Heading out through the large lock.
Boys in the cockpit in Port Townsend.
King of the Boat!Full Moon headed north to Port Townsend last Saturday to deliver Ian to the Centrum Jazz Workshop. Younger brother Daniel wanted in on the action, of course, so the boys went by sea while Vickie drove up Sunday to bring Ian’s sax and additional stuff for the workshop.
The planned 8:00 AM start from Lake Union was missed by half an hour Saturday and then the Fremont Bridge operator refused to open until 9:00 even though it wasn’t a week day. By the time we got to the locks, there were a good number of boats waiting. The good news: they opened the large lock to get everybody in. The bad news: it takes a long time to get everybody into the large lock and properly tied up!
The delays meant we’d need nearly perfect wind conditions to enjoy any sailing if we were to arrive in Port Townsend before the Point Hudson Marina office closed. It was a gorgeous sunny day, though, and the trusty Yamaha smoothly pushed Full Moon along at over 6 knots. (Ian the music man had fun trying to figure out all the harmonics of the motor and boat humming in tune.). The GPS told a different story of speed, of course, as tidal currents would be briefly favorable and then not so favorable. At least the flood tide would be slowing as we got to the area of Admiralty Inlet.
The trip was mostly uneventful until the wind began to build out of the north as we got past Point No Point. It was tempting to sail but the wind was right on our nose and we had an adverse current of 1 ½ knots. Sorry boys, no sailing yet! (Sailing and schedules don’t play well together.) Of course, the wind also brought some waves. At first this just meant the occasional bit of spray off the bow but by Bush Point every wave brought a blast of spray. How bad could it get? A detour to Port Ludlow was possible but we were already pretty far north…
The wind built to the mid-20s with gusts of 30 knots and Full Moon began to slam into waves, rattling the rigging like mad, while the boys huddled in the cabin. The boat could take it but would the boys be dying of mal de mer? Ian wasn’t enjoying the ride much but was okay while Daniel was dozing and doing just fine. On we went for a solid hour of bashing until we reached the haven of Point Hudson and there was even 30’ of dock space left at the side-tie dock (first come, first served) so we wouldn’t have to raft up.
After a shower for me and burgers at Nifty Fifties, it was time to head back to the boat to stow gear and lay out the sleeping bags. Daniel fired up his portable DVD player, Ian got his nose in a book and Dad just rested, though sleep would be long in coming for all of us as the wind continued to howl in the rigging and wavelets made gurgling noises against the hull.
Rising fairly early the next morning, it was time for showers and a Goldilocks breakfast. (The first restaurant was big but understaffed and promised a long wait. The second restaurant was small and kind of shabby with people at tables looking like they’d been waiting a while for food. The third restaurant, the Point Hudson Café, was just right – clean, bright and airy, pleasant staff, no waiting and, as it turned out, good food.) After a bit of shopping in the used book store, Vickie arrived in town. We all enjoyed a good lunch at the Public House Grill and then it was time to grab some supplies for the boat, gather Ian’s stuff, and drive him up to Fort Worden for the workshop. Vickie and Daniel then headed back for Seattle by car and I stayed another night in the marina to avoid coming home late in the dark.
A shower, another good breakfast at the Point Hudson Café, prep the boat for single-handing (important stuff all readily at hand, other stuff stowed away), and I was underway by 8:30 AM. A back-eddy brought GPS speeds of over 7 knots across Port Townsend Bay but then the ebb tide hit as I got to the tip of Marrowstone Island and I was down in the low 4 knot range. Another sunny day, though, and the current would stop and then reverse as I went south. The wind was light out of the north and not strong enough to make good time under sail.
As the day went on, the wind got stronger and I soon had a pretty good following sea – enough to surf a lot of waves (max speed on the GPS, 9.3 knots!) but a lot of work at the tiller to keep the boat on course. It was very tempting to sail but I was tired from Saturday and from not sleeping well and I knew it could be a challenge to lower and tie down the sails later by myself if the wind held or got stronger. And the wind did get stronger, though thankfully not gusting to 30!
After a fairly quick trip, I arrived off Shilshole and paused to rig fenders and mooring lines on both sides in preparation for the locks. I didn’t count on a lot of boats waiting at 1:30 PM on a Monday but there were more than enough to fill the small lock at least once. Then the Argosy boat showed up and exercised their priority as commercial traffic. More waiting. Finally, they opened the large lock. The Fremont Bridge would not open for boats between 4 and 6 PM – would I make it in time?
Second boat out of the lock at 3:35, two miles to Fremont, top speed 6.2 knots (with more wake than I like but clearly less than the big power boats) – it was just possible to make the bridge. 3:55 PM and I blew the horn and the bridge answered – they would open! 25 minutes later Full Moon was back in her home slip, journey over and only some clean-up to do. Was it worth two long days of motoring, the pounding of the waves, and the poor sleep as the wind howled through the marina? Saturday evening nine year old Daniel said “This is the best day of my life!!!” Ian couldn’t wait to tell the story of our trip north to his jazz buddies. Yeah, it was worth it!
The planned 8:00 AM start from Lake Union was missed by half an hour Saturday and then the Fremont Bridge operator refused to open until 9:00 even though it wasn’t a week day. By the time we got to the locks, there were a good number of boats waiting. The good news: they opened the large lock to get everybody in. The bad news: it takes a long time to get everybody into the large lock and properly tied up!
The delays meant we’d need nearly perfect wind conditions to enjoy any sailing if we were to arrive in Port Townsend before the Point Hudson Marina office closed. It was a gorgeous sunny day, though, and the trusty Yamaha smoothly pushed Full Moon along at over 6 knots. (Ian the music man had fun trying to figure out all the harmonics of the motor and boat humming in tune.). The GPS told a different story of speed, of course, as tidal currents would be briefly favorable and then not so favorable. At least the flood tide would be slowing as we got to the area of Admiralty Inlet.
The trip was mostly uneventful until the wind began to build out of the north as we got past Point No Point. It was tempting to sail but the wind was right on our nose and we had an adverse current of 1 ½ knots. Sorry boys, no sailing yet! (Sailing and schedules don’t play well together.) Of course, the wind also brought some waves. At first this just meant the occasional bit of spray off the bow but by Bush Point every wave brought a blast of spray. How bad could it get? A detour to Port Ludlow was possible but we were already pretty far north…
The wind built to the mid-20s with gusts of 30 knots and Full Moon began to slam into waves, rattling the rigging like mad, while the boys huddled in the cabin. The boat could take it but would the boys be dying of mal de mer? Ian wasn’t enjoying the ride much but was okay while Daniel was dozing and doing just fine. On we went for a solid hour of bashing until we reached the haven of Point Hudson and there was even 30’ of dock space left at the side-tie dock (first come, first served) so we wouldn’t have to raft up.
After a shower for me and burgers at Nifty Fifties, it was time to head back to the boat to stow gear and lay out the sleeping bags. Daniel fired up his portable DVD player, Ian got his nose in a book and Dad just rested, though sleep would be long in coming for all of us as the wind continued to howl in the rigging and wavelets made gurgling noises against the hull.
Rising fairly early the next morning, it was time for showers and a Goldilocks breakfast. (The first restaurant was big but understaffed and promised a long wait. The second restaurant was small and kind of shabby with people at tables looking like they’d been waiting a while for food. The third restaurant, the Point Hudson Café, was just right – clean, bright and airy, pleasant staff, no waiting and, as it turned out, good food.) After a bit of shopping in the used book store, Vickie arrived in town. We all enjoyed a good lunch at the Public House Grill and then it was time to grab some supplies for the boat, gather Ian’s stuff, and drive him up to Fort Worden for the workshop. Vickie and Daniel then headed back for Seattle by car and I stayed another night in the marina to avoid coming home late in the dark.
A shower, another good breakfast at the Point Hudson Café, prep the boat for single-handing (important stuff all readily at hand, other stuff stowed away), and I was underway by 8:30 AM. A back-eddy brought GPS speeds of over 7 knots across Port Townsend Bay but then the ebb tide hit as I got to the tip of Marrowstone Island and I was down in the low 4 knot range. Another sunny day, though, and the current would stop and then reverse as I went south. The wind was light out of the north and not strong enough to make good time under sail.
As the day went on, the wind got stronger and I soon had a pretty good following sea – enough to surf a lot of waves (max speed on the GPS, 9.3 knots!) but a lot of work at the tiller to keep the boat on course. It was very tempting to sail but I was tired from Saturday and from not sleeping well and I knew it could be a challenge to lower and tie down the sails later by myself if the wind held or got stronger. And the wind did get stronger, though thankfully not gusting to 30!
After a fairly quick trip, I arrived off Shilshole and paused to rig fenders and mooring lines on both sides in preparation for the locks. I didn’t count on a lot of boats waiting at 1:30 PM on a Monday but there were more than enough to fill the small lock at least once. Then the Argosy boat showed up and exercised their priority as commercial traffic. More waiting. Finally, they opened the large lock. The Fremont Bridge would not open for boats between 4 and 6 PM – would I make it in time?
Second boat out of the lock at 3:35, two miles to Fremont, top speed 6.2 knots (with more wake than I like but clearly less than the big power boats) – it was just possible to make the bridge. 3:55 PM and I blew the horn and the bridge answered – they would open! 25 minutes later Full Moon was back in her home slip, journey over and only some clean-up to do. Was it worth two long days of motoring, the pounding of the waves, and the poor sleep as the wind howled through the marina? Saturday evening nine year old Daniel said “This is the best day of my life!!!” Ian couldn’t wait to tell the story of our trip north to his jazz buddies. Yeah, it was worth it!
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