We had a beautiful trip from Olympia to Gig Harbor under sunny skies on Tuesday (August 20th). There was no wind so we had to motor but by leaving Percival Dock at 5:50 am we had an ebb current assisting us all the way, including 4 knots through the Tacoma Narrows. As we passed Eagle Island State Marine Park, I estimated that there were more than 60 seals lounging on the northern shore.

The dock was full again at Gig Harbor but there was plenty of room to anchor when we arrived around 11 am. We stayed on Tregoning until after lunch at which point we were a bit surprised to get a phone call from Michael in Olympia asking us if we had felt the earthquake. Apparently there was a mild quake (3.6 on the Richter scale) centered near Gig Harbor at 11:41 am but there was no indication of it out on the water. Even on the land, people reported that it created a few rattles but no more than a “large logging-truck passing by”. I was a little disappointed to have missed this event having never experienced an earthquake and thinking that a very small one would be sufficient to satisfy my curiosity.

When we did row to shore, we were rather puzzled to find that the grass at Skansie Brothers’ Park (at the top of the ramp from the public dock) was covered with rows of folding chairs which, judging by their diversity, belonged to individuals rather than an organization. Having established that these chairs had been positioned in anticipation of a free, open-air concert that evening, we returned to shore in time to watch the Kim Archer Band perform a set of popular hit songs. There was a good-sized crowd sitting in their chairs and standing on the docks and we tapped our toes in the dinghy while sat by the seawall.



Alison and the gift basket she won

It was great fun and particularly enhanced for us when, at the end, my name was announced as the winner of a prize-drawing for which I had signed-up while I had briefly gone ashore. Of course, in our dinghy I was not immediately visible from the stage so I was jumping up and down shouting that it was me. A man on the seawall helped to pull me up onto the grass while several little girls pointed at me and shouted at the announcer “She’s in the water, she’s in the water!” Luckily, their efforts paid-off and I was able to collect my prize which was a gift basket of assorted goodies. Needless to say, I was particularly interested in the chocolate items and it made a lovely send-off on our last evening in Gig Harbor.