summer! Edmonds, penrose point, and home
Date: August 7, 2018
Time Start: 7 a.m.
Time Finish: 5:40 p.m.
Cruise From: Watmough Bay, Lopez Island
Cruise To: Edmonds Marina
Engine Hours Start: 877
Engine Hours Finish: 883
Weather/sea conditions: Fog & sun early, rough in Strait, then sunny and calm after Deception Pass
The sun is out in Watmough Bay but trying to break through the fog in Rosario Strait. Morning is calm as we prepare to leave, planning to make our way south in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Time Start: 7 a.m.
Time Finish: 5:40 p.m.
Cruise From: Watmough Bay, Lopez Island
Cruise To: Edmonds Marina
Engine Hours Start: 877
Engine Hours Finish: 883
Weather/sea conditions: Fog & sun early, rough in Strait, then sunny and calm after Deception Pass
The sun is out in Watmough Bay but trying to break through the fog in Rosario Strait. Morning is calm as we prepare to leave, planning to make our way south in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Gulls and cormorants are headed to the Strait, too. Are they off to fish for the day? Once we get into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we change our plans. It is just too rough out there for this crew! Not only is there a good wind chop, but also rolling swells, and it isn't a bit of fun. No way do we want to spend the next few hours in these conditions.
We reverse course, making our way back into Rosario Strait and toward Deception Pass, where we will wait for the slack on the float at Bowman Bay. We are in the fog!
It is 8:30 a.m. when we reach the float, and there is just enough space for us. The other boats have all spent the night, one couple in a tent pitched on the float, and they all report that it was a rough night. It's breakfast time, hot oatmeal and cocoa on a cool (55 degrees) and foggy morning.
Friendships form as we all wait several hours for the slack together. The tenting couple, Allistair and Angela, are from New Zealand but now reside in Seattle. His work as an economic consultant overlaps some of our experiences in the South Pacific! Another couple, aboard the sailboat "Quiet Time", are moored in Olympia's Swantown Marina, same as us. We are so glad we changed course and got to meet these wonderful people!
We transit Deception Pass at 12:30 p.m., and are on our way with plenty of sunshine and calm water.
Mt. Baker becomes visible in the Skagit Flats.
We reach Edmonds Marina just as a ferry is about to pull out and cross to Kingston. The visitor slips are full, but there is room for us in an empty slip.
Hot shore showers and a nice dinner in the shoreside Anthony's complete our day. And then there is the sunset . . .
Date: August 8, 2018
Time Start: 9 a.m.
Time Finish: 3 p.m.
Cruise From: Edmonds Marina
Cruise To: Penrose Point State Park
Engine Hours Start: 883
Engine Hours Finish: 889
Weather/sea conditions: Sun, clear skies, calm, haze, upper 80's to 90's
Another calm and beautiful morning greets us for continuing our cruise south in Puget Sound, back into the familiar waters of home. We cross toward Kingston, passing lots of small fishing boats as we leave Edmonds.
Time Start: 9 a.m.
Time Finish: 3 p.m.
Cruise From: Edmonds Marina
Cruise To: Penrose Point State Park
Engine Hours Start: 883
Engine Hours Finish: 889
Weather/sea conditions: Sun, clear skies, calm, haze, upper 80's to 90's
Another calm and beautiful morning greets us for continuing our cruise south in Puget Sound, back into the familiar waters of home. We cross toward Kingston, passing lots of small fishing boats as we leave Edmonds.
Seattle is just a cardboard cutout today, a shadow city in the morning haze. Seals are basking on the rocky islet near Blakely Harbor.
And then there are sea lions, rocking on the buoy, singing their song . . . what a chorus!
We note just a few boats at usually popular Blake Island. Near Pt. Defiance, shy porpoises arch near us. Home is growing closer! There is plenty of current to carry us through the Narrows and back into the waters of South Sound.
Following the shores of Fox Island and under the Fox Island Bridge, we arrive at Penrose Point State Park. It's buoy time!
Swims! And then our final dinner of this cruise, grilled chicken with fettucini al fredo and pea pods. The evening is beautiful with a memorable final sunset. It's a hot August night.
Date: August 9, 2018
Time Start: 1 p.m.
Time Finish: 5:30 p.m.
Cruise From: Penrose Point State Park
Cruise To: Swantown Marina, Olympia
Engine Hours Start: 889
Engine Hours Finish: 893
Weather/sea conditions: Sun, hot day, calm, hazy, mid 90's
A cormorant suns itself on the buoy next to us this morning.
Time Start: 1 p.m.
Time Finish: 5:30 p.m.
Cruise From: Penrose Point State Park
Cruise To: Swantown Marina, Olympia
Engine Hours Start: 889
Engine Hours Finish: 893
Weather/sea conditions: Sun, hot day, calm, hazy, mid 90's
A cormorant suns itself on the buoy next to us this morning.
The tide is super low, with rocks and bright green algae exposed on a long spit extending out to the point. We make time for some beach combing before the final leg of our cruise home today.
Cormorants are perched on the channel marker at Pitt Island. The water is glassy smooth. We are missing the normal mountain views as we head home. There is too much haze on this hot day.
A stop is made for refreshing swims (water is colder here!) off of Squaxin Island before cruising into a sizzling Olympia, the thermometer registering a toasty 94 degrees. We are back in our slip at Swantown, home. What a summer of cruising! So many memories!
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