A few Stats to give our summer some perspective:
Days Underway: 89 days-- June 16 to September 12
Nautical Miles travelled: 2,221.3
Statute Miles Travelled: 2,556.2
Gallons of of Fuel Required: 1,150.
Liters of Fuel Required: 4,353
Engine Hours:
Main Engine: 326
Get Home Engine: 5.5
Gallons per Hour: 3.5
Days at Anchor: 54
Days in Marinas: 35

Now that we are back in Olympia, the next 2.5 days will be spent washing down and cleaning the boat inside and out, treating the canvas, and checking off the winterizing checklist to put Ginny C to bed for the winter season before heading back to Lake Oswego on Saturday, September 15. Pettit Marine will also change out the defective and incorrect water source hoses they had inadvertently/incorrectly installed with the new Techma Heads, and make arrangements to replace the new but defective battery which fouled up the house bank all summer. I will attempt to rebuild the Auto Pilot pump by replacing its bad seals, before spending several hundred $$ on a replacement pump.

September 12, 2012, Olympia, Washington. (47 03.342n:122 53.831w). We oversleep a bit and do not get away until about 7:10. The wind is starting to build but we get ourselves out of the slip without incident and are on our way to Olympia, 52 miles south--Hard to believe we are at the end of our incredible journey for 2012. We meet the Bremerton Ferry 'head on' at the south end of Agate Passage, cruise down ho hum Colvos Passage and hit the flooding Tacoma Narrows currents perfectly seeing 12.6 knots under the bridge, 11 plus until McNeil Island with a steady 8.5 to 9 knots through Drayton Passage and on into Budd Inlet and our Slip at Swantown in Olympia arriving about 2:30 pm. We are met at the dock by Suzie Cox. She and her husband Rory live on board their sailboat 'Legacy' and also have a blog on this website which inspired me to set up this blog as a memento for our trip and a way to share our adventure with those who may have interest A new Gallery album and position posts have been added for this last leg of our 2012 cruise.

September 9, 2012; Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes Washington// Back in the USA. (48 30.831n: 122 36.481w) Over night the wind went from dead calm to southwest during our 32 mile transit back into the USA, past Sucia, down the backside of Orcas, past Cypress and Guemes islands and on into Cap Sante for the night. Our dock landing into the slip at Cap Sante was the trickiest of the entire trip because of the building winds. We tied up, cleared customs about 3pm and spent the rest of the day doing regular boat stuff, had dinner at Anthony's next door- too tired to walk into town, and hit the hay. Strong Westerlies are building which may keep us here an extra day.

September 10,2012; Coupeville, Washington in Penn Cove on Whidbey Island (48 13.384n:122 41.238w). We wake up to calm water in the marina so we decide to fuel up and head out. By the time we leave the fuel dock,
about 10: 20 AM, the wind is starting to build from the west so we assume we will be shielded from it going the east side of Whidbey Island. Our 27 mile cruise is uneventful with a good high tide to carry us through the navigation channels to Laconner and on into Saratoga Passage. However the west wind entering the passage and on into Penn Cove is providing a significant chop and a lot of spray over the bow as we tie up at the Coupeville public Dock in about 15 knots of wind. We have to take the outside (windward side) of the dock because the leeward side is too shallow for our almost 6 feet of draft when the tide will hit a 1 foot low early in the morning. After we get tied up we learn that a sailboat tied where we are was damaged because of strong winds the night before and we can see dock damage. So we put out extra fenders and extra lines as the wind continues to build. We help an antique 1916 trawler, single handed, returning to Anacortes from the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival tie up in front of us and I loan him some extra fenders. By the time we get back from Toby's Tavern in town where we have feasted on a 2-pound bucket of famous Penn Cove mussels, the docks and boats are rolling in 22-knot winds with 26 knot plus gusts. Waves are splashing over our bow while we 'sit' on the docks. It is a rockabilly night as the winds continue to build and howl until about 1 am and finally totally die off about 4 am.

September 11,2012, Brownsville, Wash, Kitsap Peninsula near Port Gamble and Bremerton (47 39.086n: 122 36.749w). Coupeville was a totally different place when we arise at 6:30 am. The water is flat dead calm. We depart early for our 46 mile cruise to Brownsville via Saratoga Passage, past Everett and Mukilteo and across the Seattle Sound into Agate Passage and on in to the marina. We read that it is a really nice little marina with good fuel prices. We have not stayed here before as we usually anchor in Port Madison on Bainbridge where the Lhamons live when not boating.
Along the way we ponder the unprovoked terrorist attacks events of September 11 2001 -Let us never forget--and learn of the new terrorist attacks in Libya and Egypt this very day.
We arrive mid afternoon, top off the fuel, since Olympia has none, and proceed to our guest birth. The wind has shifted to the North and sets us firmly onto the dock. By the time we finish dinner the wind has gone to the Northeast, which is very rare. If it builds and holds it will be very hairy getting safely out of our slip in the morning. We retire early because our plan is for an early am departure before the winds build up again.

September 7,2012 Ganges Village,,Madrona Bay, Saltspring Island (48 51.257n:123 29.029w) After our 2 night stay at Telegraph Harbor on Thetis Island, (bringing back many fond memories of our first ever cruising trip and our vist there in the mid 70s with the boys) and after a comfortable 19.8 mile cruise south, we enjoy a relaxing afternoon anchored in Madrona Bay at Ganges on Saltspring Island and end up taking the Tender into town to join Tad and Joyce Lhamon for a potluck dinner on 'Lyric' docked at the Seattle Yacht Club's Ganges outstation. Their almost complete refit of this Alden 40 yacht (which took them around the globe over a five year period in the late 1990's/early 2000's) made the vessel seem almost like new.. It was an enjoyable evening catching up with them before they join their CCA Cruise in Ladysmith tomorrow and we head south to a yet undecided next stop on this, the last leg of the 2012 segment of our ongoing journey.

September 8, 2012; Cabbage Island Marine Park off Saturna Island, (48 47.832n:123 05.402w) We meet Tad and Joyce for breakfast in town and pick up some of our favorite cheese from our favorite cheese vendor at the Ganges Saturday Market. Because of a deteriorating weather forecast heading our way in a couple of days, including predicted Gale Force winds in the east end of the Juan De Fuca Straights, we decide to explore Cabbage Island, new destination for us in the Gulf Islands while the weather is still good and then head back into the USA via Anacortes the next day. After that we will take the 'back way' into Puget Sound via La Conner, Coupeville and the east side of Whidbey Island, thus bypassing our usual port of reentry, Roche Harbor (too far west with an even greater backtrack east) from Cabbage Island.
Boy were we happy we did so . The place is beautiful. It is 20 miles from Ganges transiting the infamous Active Pass into the Georgia Straights down the back (east) side of Mayne and Saturna Islands. Even after more than 20 years of boating in this area, we had never heard of this beautiful small marine park just 'spitting distance' from the US border. The Cedarburgs on 'Blue C's' out of Victoria who we met way up north near Prince Rupert (see earlier blog posts) had suggested it as one of their favorite places in the Gulf Islands. Its anchorage is exposed to northwesterlies and it is out in the Straights but the cove has several good anchor bouys to provide secure moorage if the winds kick up. The cove is safe and shallow and protected by a series of shallow reefs thus making it almost bombproof from all but strong NW weather. It was spectacular. A tiny island with a lovely beach and vistas in every direction, including Mount Baker, and , at night, far away Vancouver and Bellingham lights . A wonderful place to bring young grandchildren in future years. We spent the rest of the afternoon Kayaking around the entire island, gunk holing its numerous shallow reefs sitting in crystal clear water. Early to bed for it is off to Anacortes in the morning.