August 13 – 25 Middle Puget Sound Reciprocals

 

We pass by the pretty church as we leave Tanglewood Island anchorage for our short, two hour hop up into Gig Harbor.  We go easily through the Tacoma Narrows on the slack with Aiden at the helm.  Today he planned the course and skippered the ship into the dogleg entrance of Gig Harbor, weaving his way through the numerous kayakers and other floating humans.  He and Papa select an anchorage spot and we drop the hook. 

We chose not to tie up to the Gig Harbor reciprocal dock since we were not sure what the depth would be.  They did however graciously allow us to use their showers and tie up our dinghy so we could do “town chores.”  We take delivery of our larger grocery order, having ordered online for it to be delivered to the dock.  A run through the showers and we are ready to poke around this end of the harbor on foot.  We make our dinner selections at one of the local eateries and dine overlooking the harbor at the small park. 

Given the predicted winds we decide to stay three nights on the hook.  Aiden happily dons our climbing gear and scrambles easily to the top of the mast.  We have found our mast monkey!  We have a 4 to 1 rope with hardware allowing the climber to personally pull themselves up and down the mast with a person on the cabin top keeping control of the safety line.  We have a harness typically used by first responders and a climber’s “ascender” hardware that serves as a “brake.”  

Aiden quickly figures out the system and pulls himself aloft.  We have him check the spreader boots while he is up there.   

When he is back on the cabin top, he then does what he actually, really wanted to do in the first place.  He climbs over the lifelines while on the climbing rig and swings and runs along the outside of the boat, happy as a clam for a good half an hour.  He says “this is what I really wanted to do,” to which I reply “yes, but by having you climb the mast you now know your gear and trust it well enough to enjoy your playtime!” He gets a few odd looks by passersby but continues to swing and run for quite some time.

We enjoy the anchorage, watching the myriad of equipment used by people enjoying their time on the water.  This includes standup paddle boards, kayaks, dinghies, an authentic gondola, and the class of very young sailors skittering around in their very small sailboats. 

Gig Harbor

A particular pair of kayaks get my attention when I see them out the corner of my eye.  Last I saw them they were on the stern of the large powerboat anchored by us.  Now my peripheral vision tells me they are right at out boat!  Sure enough, as I jump up and call to Carl, I grab our round fender ball and fend off the power boat that has slipped its anchor and come up against our boat.  Carl and Aiden spring into action as well, one with the boat hook and one with long arms.  At the same time the woman on the powerboat reaches out to push our bow and the skipper revs their motor to pull them away from us.  We all determine that they have drug anchor and they hastily retrieve their anchor and go anchor further away.  It is a good example for Aiden as to why I keep our fender ball tied with a quick slip knot. 

As the evening draws to a close, we enjoy live music from the top deck of a nearby powerboat, another benefit of sometimes anchoring in more urban locals.

Smeagol covered in coffee grounds

This morning we find the coffee grounds that I ended up throwing on Smeagol last evening when I rinsed the coffee pot.  Old habits die hard.  I’m not used to having anything tied up on the port stern.  Easily washed off, we get Smeagol and ET3 tied down and ready to depart.

Crammed into the anchor locker

As Carl begins to pull the anchor, he finds that the windlass is not working.  Carl goes through our normal checks, switch, fuse, breaker and then wiring.  With Aiden squeezed up into the anchor locker and Carl above him in the anchor well they branch across some wires and get spark.  We are back in business somehow and have not had another problem with it.  This saves me from having to fully climb into the anchor locker which is great because for me to get back Out of the locker is quite a feat!   

We depart Gig Harbor for the four-hour cruise to Blake Island.  We anchor on the quiet, south side.  Carl does catch and release fishing, pulling up a good number of rock fish.  One giant quill back is probably older than we are.  Giant, gnarly and lots of character, we slip him easily back into the water.  We enjoy an absolutely stunning sunset.  I wish we had caught the name of the boat so we could send them the photo.  Aiden quickly learns how to hang the hammock on the foredeck and enjoys swaying in the light breeze.  We enjoy watching the beer, eagles, geese and even a mink as they work their way along the shore close to the boat.

Happy Camper

Happy Camper

Pacific Sanddab Blakely Harbour

Off we go to anchor in Port Blakely, another quiet urban anchorage with numerous homes dotting the shore and lots of room for boats to swing on their anchors.  Our main excitement here was to change the oil at 100 hours on the hour meter exactly.  Carl also caught a new to him species, Pacific Sanddab, which is a spotted flounder.  The small local crabs also like his fishing lures.   

 

One night on the hook and then we head to Winslow in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island.  The local yacht club is not currently allowing visitors but we find an open spot on the very nice, reasonably priced, Bainbridge Island City dock.  It is time to launder all the blankets as they are starting to smell like Davey Jones locker with all the salt air residue so we are glad to find the dock space.  All three of us head up the hill to do the laundry, glad that the laundromat is pretty close.

 

State Ferry Maintenance Facility Winslow

Winslow is home to the Washington State Ferry maintenance facility and the long row of ferries break the noise and wakes from the regular Winslow/Seattle ferry process.

There is a nice waterfront walk to enjoy, a small marine chandlery and a good variety of small eateries.  Aiden enjoys taking photos of oddities he finds and I enjoy taking photos of him taking photos.  Back at the boat he sets up the hammock and once again settles in to read. 

 

Hammock Straps installed

Come on...you can do it!

This harbor has another nice assortment of on the water activities.  We even get to watch some small youngsters turtle their sailboat so that they can then practice righting it back up.  Two of them struggle for quite sometime and then a larger person adds his weight to the process and they are able to pull the boat right side up, all sails still intact.  The instructor meanwhile is standing by and issuing words of encouragement.  

On the road again we have another short hop to Kingston and a reciprocal with the Kingston Cove Yacht Club.  This slip is housed in the Port of Kingston marina at Mike Wallace Park.  Just as we have made the turn into the slip a big gust of wind comes up.  The neighbor takes the bow rope but the stern is blown onto the next finger dock.  I coil and throw the stern rope which fall short as they often do.  I recoil and throw again and the neighbors pulls us fast to the dock.  In the meantime, I’m told later, Aiden has jumped off of our boat, pushed the stern away from the finger dock, and jumped back on ExTerra.  I don’t get to witness the shenanigans but it sounds like his youth and agility definitely helped save the day!  

Crepes....Yum!

Sadly, there is no Saturday market but there sure is a great creperie.  We enjoy sweet and savory crepes each day.  We also find a good burger and TAKE out dark beer.  Sweet!

Our big excursion here is the two-mile round trip to the hardware store in search of 5 feet of PVC pipe.  Aiden, ever our packhorse, slings it and my carryall bag over his shoulder and looks like a hobo.  

Found our piece of pipe finally!

Back at the boat Carl and I install the pipe on a life line to serve as a roller for when we offload our dinghy.  We steel this idea from our good friends Walt and Odile.  We do not get to see them this year but we follow Odile on her 10-day backpack trip via the GPS link provided by Walt.  Our trip does not quite seem complete without tying up to their hull and enjoying great food, comradery and rousing games of cards.  Speaking of cards, we have been playing Hearts on board and Carl maintains his lead over Aiden and me.  

While Carl and I install the pipe, Aiden takes our empty 5-gallon diesel can to the fuel dock to get it filled and yards it back to the boat.  This should keep us just fine until we fill up at Port Angeles for the trek back down the coast.

Diesel fun

Our next two days find us in another very nice reciprocal.  We luck out as we turn into Port Ludlow and see that the recip dock is completely empty.  By the time we tie up we are just in time to catch the ropes for another sailboat and just like that, the 80 feet of recip dock is full once again. 

Port Ludlow Yacht Club

The dock crew checks to make sure that we are not hanging out into the fairway.  It soon becomes obvious why that is important as numerous float planes taxi by just at our stern as well as a parade of folks going to and from the fuel dock and pump out.  This is a very easy access fuel dock and pump out which we need to remember for next time we are in the area.

The first time we came to Port Ludlow was by land.  We drove up to participate in a rendezvous of Islander Freeport owners.  We had purchased ExTerra but she was not quite ready to make the trip up the coast, or at least we were not quite ready to make that trip!  We had fun and learned a lot about our type of boat.  As with many owner groups they have fun, swap stories, and gladly show off their improvements they have made to their boats.  They also maintain a website, FOGers, that has an absolute wealth of information about the boats, parts, issues, member blogs, and photos.  A very prolific accumulation of information from a group of competent, proud owners.

Aiden and Nana Port Ludlow Falls

Hailing Port "Earth"

The next day we take off for a hike to the falls.  The falls is not huge by any means but it is a nice interpretive hike with signs that discuss a bit of the history of logging and also identify the variety of species of trees in the area.  At the falls we enjoy reading our books.  We also get to watch a river otter in the creek as he swims and dives and comes up with something to eat.  Then we make our way back to the village for a meal at a local eatery and then back to the boat.  

Reading at Port Ludlow falls

We did decide that we would do some dining out this trip to put our small amount of money towards helping the local economies.  As with most communities COVID has hit small coastal communities pretty hard during the height of their tourist season.  We do appreciate the safe practices that we encounter and the courtesy of everyone on the docks as we walk about, masks on, to and from our boats.

Tomorrow we leave the mid Puget Sound area and head to Port Townsend.  We have had some very nice places to tie up due to the gracious hospitality of fellow Yacht Clubs and the marina staff we encounter.

Kingston Ferry

Extracting a redrock from the crab hawk contraption

Morning visitors

Aiden gets his dog fix

Sunset Blake Island

August 3 – 13 State Park Buoy Hopping and South Sound Anchorages

Squid!

The north side of McMicken is quite crowded with boats so we opt to anchor on the south side and have a couple nice evenings on the hook.  We have not yet tried the 2.5 horse Lehr propane motor on our new to us Walker Bay 8 dinghy so we decide now is a good time to do that.  With two in the dinghy and Pam in the kayak we venture around the end of the island in search of oysters.  In the beached dinghy Aiden reads his book while Pam and Carl comb the beech.  No oysters are found.  We did not find any last time we were here either.  We do try some squid jigging after dark using our spotlight but they too are non-existent.  Perhaps the one that Carl caught earlier in the day was a fluke.

 

Carl and Smeagol at the oyster bed

We weigh anchor and with Aiden at the helm we sail for a couple of hours in Case Inlet and head for Tolmie State Park to pick up a buoy.  I purchased an annual park pass online so we don’t have to hike ashore and try to find and stuff the fee box each time.  Carl takes off in Smeagol, the kayak again in search of oysters.  

Smeagol is named, of course, due to an inside joke on the boat.  Carl is in luck this time and Aiden is adventurous enough to at least try an oyster.  I was not quick enough on the shutter to get the photo of the oyster promptly exiting his mouth!  He tried one nonetheless, as he said he would.  I’m pretty sure he was thankful that we had him make mac and cheese for dinner as well.  Carl on the other hand was quite happy with his oysters with garlic butter.

The next morning, I broke out the new to the boat Omnia stove top oven.  I have not completely given up on our propane oven but I do want to give the Omnia a good test.  I make cinnamon rolls, which are a hit whereby I grant the Omnia continued stowage in the pan cubby.

Next stop is a slight backtrack to Zittel’s Marina and their pump out.  It Works!  It is convenient, works well and a welcome change from having to jockey around for dock space or find a pump out that is in working order.  We thank Zittel’s for having a pump out that is easy to tie up to and actually works!  We also stock up on some snacks in their store.  Very friendly, helpful people at this small working marina.

Then it is on the road again, another short hop up to Eagle Island State Park and a buoy on the east side of the island.  We take to kayak and dinghy and Aiden cleverly ties up Smeagol to ET so he is under tow with Papa at the oars of the dinghy.  We beach to personal water crafts and comb the beaches, Papa digging for clams, Nana looking for shells and snapping photos of Aiden who has found and is enjoying, a rope swing.  A few clams in the bucket and off we go back to ExTerra. 

We know that we are in an area of current rips and find one near the boat.  We had earlier talked about what to do if we encounter a current.  Aiden in the lead in the kayak puts the plan into action, heads for the shore and tows his kayak along side while he wades along the beach.  We quickly do the same with the dinghy.  We get up stream of the boat, hop back in our water craft and row like mad to the boat.  Aiden arrives first, climbs up and over the life lines (oh to be so lithe and limber!) and drops the swim ladder so we too can get back on the boat.  The neighbor watched us from his cockpit on his lovely small Ranger Tug Gratitude.

Back on board we chat about what just happened and the lessons learned and are thankful that we had talked about the potential of current earlier today.  Then we watch as the tide goes out, the seals move into the island and the sun sets on another day.

McNeil Island Corrections Facility

Another short hop today as we continue on around McNeil Island.  This island is home to both a state corrections facility and a wildlife reserve.  The staff reside in homes that were built by settlers in the early 1900s.  The sprawling complex has a storied past and an unpredictable future based on budgetary concerns.  We see a whale skeleton next to one of the many no trespassing signs and continue on towards Penrose State Park that is on the Key Peninsula.  Must make good use of the park buoy pass!

Whale Skeleton McNeil Island

We enjoy a couple of peaceful nights on the Penrose Park buoys with a very nice view of Mt. Rainier.  We dinghy ashore and try to find the park trails.  Alas, we end up skirting the park on small country roads, entering at the park entrance.  One of Carl’s croc sandals comes apart at the strap and for a couple of days I have Jimmy Buffet’s “blew out my flip flop” stuck in my mind.  Not a bad ear worm tune for a sail boater!  Thankfully we have a spare set of sandals in our drybag, even though they are quite large for Carl.  Aiden has surpassed all of us in his shoe size.

We meet our goal of finding the showers and then enjoy the actual trail system as we find our way back to ExTerra.  Carl and Aiden take off in ET with Aiden at the tiller of our 2.5 horse Lehr motor.  It is his day to learn how to use the motor and he and Papa take off for Mayo Cove in search of ice cream.  I take this time to mend Carl’s sandal and it is probably good for another few years.

Can it go any faster?

The next morning, with Aiden at the helm we take off for Cutts State Park.  This tiny island park has no trails to speak of.  The book says there are 9 buoys, often vacant.  We find only one buoy!  It is vacant however so Aiden lays down on the deck to snag the ring since it is cockeyed enough that our boat hook won’t grab it.  By lunch time we are enjoying a quiet time in the cockpit.  Then the party animals start to arrive…..in droves!  They pile onto the small island and commence to party and frolic in the surf, walking out onto the long spit which makes them appear to be walking on water.  Kids enjoy tempting fate on the spit and wade along into deeper and deeper water as the spit peters out.  

Meanwhile a whale watching boat out past the island alerts all to the presence of Orca and we watch off and on for their familiar tall, dark fin.  We see a group of three that goes further up into the bay and eventually the tour boat turns and departs.

A friendly local on a standup paddle board stays and chats with us for a while.  She says they don’t get many sailboats in this area and asks about our boat, and whether or not we really came all the way from Portland.  We have the cruising version of the Islander and it turns out they had sold their smaller, lighter weight version Islander just last year.  I ask her about the single park buoy and she explains that, according a park employee whom she knows, they removed many of them to put distance between boats due to COVID.  This makes no sense to me and it obviously has not stopped the beach from becoming a magnet for partygoers.

Cutts Island State Park

We are treated to a nice sunset and are glad when the loud music stops and all boats depart, seemingly safely.   The next morning the party animals are quite different and definitely quieter!  Nearly 100 seals have reclaimed the beach and are apparently sound asleep stretching out along the spit where just last evening youngsters had waded.  As the tide moves in, the spit disappears, as do the seals, one by one as their beach disappears under the incoming tide.

Cutts Island reclaimed by the seals

We too decide to depart after Aiden and I spend a considerable amount of time untangling our bow lines from the buoy.  We motor around Kitsap Peninsula and find a nice quiet, albeit very suburban, well protected anchorage on the SE side of Tanglewood Island.  The shore is lined with attractive homes, and the bay is crisscrossed by water skiers, some of whom seem to enjoy the challenge of a slalom along the small buoys in front of the houses.  An active Osprey nest goes from raucous to quiet depending on when the adults bring the youngins a morsel of food.

SE Tanglewood Island Anchorage

As evening comes and goes, so do many of the people, enjoying their decks and front porches and their beautiful waterfront view.  Tomorrow we go back through Tacoma Narrows, ending our South Puget Sound adventure.

Osprey Nest Tanglewood Island

July 27th through August 3rd Urban Excursions

July 27^th through August 3^rd Urban Excursions

To catch favorable currents, we leave our Sequim Bay buoy around 0715 and tie up about 4 hours later in Port Townsend in hopes of using the pump out.  All of Puget Sound is a no discharge zone so pump outs are important.  They are, in a lot of instances, provided by funds from recreational fees and funding from state, federal and some private monies.  The frustration has sometimes been that they either don’t work or the docks are so full of boats you cannot get to them.  In this case the dock was free but the pump out had issues, there was a slice in the hose which led to, well, let’s just say it was not fun for Aiden to try his first hand at using the pump out.  We reported the issue and anchored out for the evening.

Catching the morning currents in a typical dense fog we motored out into Admiralty Inlet for an approximately 40 mile run to Blake Island.  Our PA blasted our fog horn regularly and we tracked a lot of other bogies on AIS and radar.  We upgraded our VHF radio a couple years back since you could either have the fog PA OR the AIS.  We now have both and it makes for less tense travels through frequent fog.

Tillicum Village Blake Island

The 7-hour run was uneventful and we tied up to one of the Blake Island State Park buoys, with a nice night time cityscape of Seattle and the Space Needle.  It was so nice when I hooked the buoy and the ring actually came up towards out boat, unlike the “frozen” chains on the Sequim Bay buoys.  Aiden deftly tied the bowline to the ring and we retired to the cockpit for a relaxing evening.

We chose to come to Blake Island this time to take in the Tillicum Village experience.  Blake Island, once fully owned by the Trimble family, is now entirely a State Park with the exception of Tillicum Village.  Tillicum Village, while not an actual native American village is a nicely done venue constructed for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.  The longhouse is a combination of styles according to the guide and normally is the location for a live performance of native dances and storytelling.  In the age of COVID they do still provide a meal and short guided walks and cultural presentations.   

Longhouse Fishbake Pit

Our guide started by explaining the method they were using to cook salmon for our meal, fire roasted on cedar sticks.  It was delicious!  

After a meal of clams in broth, fire roasted salmon, juniper encrusted chicken, rice and a blackberry cobbler finish, our guide gave us a nice run down on all of the ceremonial paraphernalia on display in the longhouse.  He described how each group of masks is used in the dances and told us much of the stories that we would have heard in a live performance as he worked his way through the longhouse displays.  The venue strives to provide an experience that gives you a glimpse into the Coastal Salish tribal history as well as some of the other tribes from British Columbia and up into Alaska. 

Fire Roasted Salmon

We also did a short nature hike which included a stop at the Trimble family homesite.  The dreams of the Trimble’s for the island died when Mrs. Trimble tragically drowned.  Mr. Trimble left the island, never to return; the home, lovingly constructed by Mr. Trimble and gardens created and tended by Mrs. Trimble, have burned to the ground and been overgrown. 

Of the two experiences, the nature hike and the native heritage talks Aiden said he more fully enjoyed learning about the native culture and seeing all of the tribal regalia.  He polished off most of his salmon as well but let me have his cobbler!  Yum!

Nice lunch topped off with a slice of lemon!

Trimble House History

Guide's depiction of traditional dance and story telling

Side note, the pump out at the park was not in service.

Continuing our urban excursion, we moved on down the Sound to Tacoma, the goal, a reciprocal at the Tacoma Yacht Club.  We first tied up to the pump out dock, only to find out that the hose was too short to reach to the only spot on the extensive dock that was not taken up by either derelict, long term (chained to the dock) boats or small boats tied up for an overnight after a day of fishing.  We left that dock and tied up at the Tacoma Yacht Club with a friendly, helpful gate keeper helping us tie up and explaining their reciprocal process.  Unfortunately, the only spot left on their guest moorage was close to the bank and after a careful reading of the depth and the tide charts for the next two days, we pulled the dock lines and went back to the Pt. Defiance Park dock and tied up.  Aiden is definitely getting some good practice at tying to a dock in varying conditions!

Pt. Defiance Pump Out frustration

Carl and I did an “out and about” walking into Pt. Ruston in search of a good dark beer.  We found one at the Stack 571 Whiskey Bar and washed down a mighty fine burger with a nice porter.  Pt. Ruston has done a great revitalization at the site of the old aluminum mill and there are now a series of shops and lodging opportunities.  We returned to the boat with a “to go” burger and fries for Aiden.  He said he realized that next time he would like to go with us on our “out and about.”  

Early the next morning we were able to “walk” ExTerra around a 90-degree corner and pull her up to the pump out space THANKFULLY!  And this pump out Works!  I might recommend a longer hose or fewer derelict boats but for now we are pumped out and tidy once again.

Pt. Defiance dock next to the ferry

Then for our excursion.  We walked up into Pt. Defiance park since Aiden was definitely interested in going through the aquarium.  The zoo and aquarium have reopened and I must say, they have done a great job accommodating visitors while keeping crowds down and traffic flowing.  Not every exhibit was open but all were easy to see, people were patient, and every person except one, was wearing a mask.  The ticketing process was all on your phone, no money nor tickets changed hands, and that was true at the food venues as well.  We enjoyed a nice lunch and of course….Ice Cream, Aiden’s treat for us.

Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

Communing with the Gibbon

We will return to the Tacoma Yacht Club in the future if it works out.  The location is handy for a run through the Tacoma Narrows at slack.  The person who helped us was quite friendly and he too felt that hopefully next time there is room on the inside of the dock which would give us plenty of water under our keel.

Speaking of a run through the Narrows, we turned the motor on around 1030 and moseyed through the Narrows on the slack before the flood, destination Olympia Yacht Club for another reciprocal.

The Olympia Yacht Club sits at the far end of Budd Inlet so shallow water again yet just enough more depth to make us sleep easy at night.  Another very friendly reciprocal host, Robert met us at the dock after I called him to let him know I was not sure where the guest dock was.  We found it just as he made his way down.  He was able to get another guest to move up (rather than taking their spot out of the middle of two spots), he had them also move their very large dinghy to the side of their boat and then we were able to shoehorn ourselves in with folks on the dock to take our lines.  The capital building overlooks the moorage and the boardwalk stretches quite a distance along the inlet, a nice setting for a reciprocal.  

We did a mosey up to the Olympia Farmer’s market, well worth the time and we returned to the boat with fresh blue berries, beets and some yummy baked items.  The waterfront boardwalk from the marina to the market is dotted with a nice variety of statues, a local contest. We also stocked up on a few items at the Thriftway that is right next door to the yacht club. 

That the book in the statue had writing in it intrigued Aiden

On one of our return trips to the boat Carl said “Is that the same Bright Angel that we met down south?”  Sure enough, we ventured over to see Bob and Linda sitting in their cockpit much the same as we remember them from when we met them in 2011 when we sailed on someone else’s boat off the coast of Mexico. 

We chatted like it was yesterday, with the four of us remembering fondly coastal cruising off the coast of Mexico.  We think we met them in Tenacatita, they on their Mason 44 and we on an Ingrid 38 with Captain Blye.  They said we were the topic of many discussions amongst the cruisers as they all wondered how we survived our 6 weeks on Captain Bly’s boat.  We did abandon ship early, getting off in Barra.  Bob and Linda’s friend helped us find a hotel for ten days until our plane tickets home.  We enjoyed our time OFF the boat while staying in a simple hotel in Melaque that had an open-air shared kitchen and a patio view of the anchorage.  We too had fond memories of their help and support as we met them off and on during our 6-week cruising.  We visited with them briefly a couple of times while we were at OYC.  We both mentioned that it felt odd to not simply invite each other over for snacks and sun downers in the cockpit but given the age of COVID we opted for distanced chats on the dock.  What a nice surprise to reconnect with folks whom we truly enjoyed getting to know all those years ago.

Pack full of beet greens - Olympia Farmer's Market

Another evening venture uptown in search of…..yes, a burger and dark beer.  We opted for McMenamin’s Spar Café in the relatively close historic district of Olympia.  The burger was great, a new porter worth the walk, and a small pepperoni pizza for Aiden.  He topped it off with a black and tan brownie.  I will say that the ‘historic district’ is rather run down but the visit to the Spar Café was worth it.  In McMenamin fashion they purchased and lovingly renovated a local icon, allowing it to continue as a piece of local history.  Family owned for 60 years before the McMenamin brothers purchased it the Spar has served the local longshoremen, students and politicians for decades.  The mighty fine porter was brewed with the 3300-year-old water from the artesian well, in the basement of this fine establishment.  We love the care that the McMenamins take with their venues and this one was definitely up to their normal par.

McMenamin's Spar Cafe - Olympia

The next day Aiden and I schlepped the laundry up the hill to the laundromat, washed, dried, folded and found ice cream on the walk back.  After another brief visit with Bob and Linda we set sail for the McMicken Island anchorage our urban excursions over for now.  We have made it as far south as we had planned and now, we are officially turning towards home with a much slower schedule planned to work our way back home.

Enjoying the small park on the way back from the laundromat - Capitol building in the background