Mike and Beth's Adventures

        I admit, I have a serious case of Port Ludlow house envy.  This guy's boat house is bigger than his house!  What wonderful toys are arrayed inside?  Wouldn't you love to know?  But if I actually lived here I would spend all my time taking care of the house, boat house, boats and other toys.  No doubt leaving little time for play.  So maybe it is best that I don't somehow end up in possession of this scrumptious place.  I like my vagabond existence.  It is so nice to move the boat to a new location when it is time to have new experiences.  The joy of discovery is the gift that keeps on giving.  You never know what is just around the next headland or around the bend in the river. So what did we do in Port Ludlow?  We hiked.  There are 32 miles of trails near the marina.  It was great to get out and stretch our legs.  The area had been logged, so it was all second growth forests.  You could still see the stumps of former forest giants.  The new growth is looking good. 

In 1792, George Vancouver, British Royal Navy,  ventured into Hood Canal in longboats. He left his ships, the  Discovery  and  Chatham , in nearby Port Townsend. Vancouver and his crew journeyed as far as the mouth of the Skokomish River, near the present day town of Union, where Menzies, his botanist, was amazed by the rich vegetation as well as the natural beauty of the area. He wrote in his journal, “here the arm was hemmed in by lofty Mountains on one side and low flat country of considerable extent on the other.” We also have been captivated by the beauty of Hood Canal.  There are no large towns, so it looks much the same today as it did when initially explored.  Its beauty continues to be defined by the clear blue skies, blue water and lush green forests descending all the way to the water.  The Fjord, which is often more than 500 feet deep, separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the Olympic  Peninsula.  The towering mountains of the Olympic Range dominate the skyline to the west. 

This week we are starting an exploration of the Hood Canal area of the Puget Sound.  We departed Everett Marina Monday morning Previously we had torn down the carburetor, on the outboard for our dinghy, for a good cleaning.  We were looking forward to trying it on this trip, to insure it was working as expected. Weather was good as we left Everett and got better as we entered the Hood Canal.  Beth shared that it reminded her of the fjords we saw in Norway.  Once we rounded Foulweather Bluff, the water was glass smooth thanks to the protection of the tree covered hills on both sides.  The water depths were consistently 300 feet or deeper.   This probably explains why the US Navy has a major submarine base located here.  We here not able to get close, but through binoculars could see both missile boats and attack subs at the docks.   Pleasant Harbor is located in a quiet cove about 23 nautical miles south from the entrance to Hood Canal.  Access to the cove is through a narrow channel wh

  “Defiance departing slip 22 alpha”, “Sojourner on channel 78 alpha requesting a slip for 2 nights”, The VHF radio traffic as we approached Roche Harbor was non-stop.    The harbormaster on the VHF radio was talking continuously, managing the extremely high volume of traffic leaving the harbor, moving into a slip, in a holding pattern waiting for a slip or in the final bucket of “you are way down the list, what is your phone number, we’ll call if something opens up. I really felt as if I had flown into a ma jor international airport with the radio traffic occurring with multiple accents and the staccato instruction of the harbormaster being continuously fired back.   As we moved through the marina toward the fuel dock, we had to stop and hold short of an intersecting fairway to allow a yacht the size of a frigate to depart.   Looking around us we could see that every available spot was filled, sometimes with 4 boats jammed into a space meant for 2.   We looked at each other and made a

  We found an old apple orchard on our hike.  Someone must be looking after it. This is the view from the eastern side of the island. Sucia is one of my favorite anchorages in the San Juan Islands.  From Echo Bay, Mount Baker dominates the skyline to the east.  Even in August, its upper slopes were still covered in snow.  We were meeting friends who anchored in Fossil Bay, so that was our destination.   Fossil Bay is much smaller that Echo Bay which limits the number of boats you’ll have as neighbors.   Additionally, there are two docks, which makes it easy to take a dinghy to shore.    Echo Bay has no dinghy docks.   Adjacent to each dock are improved camping spots with tables and in some cases, shelters.   The park service pit toilets are composting.   There is also fresh potable water on the island.   With a container, you could take water back to your boat and replenish your water supply. It was fun to spend an evening with old friends from Santa Rosa.   They moved their boat to