Shakedown Cruise

Estimated Miles: 240 nautical miles (~276 statute miles)
Port Orchard, Bremerton, Seattle, Port Gamble, Seattle, Friday Harbor, Port Orchard, Seattle.

Previous logbook: Ferry Trip to Seattle, part 2

Disclaimer: this was actually written in November, 2004...pretty late, so it is subject to my faulty memory!

Day 1.  Friday

We left the dock at Port Orchard in the late afternoon.  We had a nice sail into Bremerton, and tied up to the dock there.  It was a short hike up to the ferry, which arrived shortly after we did.  Unfortunately Morgan, who was coming over from Seattle, hadn't managed to catch that ferry.  But he was on the next one.  By the time we got him down to the boat and settled in it was bed time.

Day 2.  Saturday

Up very early, we were under way well before 7.  On the way to Seattle we saw a lot of sea lions on buoys, which Richie (not to mention the rest of us) got a big kick out of.  The wind came up partway there, so we managed to do a little sailing.  We arrived in Seattle mid-morning, tying up at the Shilshole Bay Marina transient moorage.  After a nice brunch in the restaurant, Anna and Arcoty and their three boys joined us.  By early afternoon we were under way, headed north on Puget Sound.  There was a nice wind and we had a great afternoon sail.  In the late afternoon, shortly before we passed Point, No Point the wind faded so we motored on toward Port Gamble.  We kept Richie tied to the boat all the time he was outside, which became our constant rule.  The other boys, who were all older, didn't have to be tied unless they were outside the cockpit.

We'd boiled some potatoes for dinner in the pressure cooker, put it on deck to cool down, and then Frankie and Anna made dinner of Shepard's pie, which everyone enjoyed.

The boys spent the afternoon fishing, with no success.

We arrived at Port Gamble at dusk, and managed to sneek into the bay and get anchored as the light was fading.

Day 3.  Sunday

It was a long motor with no wind and/or headwinds all the way back to Seattle.  It showered off and on, but we had a nice motor anyhow.  We dropped everyone off at Shilshole Marina.  We went across and anchored in a very neat cove on Bainbridge Island.  It was narrow and winding to get in, and rather shallow, but extremely well protected--our anchor rope never even tightened on the anchor after setting it.

Day 4.  Monday

We headed for Friday Harbor.  It was a long way up there, and took all day.  We had a nice motor up there, and by early evening we were tied to the dock.  We went to a nice restaurant to celebrate, and then back to the boat and bed.

Day 5.  Tuesday.

We spent the early morning getting the registry letters put on the back of the boat, and then headed back toward Seattle.  We decided to take a different route back, and cut through Deception Pass, which was a little wild because it was more like going up a river because of the tide.  We spent the night in an open bay off Whidbey Island, by Freeland.

Day 6.  Wednesday

We slept in a bit, and then headed for Port Orchard to clean out the rest of the Acrux hardware from their warehouse.  We took some back passages, which made for a neat trip.  We got to Port Orchard in the late afternoon, and spent the night tied to the dock.

Day 7.  Thursday

We got a fairly early start and headed back to Seattle.  We got to the locks by late morning, and were headed up Ship Canal to Lake Washington.  The Space Needle overlooks Lake Union, and the Seattle skyline is visible from the early part of the canal.  It was a neat trip up the narrow parts, passing under many drawbridges.  In some places the shores were lined with floating houses, and lots of civilization all around.  Richie fell asleep on the cockpit floor while we motored along.

We got to Lake Washington by mid afternoon, and spent a bit of time motoring up the shore.  Then we decided we had better return, for several of the drawbridges don't open during rush hour.  We made it back with a little bit to spare, and tied up to the PMC dock in Ballard.  While there, Richie got to feed some geese from the stern of the boat.

Next logbook: Seattle to Ketchikan


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