August PNW Cruise: Coupeville

 

Beth returned from her family beach vacation near San Diego and was ready for some PNW cruising.  Our itinerary for this trip was very loose.  It basically started out as, let’s see some Orca’s and try to rendezvous with some friends from home who are travelling on an American Tug.  The day after Beth returned to the boat, we read the Orca Blog and saw they were near Coupeville. Voila!  We had our destination for the first day. 

The weather report was for a weak front to move through the area prior to 3pm.  We cast off lines and headed out.  Unfortunately, the Orcas eluded us.  We arrived at Coupeville and anchored until a space became available on the public dock - $1/ft/night.  The weatherman was correct. The wind kicked up about 3pm and then rain started about 5pm.  It cleared for sunset and then about 10pm the winds kicked up to 25-35 knots and stayed there till about 1am, when they abated.  The winds had accompanying intermittent rain.  During the height of the winds, Amy Marie was bucking so much it felt like we were airborne half the time!  The lines held, the fenders did their job and we finally got to sleep.

The next morning, we took a nice walk after breakfast on a path that went west along the edge of the bluff.  It was not a long walk, but it had wonderful views out across the bay and back toward Coupeville.  The homes we passed had large lots, nestled in the trees, and lovely gardens.  The birds were happy and chirping merrily, happy that the new day was sunny and warm.

Upon our return, we got coffee on the pier and then, on calm seas, set a course for La Conner.  We picked La Conner as a destination as the weather report called for more uncertain conditions.  Their location on the Swinomish Channel offered good protection from the wind and a downtown area with great restaurants, brew pubs, live music, and bakeries!  What more does a guy need?  We had a pleasant and calm cruise to La Conner.  Due to the timing of low tide, a – 1.7 feet, we cruised at a leisurely 7 knots to arrive 2 hours after low tide. We had no problems with water depths.  We like staying on “F” dock at La Conner Marina.  It is close to downtown, and the inside of the guest dock is always a calm secure location.