Karma Heading to LaConner

S

Stella Maris

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Messages
1,500
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Non-Fluid Motion Model
Helmsman PH38, 11' Boston Whaler, 9' Boston Whaler
Vessel Name
Destiny
Maureen and I will be headed for LeConner next Saturday. We will depart from Bell Harbor on Saturday morning around 9 am cruising to LaConner. We will overnight Saturday night (4/10) in LaConner. We will be leaving Karma in LaConner at Boaters Discount on Sunday as they will be installing our hard top the week of the 17th.

Anyone care to join us (me, Maureen arrives at 10:00 pm) either Friday night in Bell Harbor or in LaConner (us, as Maureen will have arrived Friday evening) on Saturday afternoon and/or evening?

We plan to arrive early enough on Saturday to visit some of the local Tulip fields as they are in full bloom!
 
Love your posts! I am still a Ranger Tug "want-a-bee". Hopefully soon. They just opened a new dealer in Essex, CT...they sell Nordic Tugs too.

I am interested to see what your hard top looks like. Can you order from factory as well?

Tim
 
Tim,
With all the factory is working on today, Dave Livingston is not willing to offer a hardtop as an option. It does not mean down the road he will not.

There are a number of people interested. However, everyone wants to see what it will look like first..... we are the beta tester's......
 
Hi Guys,
I think Nita and I will be out this weekend and its a good possibility we will be at Bell Harbor Friday Night. Hope to see you there. My Cell (206) 932-2450.
Bob
 
Bob,
I will be into Bell around noon weather permitting. I will ask the guys at the desk to hold the slip next to us as long as possible in the event you guys come in. You can reach me on my cell at 702-203-8631.

I have to make a quick trip up to REI while I am on that side of the sound. Maureen ordered those nifty folding chairs that Bruce and Vickie have on Moondance and they are ready to be picked up.
David
 
We have paid for Fridays moorage and I am too cheep to let that go so we will be there. At the time I called they did not have your reservations so I wasn't sure you were going to be there, it will be good to see you.
Bob
 
I had called earlier today. They said they had plenty of space available so I did not make a reservation. Maureen will be really mad if I am not there when she gets there since she is cabbing over from the airport....... I told her to meet me there....
 
It was a cool morning in Port Orchard when I cast the lines off headed for Bell Harbor in downtown Seattle. The weather was incredible! A cool brisk 36 degrees with sunshine just starting to light the Olympic Mountains to the west. The water was a smooth as glass as I rounded the corner on the way out of the marina headed for Rich Passage. The foot ferries were scurrying back and forth between Bremerton and Port Orchard.

I set the auto pilot to take me down the northern shore thus avoiding the Seattle/Bremerton ferry route. As I passed a stern of the ferry Talkeetna, she reversed her engines to start her trip to Seattle. Perfect timing! Got past her just as she started to move away from the docks.

The ride over was uneventful once the Talkeetna passed by. With the current behind me, it gave me an extra knot and a half in speed for no additional charge on fuel! I like these types of rides. I spotted numerous Harbor Seals as well as Sea Lions on the trip through Rich Passage.

After rounding Orchard Point, it was a straight shot over to Bell Harbor. Very little ship traffic on the main body of the sound. Not to prove true once I got to Elliott Bay though! A ferry coming at me from just off my starboard bow. A very LARGE tug coming at my starboard mid ship. Another tug and tow on my port side! And then out of no where comes the catamaran from Vashon Island. Which way do I go???? Since no one called out to the little yellow boat via VHF, I figured I was okay. I held my course to take away the guess work of those piloting the other sea going vessels. We all passed with no issues.

After arriving at Bell, Bruce met me and it was off to REI to pick up our new chairs. We wandered around REI for about an hour and then it was back to Bell. Upon my arrival, I caught up with Bob and Nita from the Nellie Too.

Bob and Nita went up and wander along the water front while I went up and walked through the market. The flower stands were all loaded with tulips from up around the La Conner area. The La Conner area is famous for being one of the largest producers in the US for Tulips.

For dinner we walked down to the Edgewater Hotel and had dinner at their restaurant. The food was good, the company was great, and the view...... what more can you say!

It was another perfect day aboard Karma! It is great to be on the water amongst such great beauty of the PNW and the Ranger Tug Family!
 
Good to see you this morning. Going to REI is like going to outdoor-land at Disney World. I see the MV Dirona was out today. Sorry we couldn't join you for dinner. Have a nice ride up to La Conner.

Cheers
 
John and I launched at Everett 10th street yesterday headed for Hat Island. We ran into Lyeman of Zuma there both yesterday and today when we returned. We thought about you as we surfed the 25 knot winds coming from the north. Hope that trip to La Connor wasn't too bad!

Laurie
 
hey dave and maureen, how about a picture of those chairs, still bobbing around in the sea of cortez...looking forward to seeing everyone in sept.... steve and tina still no clue :?
 
Hey Steve and Tina: here's a series of pictures of Vicki demonstrating the Pico Director Chairs. Click any picture to go to the gallery and see the entire series. We all got them at REI (see catalog).
||||

Cheers
 
Thinking we need to have a couple of these chairs... as Lyman said, can't go a week without spending money on the boat. Good to see you at the Everett Yacht Basin John and Laurie, we've got Zuma ready to go. Can't wait to spend some time out on the water! We'll be heading to Bell Harbor ourselves Friday-Monday if anyone would like to join us.
 
Welllllllllll...... where do we start?????? I have not even opened the chairs yet..... The weather has finally calmed down...... we are currently sitting in Port Orchard!!!!

Not quite La Conner! We headed out of Bell this morning at 9:30. The wind was blowing out of the Northeast at about ten to fifteen knots. Checked the Ferry weather report which gives you real time data and it concurred with our estimates. We came around the point by Shilshole and wham!! At least 30 knots of winds! We immediately hit waves that had to be six feet if not bigger! Sitting at the helm (or in my seat, the navigators) you were looking straight at the tops of the waves! Maureen immediately said, "I am not doing this for six hours"! I quickly took the helm as I knew we would need to do a 180 and Maureen hates to do these in this type of conditions. We watched the waves, timed it right, and were able to execute the turn with very little roll! We began to surf the waves as we headed for Point Defiance and the Rich Passage. Then, and I mean then it got ugly!!!!! I have rounded up many a sailboats but never a trawler. You know you are somewhere that you should not be, when you look out from the helm and are looking up at the top of the waves!!! We would surf down one wave to land in the trough. Once you hit the trough, Karma turned sideways to the on coming wave and would roll to between 30 and 45 degrees!

It was at this point that I thought, (Mac, hold your tongue here) we should have our life vests on. However, the roll of the boat made it far to dangerous for Maureen to go to the basement and retrieve them. I also thought, now is the time to call the CG and let them know where we are at and what we are experiencing. This gets you help quicker when you need it. However, with one hand on the throttle, the other on the wheel, I did not have a free one to hand Maureen the mic.

In over 30 years of boating, I have only felt three times that this was a place I should not be. Today was number three! Every time I headed for point Defiance, a wave would get us and head us in the wrong direction! I really thought we would end up in Tacoma! However, we persevered and made it around the point!

This experience taught us many things. One is that we may not be wearing our life vests while inside, but we will have them within reach. We will also have the handheld VHF within reach so if we do need to contact someone we can. We do not feel that we did anything wrong here with the exception of not having our life vests within reach. When we determined the weather was not conducive to our voyage, we turned around.

This time it all turned out good.... All though there was the hot water line that blew off, and the fact that we had a rental car sitting in LaConner that we had to figure out how to get to and retrieve. But we are still in one piece, and Karma appears to have come out unscathed. Now all we need to figure out is when do we get Karma to LaConner to get the hardtop installed???? Anybody care to go from Port Orchard to LaConner next week???? Currently looking for a navigator!
 
Here it is, 4:45 on Thursday morning, April 15th. After arriving back in Port Orchard at midnight from Anchorage, where I might add, the weather gods surprised everyone yesterday by dumping six inches of unexpected snow, it is good to be back on Karma.

The coffee just finished dripping, my bagel is toasting on the stove. I am once again headed to LaConner, just waiting for the sun to start to lighten the eastern sky. I should have enough light to depart Port Orchard at six am.

The weather today is suppose to be beautiful with light winds. The run to La Conner from Port Orchard is 66 miles. I should be able to be tied up and washing Karma by 1:00 at the latest. Lets hope for calm winds and following seas. Since the tide is high, the seas should cooperate now lets just hope the wind gods cooperate!
 
Safe travels, David. It does look like an excellent day to be on the water.

Here's hoping for more excellent days for all of us Tugnutters in the weeks and months ahead.

Cheers,

J
 
As it turns out John and I will be driving right by La Conner about 1 pm on our way to Bellingham to help our son move out of his apt. Do you need any land transportation help? Give us a call - you have our cell phone number!

Laurie
 
Karma (and I) made it to La Conner in one piece!!!!! The ride today was much different than the ride on Saturday! There was no being pushed about by large waves..... The wind was not howling...... I was not thinking to myself, what the hell are you doing out here on a day like today!!!!

Thanks to all of you that have offered to drive to La Conner to pick me up! It is truly amazing how generous Ranger Tug Owners are!!!!!

Once we get the top installed, I will post pictures in our photo album.
 
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