Mike and Beth's Adventures

Kingston Washington Waterfront The majestic terrain and contrast of mountains, forests, and water have lured us back to the Pacific Northwest for another summer of cruising.  It is simultaneously peaceful and powerful.  It is the essence of harmony until a storm arrives and then it is the chaos and fury of wind, rain, and tumultuous seas.  All attract us to visit.  We are outdoor people and spend as much time as possible outside.  However nothing, with the exception of backpacking, has ever brought us continuously closer to nature than boating the PNW.   It's second virtue is it ability to slow and focus your life.  The stress of city living melts away as soon as we splash the boat.  The many competing electronic connections of our overly intrusive push communication world are put on hold.  It is such a relief.  Have we perhaps overdone it?  Instead the focus is on weather, sea conditions, tides, currents, winds, provisioning, ...

Amy Marie at the Ashland Oregon Highway 5 Rest Stop Amy Marie and crew are excited to be on our next trailerable trawler adventure!  Yes! the gang is together and headed to the Pacific Northwest for a summer of exploration.  To bring you up to date. We completed America’s Great Loop in October of 2022.  Since returning, we have been lavishing Amy Marie with some needed attention.   She is sporting: New upholstery, Relocation of the VHF radio to the top of the helm station for better “human interface” Thorough servicing of her Yanmar power plant. List Marine replaced the glow plugs, the impeller, and repaired damaged sound deadening and insulation on the engine cover.   I installed a new oil pressure sender and also an old fashioned analog oil pressure gauge. A new 220-watt solar panel with an MPPT controller.   Love it! New Yamaha 2-way speakers as an upgrade from the Factory installed Fusion speakers. Movie night will have better sound quality! A ...

Our visit to the Pacific Northwest is drawing to a close.  We did our final cruises on Labor Day weekend.  We hosted Beth's brother and his wife for a day cruise up the east side of Camano Island.  The day was calm but completely devoid of any marine mammals.  We were hoping to encounter some whales or porpoises.  They all stayed at home.  Still it was fun to cruise the verdant and log filled shore line.  We saw some good beaches where it would be fun to anchor offshore and dinghy into the beach for a picnic or a visit.  Due to pandemic quarantining, we had not seen each other face to face for many months, so it was wonderful to have this time to re-connect and catch up. The following day we took the grandkids and their parents out salmon fishing and crabbing.  We set out on this expedition late morning on a strong ebb tide.  As soon as we exited the marina, the combination of the downstream current in the Snohomish River and the ebbing ...

        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.  Yo...

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 Olymp...

  “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 lo...