South to Edmonds

7 June 2018 – I cast off the Hope Island State Park buoy at 7am and motor with the tide to Strawberry Point with 5kt wind on the nose the entire way. The Skagit Bay channel heading south along Whidbey Island is narrow and busy with boats and crab pots for (easy) short tacking. The … More South to Edmonds

Anchoring

I just love going for a cruise and finding a quiet cove away from all the other boats. Gunkholing requires an anchor. Here I’ll discuss how I store, launch and retrieve an anchor … … More Anchoring

Do you know the condition of your boat’s deck hardware bedding?

Your sailboat’s deck hardware should have been installed using a bedding compound. (I sadly write ‘should’ as I have worked on boats where there is no evidence that bedding compound was used!) Commonly used are Sikaflex’s 291 and 3M’s 4000 and 4200 (remember, 5200 is for under the waterline applications that will very very very likely never be removed). SPECIAL NOTE: do not use silicone to bed deck hardware! 99.99% of the time silcone has NO PLACE for use in the marine environment! … More Do you know the condition of your boat’s deck hardware bedding?

Back to Dockton

I wake and make my morning coffee. It is early so the boats at the public dock are quiet as if people are up they are not on deck. I enjoy watching the boats, a few seabirds and the sun rising. I receive a note from the Potters: no one going to Blake. I let … More Back to Dockton