June 10 - 12: Blake Island to Gig Harbor

June 10, 2005: Elliott Bay to Blake Island
Temp: 64 degrees
Wind: SSW 8mph
Conditions: Cloudy
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We departed EBM at approximately 3:00PM. I had just arrived from Mo-town, and Cae managed to extricate herself early. We headed out on a south westerly course across Elliott Bay toward Blake Island. Blake Island is 475 acre "marine park" which in Washington translates into "you can only get there by boat".

Since this was our first time to Blake, we headed to the NorthWest side of the island to anchor on the West side. We arrived around 5:00PM and found an anchorage in 50 feet of water about 200 feet from the shore. It was high tide when we arrived, so we wanted to make sure we gave ourselves ample room at low tide. I dropped the hook while Cae backed us down. We had a solid hold and set the GPS anchor alarm to make sure we were not dragging.

After getting settled we had dinner. After dinner we decided to walk the dogs and call it an early night. We fired up the dinghy and headed to the island. As I pulled the dinghy ashore Cooper and Ali got excited about getting out off the boat (especially the dinghy) and started to get off the boat as soon as I stood up. As I bent down to pull the boat ashore so my lovely fiancé could depart, she stood up, I pulled forward, and Cae went over the back and into the water with a splash. When I asked Cae what she was thinking, "well everyone else was getting off". So we made it a quick bathroom break for the puppies and went to get Cae into warmer clothes (the current water temp in Puget Sound is 53 degrees yikes).

The next morning we headed over to the see the Native American camp on the Northeast corner of the island. When we left, the wind was out of the South at 9 but had jumped to a consistent 13 on the way home which got a little hairy. The island itself is nice, but very "state parkish". I definitely recommend it, especially with its hiking trails, but do not count on eating anything other than the salmon show lunch/dinner at $35 a person. On this trip, we opted to skip the show, and head out. When we returned to the boat, it was low tide. Moonlight was sitting in 20 feet of water, about 35 feet from shore. There was a large sailboat race going on, so we lifted hook and started our journey down to Gig Harbor.

After lifting the hook and with good wind we opted to set sail. Cae went on deck, while I held the boat into the wind. At this point it was really howling and we lost two battens. Oh well, the good news is Cae got both sails up, and we agreed, the time for roller furling has come. We shut the engine down, fell off onto a starboard tack and had a good breeze at our back all the way to Gig.

Entering Gig for the first time is a little scary. Our depth showed 7 feet, and it really looks too narrow for two boats to pass at the entrance. Once inside it really opens up, but you breathe hard while you are heading around the point into the harbor.

The SYC outstation is located about halfway back into the cove on the Northern side. We were the fourth and last boat in for the night. The outstation is really nice, and I look forward to bringing friends down for the weekend. There are three bathrooms/showers, but the downside is no ice or trash facilities. No biggy but something to keep in mind.

For dinner we went to Tides Tavern for an appetizer and then onto the Harbor Inn restaurant. We really enjoyed the atmosphere of Tides Tavern, and will definitely make it a regular stop. The Harbor Inn was good food, but the atmosphere was not our speed, so the next time we are down, we will have to explore new places.

We left the next morning at around noon and caught the tide. 25 miles in 3 hours 15 minutes under blue sunny skies.

Cheers,
Bob