.
Cruise From: Langley Marina, Whidbey Island
Cruise To: Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes
Engine Hours Start: 788
Engine Hours Finish: 794
Weather/sea conditions: Gray morning, partly sunny, low 60's, windy afternoon
It rained overnight and is gray and calm this morning. A low tide is exposing marine life on the pilings of the marina - sea stars, kelp crabs, anemones, and tons of mussels, along with barnacles.
Date: June 25, 2018
Time Start: 11 a.m.
Time Finish: 4:50 p.m.
Cruise From: Langley Marina, Whidbey Island
Cruise To: Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes
Engine Hours Start: 788
Engine Hours Finish: 794
Weather/sea conditions: Gray morning, partly sunny, low 60's, windy afternoon
It rained overnight and is gray and calm this morning. A low tide is exposing marine life on the pilings of the marina - sea stars, kelp crabs, anemones, and tons of mussels, along with barnacles.
Breakfast is at the Useless Bay Coffee Co., right next to the colorful glass blowing studio. We have more time for visiting with Cindy and Gerry before we all go separate ways. For us, the water is smooth as we continue to make our way north in Saratoga Passage.
After cruising along Camano and Whidbey Islands, we cross the Skagit Flats to the Swinomish Channel. It is always fun to cruise past La Conner and take in the waterfront views of the town. Today there is activity with the tribal crab fishers.
We continue through the flats to the Twin Bridges and pass the swinging railroad bridge.
We are soaking up the beauty of Padilla Bay when we suddenly spot wildlife, a gathering of herons on a sandbar. Not quite ready with the camera, we get a fuzzy shot or two. Then, thinking the next sandbar is filled with gulls, we are taken completely by surprise. We are looking at white pelicans! WOW! We have never seen these birds anywhere before. And, we have never ever seen a brown pelican in these waters, either, although we have seen them on the Washington coast. We are in disbelief and totally awestruck!
And then more birds! Cormorants on the channel marker . . .
At the Anacortes Refinery, we get a "TOOT!" A large oil tanker is moving out with the aid of two tugs and is saying "get out of the way!" We do, as does a sailboat.
NORTH STAR needs another bath, she is once again a salty girl. We relax and enjoy dinner and the evening on the docks of Cap Sante Marina.
Date: June 26, 2018
Layover day in Anacortes
Weather: Sunny, upper 60's
It's a day to get groceries, visit West Marine for supplies, and do our laundry. Chores done, we decide to hike to the top of Cap Sante for some spectacular views of the marina, Anacortes, and the surrounding waters. Our hike turns out to be a steep scramble to the top as we discover there is not a maintained trail. We struggle a bit (and complain some, too), but are rewarded by spectacular sights when we emerge on top.
Layover day in Anacortes
Weather: Sunny, upper 60's
It's a day to get groceries, visit West Marine for supplies, and do our laundry. Chores done, we decide to hike to the top of Cap Sante for some spectacular views of the marina, Anacortes, and the surrounding waters. Our hike turns out to be a steep scramble to the top as we discover there is not a maintained trail. We struggle a bit (and complain some, too), but are rewarded by spectacular sights when we emerge on top.
We've learned our lesson, it is too steep to try and descend the same route that we came up! Like everyone else, we get smart and walk the road back to Cap Sante, passing by wonderful homes and gardens along the way.
After grabbing a great dinner at Pear Thai, local friends Becky and Stuart join us in the cockpit for a visit. It's a beautiful evening with an almost full moon rising over the marina.
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