Four days of vagabonding: Day 3-4

After four days and several grazing encounters with crowds, we found tranquility at last, in Port Madison once again. This is a picture of my Port Madison state of mind.

Four days of vagabonding: Day 3-4

Four days of vagabonding: Day 2-3

With Liberty Bay filling up, it was time for us to escape. We hoisted anchor and threaded the needle at Keyport and then over to Manzanita Bay on the West side of Bainbridge Island.

The plan was a good one. When we arrived, there were only a few boats at anchor and we were able to choose a good spot. With the anchor down, we settled in for a perfectly relaxing day at anchor: reading, guitar, and watching the other boats coming in.  And there were a lot of them.  Enough so that we began to doubt the plan, actually. But then we realized that if it was getting crowded here, it could only be worse over in Poulsbo.

Over night there was rain, and this morning it is cloudy and much cooler. Jane observed that this temperature downturn probably will have the effect of holding down the consumption of cold, refreshing adult beverages - a good thing for Liberty Bay given the crowding.

In a little while, after breakfast of course, we will hoist anchor and head thru Agate Pass again on our way back to Port Madison. The wind has turned to the South and is plenty sting enough, so we will make this passage under sail.

Four days of vagabonding: Day 2-3

Four days of vagabonding: Day 1-2

META: Well now that was interesting.  The profound difficulties of typing on an iPhone keypad changed my writing style!  Looking back at yesterday's post, I see short sentences (where normally I have to carefully guard against overly-complex, parenthesized, run-on sentences, like this one) and a seeming majority of words with only one syllable.  This morning, while Jane has her weekly two-hour telephone conversation with her mother (who is, incidentally, 97 years young), I am typing on the computer because we have an internet connection here in Poulsbo.

Picking up where I left off on Vagabonding Day 1 (Friday): Following the consumption of our morning lattes and enjoying the peaceful morning in Port Madison, Jane rigged our new crab ring (Deluxe! Glow-in-the-dark harness!) and put it over the side - July 1 is the first day of crabbing season here. Within an hour or so, we had lunch: steamed crab and drawn butter. YUM! While I was cleaning the crabs, I took some pictures of the process because my little three-part series on crabs did not provide detailed enough information on just how to do that. Look for an upcoming addendum to the "Crab" series.

Following the leisurely lunch, when the tide had turned and would be with us going thru Agate Pass, we hoisted anchor and headed out. The warm, calm weather continued, so we traveled using the motor. By 14:45 we were anchored in Liberty Bay, in front of Poulsbo, relaxing and reading in the warm sunshine.

And the Bay was already filling up. Once we were settled, we watched a steady stream of boats enter the Bay and put down anchors, including s/v Ambition, who share our slip with us. We hailed them and set up to meet at the Hare and Hounds for a pub dinner.

We put the dinghy down and went into town. And then here came s/v Ghost, from across the dock! Scott grabbed this picture as we idled along side of Ghost, welcoming them as they entered the anchorage. He even managed to get Eolian in the picture!

There was only enough time to browse the used book store (must remember: bring chocolate for the proprietress!) before it was time to walk to the pub. After a great dinner sitting outside on the roof with Brent and Jill, sampling many beers, it was starting to cool off - my Hawaiian shirt was beginning to feel a little thin. So we stopped at Eolian and grabbed flannel shirts and fleece and a couple of glasses of wine to take over to Ghost as a sundowner. One common topic of conversation among anchored boaters is how close others have anchored. and with the continuing stream of boats entering the bay, we had no shortage of opportunities to discuss this. Two boats had anchored between Eolian and Ghost, where one perhaps would have been appropriate. I know I didn't sleep well, wondering what the boats would do at slack water when there is nothing to keep their anchor chains stretched out going in the same direction. Needless worry, it turns out. There were no bumps in the night.

This morning is one of those warm summer mornings that we all want. It is warm - all the hatches and ports on Eolian are open - and it is calm. It is gorgeous! And the bay is even fuller. Two large circle raft-ups are forming. (For those of you not familiar with this, perhaps 30 large boats will tie up together with their sterns in, forming a large circle. I am sure these are fun, but they are not for us. And they are noisy to be anchored near.) Later today we will leave Liberty Bay and go across to Manzanita Bay on the back side of Bainbridge Island where we expect to find peace and solitude.

Back to typing on the iPhone tomorrow.

Four days of vagabonding: Day 1-2

Four days of vagabonding: Day 0-1

(This is an experiment. I am going to do all four days blogging on my iPhone, typing on its the tiny keypad)

Thursday
When I got home from work, Jane had the boat ready to go. We left immediately. Since it was pretty late, we needed to be destination-oriented (a curse, I know). The wind was out of the NW and strong at 20+ kt, so pure sailing was not in the cards. Instead, we motor-sailed under a reefed main, almost directly into the wind, and anchored in Port Madison. We had a dinner of BBQ beef and corn on the cob, read for a while, and went to bed.

Friday
Sleeping at anchor is so peaceful. It is absolutely silent, and the gentle motion of the boat lulls you into the deepest sleep you'll ever have.

I awoke this morning with sunlight streaming thru the hatch above our berth. I think there is scarcely a better way to be awakened. It is warm in the cabin, 60 degrees, and comfortable sitting outside here in the cockpit, where I am picking this out with a single finger.

It is now 07:15, and boats are beginning to move, trailing silvery ribbons of wake behind. They are heading to what will be a huge gathering in Liberty Bay at Poulsbo. You see, in order to avoid competition with Seattle, Poulsbo does their July 4th fireworks on July 3rd. And tho we are also going to Poulsbo, I intend to be out of there before Sunday evening - all the crowding and craziness is not appealing.

And now I must go make Jane a latte. Each of us has his/her alarm clock - mine was sunlight; Jane's is the rushing sound of the steaming milk. And then the day will begin.

Four days of vagabonding: Day 0-1