Mt. Rainier to Mt. Baker

Point Hudson Marina with wooden boats


Cattle Point Lighthouse, San Juan Island. Site of Pig War and the American Camp that determined the Canada USA border to be the Haro Strait.


View from the Moran Mansion, Rosario

In Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier dominates the sky. We see it every clear day from Olympia to Port Townsend. When we cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Mt. Baker appears and orients us most of the way up the Strait of Georgia. Somehow it's reassuring to see the snowy summits and watch them grow and then recede as we go north.

Our crossing of the Strait of Juan de Fuca was well-timed and the weather held. Light winds and calm seas most of the 20 plus miles across open water, which can sometimes be trecherous. We reached Cattle Pass, the gate to the San Juan Islands, just after the tide had turned to flood and so our trip to Friday Harbor was also fast. There was no room at the marina there, so we sailed farther to Deer Harbor, a quiet and friendly marina. It's a popular spot for kayakers. Children here love to play in the intertidal areas. It's fun to see them get close to the sea life, and get their bare feet wet scooping up sand from the little beach. Across our dock finger was a sailboat from Vancouver, BC and the young couple aboard was good company for the evening and morning. Henry and I shared a double chocolate ice cream cone before turning in.

Yesterday, we intended to sail to Rosario, the 100-year-old Moran mansion and marina on Orcas Island that we love so much, but the winds died and we had to start the motor. Oh. well. One can't complain, the sunshine was brilliant. We've visited here numerous times on Jules and have wonderful memories of this place. It isn't the same now, since it was sold for $5.5 million last year. The mansion has been turned into a museum, so the pools in the house and on the point are no longer available to the public and one must pay a small amount for access. But, the mansion is even now in better repair, I think. Christopher Peacock still relates the history of this place and plays the fine Steinway piano and the Aolian organ every afternoon in the music room. It's a trip backward in time and the setting is so lovely, we are glad to be back. Everyone on the dock has gone to the town of Eastsound for the afternoon and evening fireworks. I'm sitting in the old mansion on an old chair, looking out the window now that this blog entry is finished.

Kingston, Port Ludlow, Port Townsend

Point No Point Lighthouse


Pope and Talbot Totem, Port Ludlow, Washington. Pope and Talbot are the ones in black suits and hats about midway down the pole.

Rough 20 knot winds from the north-northwest showered Jules and her Captain with plenty of salt water over the bow from 4-foot waves. The First Mate stayed mostly dry under the dodger. The Coast Guard again warned small craft to get off the water and to shelter. Kingston was our welcome port and we tied up gratefully. Other boats came in from the north off the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and from LaConner crossing the Sound. They were wet from following seas and water over their transoms.

Kingston is always pretty with its park and boat basin. It's also a good harbor for laundry, breakfast crepes at a sidewalk cafe, and grocery shopping with free use of their little electric car.

In the morning the seas were calm, but due to become rough again with the afternoon sea breeze flowing onshore to replace warm air over land. The water remained reasonable past Point No Point Lighthouse and the entrance to Hood Canal. Along the way we saw the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier heading into its home port, Everett. Our destination was Port Ludlow, a quiet resort and marina, in a community largely built by Pope and Talbot paper mills. There is a totem there that commemorates that history.

Heading north again, through the Port Townsend Canal, we reached the bay outside Point Hudson Marina just before noon. The boat in our reserved slip had not left, but we didn't mind. The winds were light so we hoisted the main, then unfurled the genoa and had a lovely time sailing for an hour before heading in. Jules had an appointment with the Port Townsend repair shop to replace water lines. Point Hudson Marina is right downtown Port Townsend, a most picturesque and historic port right at the entry of Admiralty Inlet and Puget Sound. It is the place to leave and to arrive when crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Sailors docking today said their crossing was smooth and the weather forecast is for the same conditions tomorrow and the next day. So, if nothing else needs to be fixed, we'll be off at the break of day.

Gig Harbor, Bremerton, Seattle

Mark and Henry Having Fun with Sculpture


Jellyfish Passing By, Bell Street Marina, Seattle


Tacoma Narrows Bridge with New Span

To Gig Harbor, a very fast ride under "Galloping Gertie" Tacoma Narrows Bridge. We hit 11.4 knots just north of the two spans, tying up at Arabella's Marina by 11am. We heard a rare VHF Coast Guard radio weather warning and rode out high winds and seas at dock, not on the water, thank goodness. Henry's burger and my oysters at the Tides Tavern were up to snuff.

About 10:30 am Thursday, we headed north through Colvos Passage, usually a sleepy slog to Blake Island. However, the current was running unusually high again and we rode the tidal stream at 8-9 knots all the way north. When we reached the marina at Blake Island, a state park, the docks were full up with huge yachts. They installed power on the docks last fall and so it is a more desirable destination. Gone are the small family boats with kids and fishing poles. The new order is white fiberglass walls on all sides. We met our friends outside the marina and continued on with them to Bremerton for the night.

Bremerton is famous for its naval shipyard. The waterfront has undergone quite a bit of development in recent years but the blue collar essence of the place remains. The new marina is lovely and it has bargain docking rates. However, our friends, Phil and Ann, were assigned a slip close in and ran aground as they tried to dock. We stood off for awhile and then docked several slips farther out. The afternoon and evening were spent catching up with them. Their two adventures--sailing from Palau to Australia, and boating with friends in Alaska (with a medical emergency, to boot) provided most of the entertainment. Stories became more exciting in the telling, and retelling with more details and expression.

Friday morning was an easy, motoring to Seattle. No wind, no current, so no sailing. We spent some time trying to solve a water problem, but it remains a mystery. We met another friend, Mark, yesterday for a long walk on the waterfront north of Bell Harbor and through the Seattle Art Museam outdoor sculpture park. We had Avignon sausages from the Pike Place Market for dinner aboard Jules last night. Here at Bell Harbor Marina is the embarkation point for cruise ships of the Norwegian fleet. The Norwegian Star left yesterday afternoon, and the Norwegian Pearl is here this morning. Today, it's off to Kingston and crepes for breakfast in the morning.

Sailing North from Olympia

State Capitol, Olympia, Washington from Budd Bay at Dawn

View of Monkey Face from Misery Ridge Trail, Smith Rock State Park, Oregon.

From the high desert of Eagle Crest, Oregon, in the last week we've spent some time at Little Whale Cove and the whales are back. On Sunday we packed up the car with the inflatable raft, the Yamaha outboard motor, and a summer's worth of reading and headed to Olympia, Washington where Jules, our 30-foot Newport sailboat, has been resting since last October, weathering drenching winter rains.

About 5am tomorrow morning the tide will turn, and the ebbing current will carry us under the Tacoma Narrows bridge to Gig Harbor. We are at the summer solstice and the tidal change is about 18-19 ft here. The "low low" tide today put the ramp to the docks at an impossibly steep slope.

Since Sunday afternoon we've been cleaning, provisioning, repairing, and arranging. In such a small space everything must have a place. Not too many clothes, not too much food, not too much equipment, but we never have enough gadgets. We hope we have not forgotten something critical. Even though we will be in towns almost every night for awhile, it's difficult to get some things without the convenience of a car. We still have things to do--replace the main sheet, replace the line for the whisker pole, replace a stretch of lifeline, clean the sunbrella canvas dodger,and wonder whether it will rain tomorrow. But we have fresh local strawberries aboard, so we won't complain even if some tasks don't get done before we leave, but later.

"Low low" tide will be about noon in Gig Harbor tomorrow. We should arrive well ahead of that time. We'll tie up at Arabella's marina, take a walk, and have burgers at the Tides Tavern for dinner.

Argentina and Chile Slide Show

Look in the column on the right side of the page. See an item called "Slideshow." Click on the photo there to go to my Picasa slideshow of 500 photos (and a few videos). You can pause or stop the slideshow by passing your cursor over the lower part of the screen to see the controls. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Valparaiso and Home

Ascensor ArtilleriaMural Art

From sunset at Puerto Montt, it's two nights and a full day at sea heading north with the current to Valparaiso. At dawn on the second day we are at rest on the dock and, after one last lovely breakfast, we disembark. It's Easter Sunday and the weather holds.

A taxi ride to our prearranged lodging, Casa 199, and we are off to explore the city. Many businesses are closed, so we walk down the hill to buy water and to have lunch. Henry is convinced the area is not safe, Beth thinks we're being followed, and we climb the hill again. Our immediate area, next to the Ascensor Artilleria, has arts and crafts booths along a promenade, and a couple of eateries. When we walk beyond, we see old beautiful mansions in need of repair, much more modest housing and businesses in between, and a beautiful old church. We stop by a bakery and sample some empanadas. While we are walking back, three policemen on motorcycles follow us, then warn us to keep our cameras out of sight and to guard our bags. Our room has a view at Casa 199. Our seafood dinner close by is delightful. Arrangements are made for an all day walking tour the next day with Michael.

Breakfast includes fresh orange juice on the patio. We see men and women riding the old funicular down to the buses and to work. Michael meets us with several other tour participants and we begin our tour through the neighborhoods we walked the day before, and then beyond. He convinces us that a knowledgeable guide can offer much insight and history to what we see. And, we experience much more than we would have on our own--lunch at the German volunteer fire department, the old stock exchange, and buildings, businesses, houses, and people. We encounter his friend, a church caretaker, who plays us an impromptu tune on his horn right there in the street. Mural artworks painted on building walls were the most fun.

The following morning Henry and I depart for the Santiago airport, having missed seeing Pablo Neruda's famous house. That is left for Beth and Allen, as well as all the other places they will see as they continue north, and we fly home.

Of Lakes and Volcanoes

Our last stop before Valparaiso is Puerto Montt. We have reserved space for the Lake Esmeralda and Petrohue Falls 8-hour bus tour.

The bus leaves town immediately in the misty morning. We hope that the weather clears, and it does. The hilly lush green region was settled in 1853 when the Chilean government invited German colonists to come here. The style of the older homes, churches, and farms we pass certainly reflect that influence. When we reach Lake Esmeralda (or Lake Todos Los Santos) in the Perez Rosales National Park, we spend an hour in the sunshine on a large catamaran tour boat. As the clouds gradually reveal the peaks of the Osorno Volcano, another spectacular peak, and the Calbuco Volcano, we soak up as much of the scenery as we can in that brief period with our minds and our cameras.

Then it's on to the Petrohue River and Falls. We believe that another tour will raft a section of that class 3-4 river. From the road, it looks like it would be quite an exciting ride. At the Petrohue Falls area, we have another too brief period of time to walk amid scores of other tourists to see the wild rushing water from Esmeralda Lake fall into the Petrohue River. It is a beautiful sight, but difficult to enjoy such a limited area with so many others. Again, we rely on photographs to enjoy later. We have been instructed to return to the bus early so we can be the first bus to arrive for lunch at a farm overlooking Lake Llanquihue and the Osorno Volcano. There at the farm we sit down for a delightful lunch complete with white and red Chilean wine. We have plenty of time here to stroll, observe hummingbirds, rheas and llamas, and watch children playing.

Then it's on to Puerto Varas on Lake Llanquihue to do a little walking and shopping before returning to the ship. It's Good Friday, a local holiday, and all of Puerto Varas is out enjoying the weather. Roses are still blooming and kids are swimming in the lake, though it is fall. We never did see much of Puerto Montt.