July 27 – 30th Sequim Bay State Park Zach Olivia and Jim, the crew

July 27 – 30th Sequim Bay State Park 

Zach and Olivia arrive for the stay with us and move onto the boat with fishing gear and poles, ever hopeful.  They fish off and on the whole 4 days netting a considerable number of dog fish (small sharks) and a handful of tiny (tiny!) sculpin and perch.  The dog fish are at least fun to catch and they fight well.  Getting the hook off of them is a challenge.  One person holds the fish against the boat while another uses needle nose pliers to extract the hook.  Even with this process Zach and Carl each feel the ‘sting’ of the dog fish as they writhe around and whap you with their tail stinger or even just their sandpaper skin.  A good soap and water wash and liquid skin patches up their wounds.

Crabbing is slow but they are able to put 10 Red rock and 4 Dungeness crab, fully cooked and cleaned into their cooler on ice for the trip home.  That helps to justify the cost of the out of state shell fish endorsement.  They get to experience using the dinghy to check crab traps and fish from each taking their turn rowing.   Zach purchases two new sets of needle nose pliers, one for Zach and Olivia and one for the boat to replace the set that went overboard from the dinghy.  They fall right into boat chores with Zach doing a potload of dishes and Olivia cooking us a great steak dinner.

Setting the crab pot in ET

One evening we watch the full moon come up behind the ridge that has a small, active forest fire.  We have been watching the helicopter fly down to Sequim Bay, scoop up a large bucket of water and fly back to find the best spot to drop water on the fire.  This goes on for hours. 



The smoke makes for a pretty red hazy moon rise.  We don’t realize until the next day that this was actually the night for the full lunar eclipse.  Carl took photos of the moon rise yet we did not stay up late enough to see the eclipse. 

Carl’s brother Jim arrives, spending one night in the campsite and the next night onboard with all of us since we had to vacate the dock after 3 consecutive nights.  Pam talks with the Park Ranger Drew to see why the state would prefer to give up a night of revenue rather than allow us to stay tied up for a fourth night.  He indicates that they do not have the latitude to allow us to stay even though that means the dock is completely empty for the night and the state loses that opportunity for revenue.  We, instead, anchor peacefully in the bay. 

We leave the dock one day to see if the fishing is any better further out.  It is not.  The next day with five of us onboard we decide to finally put up our asymmetrical spinnaker that has been new in its bag for almost six years.  Carl, Jim and Zach get if fully rigged using the sheets, sock, blocks and tackling that we have gathered up over the years.  Pam runs the boat and we all hold our breath as Carl raises the sock and the red white and blue spinnaker flies free for the first time.  Olivia and Jim run the sheets and Carl and Zach make sure everything is still properly functioning as we do a tack, then turn the boat and go back for another run. 

We can now check off another “first” that has held, at least for Pam, a certain degree of angst over making sure that we had everything in place and were hoisting it correctly, etc etc.  With zero knots of wind on the wind indicator we ghost along at about 2 knots, peaceful and quiet and feeling content in our success.  It helped tremendously that we had extra hands on deck to make this happen.  The next morning we watch the short video on the ATN website that shows us all how to fly your spinnaker using their ATN sock.  The video is set to captivating music that allows you to feel the peace and quiet and imagine that you are out there, drifting.  Zach watches and makes sure that, yes, we really did rig it all right.

Crab feast on the dock. Cheers!

Crab rodeo in the cockpit - watch your toes!

We settle in on the anchor for a peaceful night before we need to return to the dock and disembark Zach and Olivia.  After another lazy morning of coffee and books in the cockpit alas we need to take the crew to shore so they can return to work.  We are glad that Zach and Olivia got to see a pretty good rendition of how we spend many of our days onboard ExTerra and her trusty dinghy ET.  Thanks for joining us!

July 23 – 27 Port Madison to Poulsbo to Port Ludlow to Port Townsend to Sequim Bay

July 23 – 27 Port Madison to Poulsbo to Port Ludlow to Port Townsend to Sequim Bay

We have a few lazy days to pass before we get together with family at the Sequim Bay State Park. 

Leaving Port Madison we go through the narrow Agate Passage at slack.  What fun to see two innovative young men on surf boards as they ‘catch a wave’ on the wake of passing power boats.  Nicely tanned you can tell they have been doing this for quite some time.  We anchor out in Poulsbo, our first visit on the water here.  We looked at a few sailboats here years ago when we were on our three year quest to find our ‘perfect’ boat. 

The small Maritime Museum is nicely done with displays for the rich maritime history including an ancient video of life on a cod boat that fishes the Bering Sea returning with her hold full of cod for the local salt cod industry.  One panel shows the crew boat team that won the 1927 national title one of whom went on to help coach the U.S. team who rowed to victory against Germany in the 1936 Olympics, as artfully written about in the book “The Boys in the Boat.”  We have that book aboard, Carl having already devoured it and it is on Pam’s list to read. 

   We also visit the Longship Marine consignment store, one of few left on the west coast.  We put in a plug for Columbia Marine Exchange and ask the proprietor to spread the word about this wonderful business that is currently for sale.

We walk the aisles of the Liberty Bay Book Store, adding two used nautical books to the ship’s library.  We top off our shopping spree at the wonderful Sluys Bakery “Quality First from Little Norway.”  We enjoy a bakery delight each and grab a bag of their butterflake rolls that we enjoy for three nights, warmed by the barby or the engine heated hot water tank.   

We lazily spend the next few days catching as much of the ebb as we can and anchoring first in Port Ludlow and then in Port Townsend.  As always Port Townsend offers a display of boats of all shapes and sizes playing in the port from a tiny solar powered wood dinghy lazily fishing to early morning crew boats practicing.  Who knows, perhaps another Olympic gold medalist is in our midst.

Of concern in this area is timing travel to avoid perils at the Point Wilson rip which makes it a bit of a slow slog to Sequim Bay.  Tied up to the Sequim Bay State Park dock we await family for the upcoming weekend.  We chat with other folks who enjoy the dock, some sipping a glass of wine, others fishing and crabbing, each with their own unique stories to share.

July 20 – 23 Port Angeles – Port Townsend – Port Madison

July 20 – 23 Port Angeles – Port Townsend – Port Madison

We depart Port Angeles on the rising tide for a nice push up to Port Townsend.  We also time it so that we hit Point Wilson rip at a ‘safe’ time.  It can be quite unsettling if you hit it at the wrong time.  We anchor near the ferry dock and watch the evening anchoring rodeo with two large power boats nearly crashing into a sailboat and then getting so close to each other that they knock the dinghy off the stern of one of their own boats.  Needless to say their effort to tie up together is aborted and they each anchor by themselves.  All is calm once again.

Leaving Port Townsend on the rising tide again we get another nice push down Admiralty Inlet to the delightful Port Madison Yacht Club for a reciprocal stay.  Our main reason for this location is to meet our long time friend Cindy and her friend Steve, who are visiting Steve’s brother just a short walk from the yacht club.  At one point Cindy was Pam’s boss, then co-worker but the most enduring relationship over the time that we have known one another is good friend.  

Over the years we have had some great talks over a glass of red wine.  This time is no different and by the end of the visit we have thoroughly covered a great variety of topics.  Steve treats us all to a delicious breakfast at a classic streetcar diner, the Madison Diner on Bainbridge Island where we talk for a couple more hours over copious amounts of coffee.  It has been nice to get to know Steve and hear of their mutual love of the outdoors and the importance to them both of family.  The time comes though when they need to head south to explore Mt. St. Helens and we head back to the boat to do a couple, thankfully small, maintenance tasks.  We vow to not wait so long to get together again.  

The rest of our leisurely day is spent reading and watching the local antics of tiny tot sailors, paddle boarders and locals enjoying their waterway.  And of course……fishing and crabbing.  Carl’s ‘crab hawk’ (small crab net on a fishing pole) is prolific in its production of small crab and one beautiful barnacled “Betty” who is large enough to keep yet from her appearance, has earned the right of time to be returned to the water to let her live out her days.

July 18 - 20 Neah Bay to Port Angeles

July 18 -  20  Neah Bay to Port Angeles   With gale force warnings scheduled for late tonight we decide to start our 60 mile trip to Port Angeles.  If the high winds materialize too soon we will most likely anchor in Crescent Bay again.  We make it most of the way with no issues.  There is a good hour however where our “nerve wracking fun” is more nerve wracking than we like.  It is amazing how some wind against swell can pick up your 20,000 pound boat and put its stern where it wants to!  Nonetheless we make it into Port Angeles.

We have ‘appointments’ in Port Angeles, one with Customs to fill out our current I-68 border crossing form and another at Napa Auto to pick up the new spare alternator that Carl ordered.  Continuing our exercise regime we load the laundry on our back and hike 2 miles to the Napa/Laundromat area.  Carl then hikes back to the boat and back to Napa to bring the OLD alternator in.  We then hike two miles back to the boat with the pulleys torque onto the new alternator (thank you Napa) and nice clean laundry.

Two years ago Pam wrote a letter to the editor mentioning that the Boat Haven was really missing the boat, pun intended, by not having a laundry facility at the dock when they are a major stopping point for people headed to all 4 points of the compass on the Salish Sea.  Lo and behold the new Laundromat building is almost complete and will be in place next time.  At least we won’t have to schlep the laundry the 4 mile round trip even if we Do need to hike to Napa

We sit two nights, taking on fresh water and inflating the dinghy while the gales in the Straits blow themselves out.

July 16 - 17 Astoria to Neah Bay overnight

July 16 - 17     With a close eye to the weather window we depart West Basin, Astoria at 0830.  This is the most civilized hour of the day that we have ever departed Astoria, usually we are donning our long johns and cranking the motor around 0300.  We head out into some pretty choppy slop, trusting that the weather is correct and that the seas will calm a bit by Grey’s Harbour.  We pass a basically uneventful 22 hours until Carl wakes Pam up at 0600 from her off duty hours to go out and tie down halyards that have somehow ripped our steaming light off of the mast.  

Many folks have asked us how far off the coast we travel.  We average about 10 miles out and follow the "Tow Line."  Loren told us about the "Tow Line" a few years ago and we now have it plotted on our charts, electronic and paper.  While there is no guarantee, it is agreed that no crab pots will be within this one mile wide swath along the coast.  We do still however see 4 sets of crab pots on this overnight trip again.

 After fueling at the Neah Bay Makah fuel dock we anchor out, having completed a 31 hour transit up the coast.  Carl, ever determined, dons climbing gear and hoists himself up to the steaming light with winds of around 20 knots blowing by.  Chuck and crew on Puffin supervise from their nearby anchorage. 

Carl successfully re-attaches the steaming light and safely returns to the deck.  We have a nice chat with Chuck on the phone and then it is pork chops on the barby and a beverage to celebrate getting up the coast in one piece yet again.

July 12 - 15 2018 Home port to Astoria

July 12 – 15 Home to Astoria 2018

We left the house around 0730 for our short day trip to one of our favorite places to tie up, the relaxing, small Longview Yacht Club.  After a nice visit with Dave, their friendly welcoming committee, we enjoyed a relaxing evening followed by a 0630 departure for Astoria the next morning.

We always enjoy seeing different vessels along the way like this research vessel and the Stern Wheeler.

The last leg of the Astoria trip was slogging into the incoming tide.  We also noticed that the alternator seemed to stop charging the batteries.  With our trip off to a “normal” start, we then spent 12 hours over the next two days installing our spare alternator.  We were quite thankful that we had had Barb and Craig bring us the spare years ago when they drove to Ladysmith B.C. to join us on the boat.

People sometimes ask us how do you keep busy and/or stay fit on a boat for so long.  Our alternator issue meant a 2 mile round trip walk to Napa to get troubleshooting gadgets.  Once Carl determined the issue with the alternator we broke off a bolt trying to remove the old alternator.  No amount of PV Blaster and pounding with a hammer would budge the bolt.  We had to drill it out.  That meant a 4 mile round trip walk to the local hardware store for more bolts and other miscellaneous items.  This is but one example of how we combine staying busy with staying fit! 

We finished drilling and pounding and Carl successfully installed the new alternator.  Thankfully our 3 mile round trip walk the next evening was for some great BBQ and a movie!

As you can see the old bolt is quite dead, beheaded and drilled.  One of the items purchased at the hardware store was the Goop since the Gojo was not cutting through the grease on our four grease monkey hands.