Near Bay to Seattle and the San Juan Islands.

HISTORY:

David decided to give the engines a good run and pushed them up to 3000rpm...the water's mirror smooth and so we got 8 knots speed...wow...that's pretty good.

Motoring along at 8 knots..no waves, so smooth.

Also our fresh water tank finally ran dry and so we put more into the tank from jerry jugs...we'll fill up in Port Angeles. We were looking forward to dinner at a restaurant...WE made it into Port Angeles by 21:30, docked Puddytat in the marina and went in search of sustanence......All the restaurants are closed! We had to make do with leftovers and then collapsed into bed.

Getting close to Port Angel

This place is huge, but quiet at this moment, thankfully.

1st August... David went off to find a telephone to call customs. Shortly two people arrived and joined us on the boat and we went through all the usual form filling including a cruising permit for Puddytat, and were soon on our way out again..motoring...no wind..glassy smooth...

Very well kept light house between Port Angel and Port Townsend.

By 9:15 (7:15) that evening we were anchored in Kilisit Harbour, Marostone Island near Ministry bay....David again checking for currents for the Admiralty inlet. we'd heard about the currents in this area and were being careful...silly to have made it this far and then get wrecked...We'll have to wait till midday to leave...still no great hardship..it's lovely here...there were some seals sunning themselves on the beach and a monohull that had misjudged the entrance was aground and as the tide went out so she gently lay on her side. Her owner seemed unfazed by the incident...we saw him and his maltese poodle dinghying back to his boat from the shore where they'd probably found it to be a more comfortable wait for the tide to come back in and lift the boat back up....

Admiralty Strait ..some wind so we are sailing..warmer today.

Saturday 2nd August (happy birthday Rob!..he's a friend of ours in the UK)...A little after Midday-at slack water-we motored out of the bay and were on our way to Seattle...At Last!...There is some wind so decided to sail..what a pleasure to have that engine off!!.....are we there yet David?

At the dock in Shilshole Marina Seattle...

At 18:30 we tied up in Shilshole Marina Seattle....!!! Yippie! Best of all..my folks were still in town!
It was so wonderful seeing them again...it felt like forever since the last time...and of course my Mom was relieved that we'd arrived safe and sound...She hadn't been sitting about at Ray's place complacently waiting..nooo :-) My Mom hopped on a bus and went to canada for a week to visit an old school friend...whoohoo...she had a blast aparently went to the Buchardt Gardens on Vancouver Island and caught up on all the gossip with her friend...a lot of chatting when you haven't seen them for about 30 years! Anyway she'd got back to Seattle the day before..great timing Mom! Well they visited us on the boat and we also spent time seeing Seattle together.

My Brother, My Dad and my Mom on Puddytat.

Then they had to go back to their yacht 'Kudana' sitting on a mooring ball somewhere in the Panamanian islands...and we were going to explore the San Juan Islands and some of Canada's islands....of course I had to find a Canadian consulate to apply for a visa....amazingly it took a few hours and we could leave whenever....They gave me a three year visa! wow thanks! What lovely people they are. For the USA I have to pay US$131 that usually gets a person a mulitple entry 10 year visa..because of my Zimbabwe passport I only get one year. Thanks a whole bunch Mugabe! It's the worst, to have a dictator for a president....

One of the stunning sunsets we had here.

West coast north of Seattle...

One evening when we were sitting enjoying sundowners on Puddytat a chap came up in his dinghy to say hello. On the dinghy was a cat, a huge fluffy tortoise shell with green eyes...beautiful... and as soon as he was close to Puddytat the cat jumped aboard and proceeded to check the boat out..It was rather amusing.
Anyway Canada here we come...but first San Juan Islands....Great news, Ray has decided he can get 4 days off work and come with us...kewl!

08-08-08...we leave shilshole for the San Juan Islands and that evening dropped anchor at Appletree Bay..
09-08-08 We weigh anchor and with a decent wind we set the spinnikar to sail past the east side of Whitby island. Ray has friends there...they talk to each other on the phone and his friends watch us sail by...but we are further out than he thought we'd be so they don't see much. Anyway it was great being able to actually sail passed them :-)...We eventually had to put the spinny away due to...yes you've guessed it...the lack of wind..

Ray..having fun..

We motored up around some small islands and on through the Swinomish canal.... where we saw some lovely homes built with a view of the water. The boats race through here at a high rate splashing us, which was annoying as I had a mattress out in the sun ..drying out...yeah right...not that day...

Speeding boats ..they NEVER check to see the damage their wake is making.

It's weird being on such flat water so smooth and calm, no rollers bobbing us up and down...there are restaurants and hotels with docks lining the canal...

Lovely home tucked in at the bottom of the hill..

Under that bridge...the book says we'll fit..hope so.

Under it we go and we do fit..whew :-)

Restaurants line the water's edge.

A hotel with docks for boats...

We go passed all this and drop anchor for the night....Sundowners and dinner are in order...so the chef is yet again busy in the galley...actually the chef is beginning to wonder if she should change her title to galley slave :-)
As we get into the bay there is a loud explosion.... "What was that?" we all exclaim....and then we spot two square riggers having a mock battle...wow what fun.

An explosion and the battle is on..the little yacht must be filming it.

10-08-08...The folk's 51st wedding anniversary! The next morning we're off again...shame poor Ray..he wants to sail and all we seem to do is motor...The wind does get up a bit and we actually have some fun sailing....the views are lovely and green even though it's a little chilly , the sun shows it's face and warms you up a little...

Sailing to the San Juan Islands...

Puddytat at anchor at Shaw Island.

Finally we make it to Shaw Island and drop anchor...we spend the evening relaxing on board and taking in the view. For Ray it's his last night because tomorrow he has to spend the day catching the ferry and then a lift back to work in Seattle...such a shame and he hasn't been able to actually take a stroll here 'cos it's too late to go ashore...too dark to see anything.. The island isn't built up at all..a few scattered homes can be seen and then a few more are exposed by their lights through the trees...but that's about it really...

The ferry arrives and there goes Ray....:-(

The next morning we go ashore with the dinghy to find out the ferry times and are able to take a short stroll around the few shops before it arrives and whisks him away.

The roadside bench hung with shells...

After the ferry left David and I decided to take a walk to see where the road led... along the road we saw several interesting sights...one was a bench that seemed to be woven out of wood nestled beside the road with a plastic packet of books sitting on it. We figured either someone had forgotton them or they were there to read when you sat to enjoy the scenery...

You gotta look hard to see the carvings.

There were also several wooden carvings set in amongst the trees...if you were driving a car it's doubtful that you'd see those at all....we watched a heron stalking fish at the water's edge and eventually decided to turn around and go back to Puddytat. One thing we noticed here..there wern't many sailing yachts...wonder why? I'll tell you later..:-)

A plane landing in Roche Harbour.

The next morning we motored out of the bay and around to Roche Harbour to pick up some fuel...there I saw, for the first time, a small plane landing on the water in amongst the anchored boats. Later we watched him take off again. Quite a sight, something I never got tired of watching while we were in the San Juan Islands and Canada.