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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Osprey Nest Tanglewood Island |
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