Please understand that any typos you may find in these blog entries are INTENTIONAL. We try to include something for everyone and we know that many people (such as my brother-in-law) enjoy finding typos. We therefore try to provide a few in every entry.
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08/24/2009, TYC Eagle Harbor outstation, Bainbridge Island
The last gate is behind us. It didn't go quietly. But to go back...
Diane abandoned ship on Saturday, the 22nd, heading home to begin dealing with her obligations as president of the TYC Shipmates. Keith Langford, who was part of the crew that brought Dreamtime to Friday Harbor back in June, returned to help take the boat home again.
So we left Friday Harbor at 0845 Sunday morning. The always superbly accurate weather forecast called for winds "west 10-15" in the Straits. We rode the ebb out through Cattle Pass and through the tide rips outside the Pass. No worries, we thought, the winds are going to be light in the Strait. That was when it occurred to us that the Cosmic Forces pay absolutely NO attention to the drivel coming out of the U.S. Weather Service and NOAA. The "10-15 knot" winds were, in fact, somewhere in the 20-25 knot range. And when they hit the ebb coming out of Cattle Pass and down Rosario Strait, the result was a confused mass of waves coming at us from every direction.
The most comfortable line was slightly downwind, which had us headed east of Smith Island rather than toward Pt. Wilson. So, every few minutes, we'd try to pick a "smooth spot" and turn up to the west. This meant crashing right into the teeth of the westerly wind and waves. Then we'd turn back downwind, taking the waves on the beam for awhile. Beam seas are definitely NOT Dreamtime's forte. The worst part was the noise. Everything moveable slid back and forth, occasionally being launched across the cabin or crashing to the floor. Miraculously, nothing broke, though Keith kept busy for awhile running around the cabin catching things before they could hit the floor. At one point, one of our big 7-gallon water jugs departed from its position on the mid-deck and landed on the aft deck. The impact was enough to send me running back to see if the dinghy was still with us.
We'd timed our run to arrive at Pt. Wilson just as the tide turned to flood. Unfortunately, while the tide had changed at the point, it had NOT changed out in the Straits north of the point. The infamous Point Wilson Rip was in full operation and the continuing ebb slowed our progress to a scant 5 knots. So we got to sit in it even LONGER. We finally got around Pt. Wilson a little before 1300. After that, things calmed down.
We rode the flood on down Admiralty Inlet. By the time we got to Pt. No Point, the water was flat glass calm. Hardly recognizable as the same day! Finally, at about 1730, we arrived at the TYC outstation in Eagle Harbor.
Dreamtime is almost home. From here, we'll take her to the TYC main station for a few days since our slip in Gig Harbor is subleased to someone else until the end of the month.
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08/20/2009, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island
Our plan worked. We got here about 1000, just as the early-risers were leaving and before too many others with the same idea as us arrived. To no one's surprise, the place is packed��"a far cry from what it looked like when we arrived here back on June 1.
The wind is howling out of the south and coming "straight off the Straits" so it's decidedly cool. The long-range forecast calls for it to die down over the next couple of days, so it looks good for a Sunday departure and crossing of Juan de Fuca. The next dilemma is exactly what to do and where to go from there. The tides are good for getting out of here and into Admiralty Inlet. But if we stop in Port Townsend, we'll have a big fat ebb to contend with most of the day on Monday. The alternative is an LFD on Sunday, trying to make it all the way down to Eagle Harbor. That would, in turn, put us only a few hours from home but with no slip to return to and a whole lot of days to be "homeless." 'Tis a problem, to be sure!
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08/19/2009, Deer Harbor, Orcas Island
A short run today, down from Reid Harbor to the TYC outstation at Deer Harbor. Fortunately, there was only one other boat there, so we were able to get to the dock. The only real reason for coming here was to give us a short run tomorrow down to Friday Harbor. The plan is to get there early and get on the Waiting List for moorage. We're hoping that arriving on Thursday, rather than Friday, will give us some miniscule advantage.
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08/18/2009, Reid Harbor, Stewart Island
After 76 days in Canada, Dreamtime returned to the US of A today. We had to delay departure until about 1230 so we had enough water to get out of the Capital City YC basin. Truthfully, there was probably enough a couple of hours earlier, but stirring up a bunch of mud with the props, then having it all sucked into the cooling system didn't seem like such a smart plan. So we waited.
Haro Strait was glass calm as we came across. We made The Call reporting our arrival to U.S. Customs and humbly beseeching them, in their infinite power and wisdom, to allow us to return to our homeland. After giving it some thought, they relented and let us into the country. It was nice to return to a country not being run by Junior Bush and his cronies. (We heard similar sentiments expressed by not a few Canadians, too.)
Our plan was to head for Reid Harbor to rendezvous with Sidetrack for a night. They were picking up one daughter and host of granddaughters. A call to Gary disclosed that he was sitting in Friday Harbor, waiting for all the women to return from "shopping." He had no idea of an ETA but at least we confirmed the rendezvous. Reid Harbor was, not surprisingly, packed with boats. We may be past the worst of High Season, but there are still plenty of people up here. (A late evening count showed 85 boats at anchor and at the park docks.) Reid, however, is big enough to hold everyone so we had no trouble finding a spot to drop the hook.
Sidetrack arrived about 1600 and we had fun catching up during Happy Hour. Gary and Charlie were able to trade stories about broken belts, starters that wouldn't start and assorted other disasters.
Tomorrow we'll move down to Deer Harbor, hopefully to the TYC outstation dock, though that may be wishful thinking.
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08/17/2009, Sidney/North Saanich, BC
Arrived at Capital City Yacht Club yesterday about 1130. Getting into their guest check-in dock had us lifting our feet. The water was decidedly "thin." But we got in, found a member's slip that was available, then headed into Sidney via the local transit system. We wandered around town, doing a few geocaches (following right behind our TYC friends Chris and Willow, who'd been there the day before).
Today, with nothing better to do, we went back into Sidney. We didn't have the correct change for the bus so we had to hike out to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal for change, then ride the bus from there. Picked up a few more caches we hadn't gotten yesterday and checked out the shops, not buying much of anything.
Today is noteworthy on two counts. First, it's "Boating Day #105" for 2009, which is a new record for us. It is also our last day in Canada. Tomorrow we head back to the US of A and hopefully to a rendezvous with Sidetrack at Reid Harbor on Stewart Island. We tried to get reservations for next weekend at Friday Harbor and, to no one's great surprise, they are booked solid. So we'll go in early and try to get one of the first-come/first served slips.
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