The power of sunscreen

Posted on Wednesday, because we just anchored in Ganges where there is INTERNET!

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6/27

We rise at 05:15 on normal workdays - why does it seem so early on a vacation day? After getting some coffee in us, we did the last of the tasks to be ready to leave, and cast off at 07:00. It was a partly cloudy morning, but it was warm and we were moving downwind, so it was comfortable out on deck in just a sweatshirt.

We left at this early hour for two reasons: First, we wanted to get the best of the northward-flowing ebb tide, and second, we hoped, that if things worked out well with the tide, to be able to tie up at Ft. Flagler State Park on the far north end of Marrowstone Island instead of in Port Ludlow.

Soon, the sun was shining, and we had a great wind off the aft starboard quarter, and thanks to the tide, were making 8.5 kt. It was glorious! I peeled off the sweatshirt, and then the tee shirt. We got out the sunscreen, and prepared for a summer day!

And then the clouds came in.

We continued to make 8.5 kt all day, and blew right past Port Ludlow. When we turned the corner at the top of Marrowstone Island, we were still in the ebb tide, but by the time we got to the entrance of Killisut Bay, the flood had started. I guess you could call that perfect timing, but it was by the skin of our teeth.

Our plan was to take a buoy at Ft. Flagler State park. Maneuvering against the rushing tide influx (it was like being in a river), I brought the buoy alongside and Jane hooked it with the boat hook on the first try. Then, while pulling up the ring to thread a line thru, the end broke off the boat hook! Sploosh! There went all our capability to tie to a mooring buoy for this trip! Trip failure count = 1.

A quick decision, and we headed south into the waterway between Marrowstone and Indian islands. Entering the waterway at the top is complicated, but threading the needle below Ft. Flagler is much, much worse. A local told us this afternoon that everybody eventually runs aground in there, and that it hasn't been surveyed in a looong time. When we saw 5.8 feet on the depth sounder, we made a panic U-turn (we draw 6 feet). We went back and anchored between the buoys at Ft. Flagler, and waited for the tide to raise the water level.

By 14:00, we had another two feet of water, and so we tried again (and used a slightly different path thru the maze). Excellent! The least water we saw was 10 feet. On the way down, we saw this boat - it appears that it was washed ashore (lost its way thru the maze perhaps?), and is awaiting a very high tide to rescue it. Luckily, June is the month where there are both very high and very low tides.

So, here we are, anchored in Mystery Bay - perhaps I'll do a "Destinations" post on it later. We went ashore to the State Park here by rowing - the outboard is starving for fuel (dirty filter is my guess - I'll fix it later. Trip failure count = 2). It is lovely. In fact the word that comes to mind here is: cozy.

It is dinner time now, and we are down below. It has been raining off and on for a while, and we have 20 kt blowing thru the anchorage.

Seems like a good night for Thai Panang Curry. I'll get to work on it.

The power of sunscreen