August 7-8

August 7-8. Port Townsend Marina. Hi to all. Sorry it has been so long between posts. Doug has one outlined but work keeps interfering, hard to fight with that. His job gives us this opportunity, but also sets its limits on us.

Are we having fun yet? Believe it or not, Yes! But it’s very weird. We thought the head (marine toilet) rebuild would take a few hours yesterday but did it wrong first and had to sit on hold for customer support, (think Verizon). They talked us through that. We corrected and did it right. Then had to call them back to hold some more because the operating handle was soooo stiff we thought it had to be wrong and were afraid of breaking it. An extra day later, they are east coast and marina’s have checkout times like hotels, all’s good just push the little lever harder. Laundry is clean, bodies are clean, Worst (West) Marine is richer and we are not! But we are gone as we motor out of clean, noisy, moorage to a quiet anchorage where we each could get some work done.

Wrong again. We spent much time looking for the elusive curser that went into hiding with each bob of he boat or the typo created by her bobs. We had small motor vessels weaving in and out of anchored boat at full speed. Sailboats bounce and rock LOTS when wake is created. It that wasn’t enough other sailboats were “racing” around anchored sailboats to practice racing skills and boat trim. Where’s my privacy bubble? Not to mention the evil kitty eyes glaring at me because of course, we all know it is all my fault.

Doug’s 3-hour estimate for a software update at a client site turned in to 6 1/2 so far and has no ending in view, but in an available window we ran away deeper into the bay for some peace and quiet. Forecast sounds like we made a good choice as we may be here a few days, lots of potential for rain. It’s only 7 but Squishy and I will soon go to bed and be up when the sun gets to us.
Doug will post this after his work is done. We're now peacefully anchored at 48 06.092 N 122 46.78 W.

The Straight of Juan de Fuca is the path to the San Juan Islands. It is known for major but variable currents so we choose our direction and timing carefully based on Washburn Tables, statistics that tell us how much current, where and in which direction each hour of the clock. We are really praying that the atmosphere there is as positive as we remember it. We have had enough smelly fishing ports and noisy working ports to last a few months.

We have finally figured out the equation to conducting business without entering moorages so often. Anchoring out is where we find the peace, beauty, and pleasure without the chaos. Now all we need to do is pull in to shower and provision and be gone.

Trivia facts:

Did you know that a basic SS hose clamp is $1.39 in local hardware stores and $1.99 at Worst Marine?

Worst Marine is at the docks and hardware stores are ½ mile either direction. We walked lots.

At home our boat fits in, if not looks great because it gets used. (Seaweed and algae cling to those around us in the docks.) Here it looks dilapidated, old and uncared for. We make repairs as needed for functionality and safety, not appearance. Here lots of racers pay for all repairs to be done, including cosmetics, and hoist their boats out and pressure wash, paint, sand, or some combination thereof for speed every year. We slapped on 6 coats of bottom paint, with the bottom 2 layers being a different color to tell us when we had to repaint, 6 years ago in our drive way. We are changing color now and will have to pull and redo this year after we get back from the salt water. We’re cheap sorts but that’s what allows us to have a boat to play in.

Love and good night to all.
Cindy, Doug and Squishy!