Homeward bound...

When you buy a boat, the logistics of getting the boat from her old slip to her new slip can be a bit complicated.  You need to either leave your car at the new slip, then somehow get to the old slip to begin the journey, or vice versus.  In this case, since there were two of us making the journey, and the distance between our start and end points was quite substantial, this created a double wrinkle.  Thankfully, my neighbor was kind enough to drive me up to Everett (not a short trip), which would allow me to make our day long sailing journey south and then to drive the old owner back to his car once we had the boat tied up at her new home.

Originally, we were going to try and do this over the weekend, but the marine forecast dictated a delay until Monday, when the small craft advisory expired and the winds were more manageable.  On Sunday, NOAA updated their forecast to show winds up to 25 knots and wave heights up to four feet on Monday, so we agreed to delay the trip until Tuesday.

First, the good news:  the winds were forecast to be out of the north, and since we will be heading south (for the most part), if we do actually put the sails up we’ll be running downwind; a very enjoyable point of sail to be on!  The bad news:  the reason for the northerly winds is that a big ‘ol high pressure system is sitting over British Columbia, pumping cold, dry air down into Washington, so we will have a chilly journey, at least in the morning.  But hey, at least no rain and no fog!

As expected, the day started clear and frosty.  We were off the dock during civil twilight with a crescent moon well up from the eastern horizon and were out on the water when the sun rose over the Cascades.

We had light winds and calm seas almost the entire day.  The surprises were all pleasant:  dodging a ferry, viewing a submarine and a pod of Dall’s porpoises, watching the sun light up the Olympic mountains, burning less fuel than anticipated (the engine burns about 1/2 gal/hr at cruising RPM), getting a splendid view of Mount Rainer, etc.  We made it to our halfway point (Shilshole) ahead of schedule, stopped to fill the gas tank and shoved off for the Ballard Locks and our transition from salt water to fresh water.

Looking west towards Olympic NP from Shilshole fuel dock

The small lock is normally closed in March for annual maintenance, but since the large lock is undergoing a large refit, the small lock maintenance was performed earlier (in January) and has re-opened.  This is fortunate for us, since transiting through the small lock is quicker and more convenient due to the floating bollards which makes line handling much simpler.  We made it through unscathed thanks to some timely assistance from the lock attendant.

Chittenden (Ballard) small lock

We now had to pass under nine bridges, but only one of them need to be opened (Fremont Bridge).  For all the others, gliding under a massive steel structure and staring up at your flimsy aluminum rigging brings your heart up towards your throat, even though you just KNOW your mast height is short enough to pass underneath.

Fremont bascule bridge opening

The rest of the journey was blessedly uneventful.  We never were able to raise the sails, but the little two-cylinder, four-stroke outboard purred right along the whole day with nary a hiccup.  After we tied up, I drove the old owner back to his car in Everett and even driving through downtown Seattle was a pleasure due to the lack of traffic, due to the COVID lockdown.  Overall, a successful journey and a very pleasant day spent on the water.  Now...let the projects begin!...