Gulf Islands – Observations and Errata

We just finished two weeks in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. We’ve been going there for a number of years. We try to visit old favorites and make some new discoveries each time we visit. This year, the weather was fantastic. Some years are sunny, some are wet, some a combination (this is most common). We had sun, warm, and flat seas almost the entire time. It clouded up one afternoon, rained in the evening and through the night, and was clear and sunny the next morning. Perfect!

This is what boating is about.

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Poulsbo to Seattle – The End

We slipped out of the Poulsbo marina this morning at 5:30 under cover of darkness and wound our way through the anchored boats in Liberty Bay. Surprisingly, only about half the anchored boats seemed to be sporting the required anchor light. We could see the boats on radar, but occasionally had a hard time finding them visually. Once past the anchored boats, it was smooth sailing.

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Picking up a mooring buoy

As the boats arrive, they move slowly toward the field of mooring buoys. Invariably, there is someone on the bow, boat hook in hand, giving directions to the person at the helm. As they approach their selected buoy, the boat slows and the person on the bow reaches way down, grabs the buoy ring with the boat hook, tries to pull the ring all the way up to the deck, but can’t. Then they lean way over and go through the gyrations of running the line and securing the buoy. This often requires the efforts of more than one person and occasionally more than one attempt. While ultimately successful this seems to us like the hardest method possible. The buoy will be secured to the bow cleats, but are there rules that say you have to catch the buoy at the bow?

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Northbound – Seattle to Port Townsend

Saturday afternoon. Labor Day weekend. Many boats waiting at the locks to head out to the Sound. The large lock gates swing open. The lockmaster calls for the larger boats first so they can tie up to the wall. All the small boats immediately head in to the lock and block the way ….

After navigating the locks, we are on our way north. A fantastic day for boating.

Following the larger group of boats out of the locks and into the sound.

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Keeping Stuff Organized

I don’t know about your boat, but we have collected a drawer full of manuals and documentation for the various electronics and gizmos on Archimedes. While we occasionally reference one from time to time, they mostly just take up space. Our solution is an iPad and an app called Good Reader ($4.99).

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Another working weekend

Wouldn’t you know it? THE nicest weather of the year and Seafair weekend to boot. Where are we? Lounging on the deck in the sun with a big hat and a drinks with little umbrellas? Nope. How about squeezed into the flybridge combing re-wiring all the electronics. Yup.

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