It's a nice day to cruise down to Elliot Bay w/grandkids

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Subject: It's a nice day to cruise down to Elliot Bay w/grandkids

Today looks like nice sunny weather with temps a bit on the chilly side in mid 50ºF. Little wind at 5 mph from the south.

So will steam south to Seattle's Elliot Bay so the kids can get a nice view of Seattle's downtown from the water side. I have not cruised into this bay before and I know there are Bainbridge ferry boats and even big cruise ships that dock in this area. I know of no restrictions for boaters' plying this Bay but will keep a keen eye open for what may be busy traffic.

On weekends I've seen a bunch of sailboats that are likely racing off to west of Discovery Park and the West Point Lighthouse.... but suspect they will not be out as there's little wind for them at present.

If time permits I will poke the boat down the Duwamish Waterway on west side of Harbor Island to get a close look at the industrial sites which aren't clearly or easily visible from land.

I'll take photos and post back later with a Shared Photo album. 🙂
 
yes no issues in the bay just watch the ferries, the fast vancouver clipper and the west seattle water taxi. mostly at the docks end of town though.

you can get surprisingly close to downtown on the waterfront as the water is deep. the view in front of the great wheel is pretty special in the afternoon with the sunset.

if you have time and interest you can also transit the ballard locks into the lake. Just need two 50ft lines in case they send you through the big lock (mostly they dont) and some fenders, lifejackets and listen to instructions.

sailboat racing occurs off Shilshole most evenings especially monday, wednesday and fridays. usual start gun is around 6pm and ends at sunset.

Elliot bay marina has a take your time fridays evening racing series (more about drinking and sailing than actual racing) - heck Ive seen people just motor around the course 😀
not sure this has started yet as its a bit early in the season.

you might also see a 50ft seattlesail.com sail boat that takes charter guests out for a few hours in the bay.

remember that trawlerfest is going on at bell harbor so unlikely you will be able to stop in there today
 
Thanks for those insights and advice.... 🙂
 
I'm looking out over the Olympic Sculpture Park and it looks nice out there. A loaded bulk cargo ship just pulled away from Pier 86, you may see her as you head south. There's another anchored waiting for her cargo to arrive by rail. If you see them you can point out the huge difference in the waterlines.

The WSF's are predictable. You'll hear them departing by monitoring vessel traffic. The follow the route lines on your charts fairly closely, and the show up on AIS.

You can cruise in fairly close to the sculpture park and point out Calder's Eagle and Jaume Plensa's beautiful monumental Echo, eyes closed, facing out towards the Olympics.

The ride down the Duwamish is great. Going past all the boats being serviced on Harbor Island will fascinate the kids, and when you get down to Delta Marine you may see some mega-yachts. The 53m MLR registered to KY is docked there now. You'll spot them on AIS. Also lots of cool working boats up and down the waterway.

We're getting ready to walk down to TrawlerFest at Bell Harbor Marina. We'll watch for you on the water.

Cheers,

Bruce
 
My plan is to leave Edmonds between 12:30 and 1 PM. Kids get off school at 11:45 AM.... weather still looking good for the trip south. 🙂
 
im jealous!

im in seattle, my boat is in La conner. no popping out for a cruise today. I think I will bring the boat down to Seattle this weekend so we can get into midweek cruising again!
 
This cruise is for giving my son additional boat operations & training along with having his children with us.... and maybe Jake if he agrees to behave as he gets very excited and always jumps a lot that makes me think he will jump overboard if any seagulls fly close to us. This is one reason I want a full cockpit enclosure for safeguarding against Jake jumping overboard with too much excitement. He's done this when over at Bremerton and flew over the dock side into the water that was 6 feet below where I could lean over.... thank goodness another Tugnutter saw this and ran over to help me retrieve Jake. 😀
 
Cutwater28GG":62gqf0zv said:
yes no issues in the bay just watch the ferries, the fast vancouver clipper and the west seattle water taxi. mostly at the docks end of town though.

...snip...
Click to expand...

Ah yes... the Victoria/Vancouver Clipper. Seen that boat on several occasions when out on my R27/OB before. I could quite easily outrun that Clipper at times in my R27/OB much to my delight. :lol:
 
Highly recommend Maggie bluffs at Elliott Bay Marina for late lunch or afternoon snacks
Try their pea salad and wings
 
Looks Breezy. 19knots off magnolia 🙂
 
It was a very pleasant ride going south. Not too many boats around. Did a very slow pass-by along the shoreline in front of Seattle's water line. Took the west side down the Duwamish Waterway to the end but was unsure if it was possible to return using the east side channel.... looked kind of blocked and chart plotter wasn't too clear on things. So return back on the west channel. Sure is lots of industry down there. The kids really enjoyed it.

As we passed by Bell Harbor (where the Seattle TrawlerFest was being held) a R31 CB came steaming out and on the ride back north to Edmonds we crossed paths with a R29 S going south at speed. I was hoping to see the R41 steam out of Bell Harbor. 😉

For the return northern trip the wind had changed to 10-20 mph from the north and wave heights steadily increase up to 3 feet with short period swells and waves; white tops all around. The boat got a very good wash down with spray making it up onto the Command Bridge. Had to use all 3 wipers for most of the time.

Heading into the entrance of Port of Edmonds is always a challenge when wind is astern and wave/swells on the stern. Boat will surf easily with boat at low speed and can rocket the boat into the entrance.... just have to be ready for other boats exiting. Then all is well once into the marina with flat water and little wind.

The kids hunkered down in the mid-ship berth for a while on the way north with the boat bouncing severely at times. They like the comfort of this berth with its nice port holes to watch the sea rushing by.

The kids were nice enough to wash down the boat after we docked.... they love to be given jobs/tasks. 🙂

T'was a good outing. 😀
 
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