M17 #375 – SWEET PEA

It has been some time since I’ve posted about SWEET PEA’s Salish Sea adventure. I’ve been busy on my new boat/home SWALLOW and posting on this BLOG what I hope are helpful information on semi-generic trailerable sailboat things before the information disappears into the dead portions of the Internet.

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So here begins again the tale of my and Momma Kitty’s trip around the Salish Sea in 2018:

When I last wrote about the cruise I departed South Puget Sound after spending about a month gunkholing around south of Tacoma Narrows. Woke up early to ride the current heading north, the tide was helpful giving a push of 2+ knots though there was little to no wind, and I arrived at Blake Island State Park by noon. After settling into a slip at the park’s marina Momma Kitty and I settled down to enjoy the evening.

The next morning, 29 May ’18, after breakfast we departed Blake Island and headed for Liberty Bay via Rich Passage and Port Orchard. The wind was southerly 3-5 knots so up go the sails and used the whisker pole to hold out the genoa for a great down-wind sail. Excluding time departing Blake Island Marina and setting the anchor near Poulsbo SWEET PEA had sailed ALL THE WAY – including winding channels at Rich Passage and entering Liberty Bay.

After dinner I crawl into the vberth to read and fall asleep by 830pm. It had been a long but satisfying day of sailing.

It was cold overnight and I awoke feeling chilly. Still, it was a good sleep of a full nine hours.

After breakfast I pull up the anchor and motored into the Poulsbo Marina and payed $5 for four hours of slip time. I made the one mile walk to the Safeway to get some groceries.  On the way I stopped at the public library and updated the cellphone (OS update, application updates, and backing up the photos) while reading the Wall Street Journal.

Back at the marina I bought some gasoline and dropped off my garbage and recycling.

Land-side things complete Momma Kitty and I departed the marina and re-anchor off the breakwater.

The day was very warm. The thermometer on SWEET PEA said the cabin got up to 80-degrees! The weather summary for May 2018 states it tied for the driest on record. As April was very wet the rainfall deficiency is only .1″ below normal.

I felt a bit scruffy so I trimed my beard before making a dinner of fresh chicken and brussel sprouts with pasta & alfredo sauce. Fancy eats on a small boat!

After an evening spent reading I went topsides to confirm that the anchor was well set and the masthead light is functioning. All is well and a light rain is falling. A good day comes to an end and Momma Kitty and I go to bed.