Friday, Hat (Gedney) Island
Friends and fellow boaters, John and Laurie Gray, own a nice little cabin on Hat Island just outside of Everett. Our very first voyage on Karma, our Ranger 29, was a trip from Everett to Hat Island. Now after three years, we return on Destiny our Helmsman PH38.
Since Hat Island is a private island, you can only visit if invited by one of the islands residents. We are fortunate enough to have been invited by John and Laurie to be their guests in this private sanctuary for the evening.
With brilliant sunshine overhead, we depart Port Madison. I take the helm. Maureen works at the wheelhouse table.
As with yesterday, the shipping traffic this morning is extremely heavy. Massive cargo ships as well as tugs with their mighty tows, head north and south. I choose to run east of the shipping lanes. This of course means, we must cross both the north and southbound lanes. I run parallel to the lanes until we have a clear path across. With the path clear, I point Destiny’s bow east and proceed across the lanes.
Now clear of the lanes, I point Destiny’s bow north. On our approach to Edmonds we have both ferries coming and going. We give both of these great vessels plenty of room. I adjust my course to come astern of the inbound ferry “Spokane”. As I do so, I hail Spokane on VHF channel 13 informing them of our intentions. When maneuvering in close quarters such as this, we do not want the helmsman scratching his head and asking himself, “What are they doing”? They thank us for giving them a heads up as to what our intentions are.
In the distance, a wall of fog hangs low and heavy, reducing visibility to 500 feet. I spin up the radar. The iPads are set up. Ship Finder runs on one, the Active Captain Charts on the other. In the event the fog encases us in it’s wet gray blanket, we will be ready. Fortunately, the fog remains in Admiralty Inlet leaving Possession Sound basking in sunshine.
To our amazement, we watch the war ship Jon Ericson followed by two cargo ships emerge from the fog of Admiralty. The Jon Ericson informs Seattle Traffic that he is beginning his turn into Possession Sound bound for Everett.
To us, this means he will come up astern of Destiny’s on her port side. On our starboard side, we have a very large Foss Tug approaching from astern.
I contact the Ericson to inform them we will be making a 90-degree turn to port. When clear, we will fall in astern. We know, the last thing you want to do is make it appear that you are making an aggressive move toward one of these war ships…
The Ericson thanks us for the information and continues on. We are now clear and fall in astern. A new course is set for Hat Island.
We approach Hat Island from the south. We plan to go west of the island, round the northern tip and enter the marina. We slowly approach the west side; suddenly we spot Gray Whales off the beach. We motor slowly past taking photos and just watching these amazing creatures. While we have seen Orcas, we have never seen the Gray’s.
Slowly we make our way around the north end of the island. The tiny opening of the breakwater comes into view. Maureen takes the helm; I prepare the fenders and lines. We are entering on a minus tide. John has assured us the minimum depth center channel will be ten feet.
Once inside the breakwater, Maureen quickly executes a very tight “S” turn. The depth rises to three feet. Maureen slowly moves forward. The depth begins to drop. John and Laurie are awaiting our arrival on the dock.
With Destiny secure, we pile into John and Laurie’s truck and head inland to their home. Their home is situated on a bluff overlooking the waters of Possession Sound, Mountain Baker off in the distance.
We enjoy a leisurely afternoon admiring the view from the comfort of their home. As the sun begins to set, we head to the marina where we will BBQ on Destiny. We sit in the wheelhouse until close to midnight just catching up with old friends.
Saturday, Lynnwood Cove, Bainbridge Island
I rise Saturday morning to a heavy wet cover of fog. Visibility is in the 100-foot range. We are not concerned though; our planned departure time is not until 11:00.
While the coffee brews, I sit in the wheelhouse finishing off emails from work. Maureen remains in bed until I call out that the coffee is done.
John and Laurie join us on Destiny for coffee and breakfast pastries. We relax in Destiny’s wheelhouse watching the Cascades emerge from the fog. By the time we are ready to depart, the fog has all but disappeared. Sunshine abounds.
We bid John and Laurie farewell and start our voyage south. Just outside of the breakwater we once again spot Gray Whales. I capture a few more photos.
As we round the eastern end of Hat Island, we are treated to another incredible site. The Aircraft Carrier Nimitz has just departed Everett Naval Station, bound for the Persian Gulf. We follow her to Possession Point; she makes her turn to the west and then north into Admiralty Inlet.
Just as yesterday, fog shrouds Admiralty. It is not long and the Nimitz “disappears”.
We continue our journey south. We plan to rendezvous with Jorge and Marcus on Hayden Bay in Lynnwood Cove at the south end of Bainbridge Island. This is a small cove in Rich Passage. Anyone that has ever ridden the Bremerton Ferry will have seen it. In eight years, I have only seen one other vessel anchor there. Most people would believe that this would be a very lumpy anchorage with the ferry and pleasure traffic. Surprisingly, it is not.
Our course takes us through Port Madison and then Agate Passage. From there, we will run south down Port Orchard Channel and into Rich Passage. Our timing is just right. Upon our arrival at Agate, the tide has just turned and we get a light push through.
The weather is absolutely incredible. Temperatures in the sixties and sunshine. We move from the wheelhouse to the fly bridge taking advantage of this incredible weather.
As we round the bend into Rich Passage, the 44-foot sailing vessel Bonnie Jean comes into view. She is hard aground. The captain had attempted to cut a marker. He did it just at the bottom of the tide this morning and has had to spend the entire day laid over on his side in a very busy passage waiting for the rising tide.
We continue east in Rich Passage toward Lynnwood Cove. Just as we approach the cove, we spy Hayden Bay nestled in the back corner. She swings ever so gracefully on her great Rocna. We hail Hayden Bay and let them know of our arrival. They have already prepared fenders for our arrival.
Maureen slowly approaches Hayden Bay. With the wind and current, she twists and turns. At the last minutes she swings, we are forced to back away and come in again. The second time is a charm. We are now within ten feet, I toss our bowline to Jorge. At the same time; Marcus uses a boat hook to retrieve our stern line, which I had set up for him. Gently we bring the two vessels together. Lines are secured. With all secured, it is time for happy hour. Maureen whips up a batch of her Ginger Martini’s. Marcus, Jorge, and I move to the fly bridge. From here we are treated to a breath taking view of Mount Rainer in all her glory.
The sun begins to set; Mount Rainier is aglow in a vibrant shade of orange. A pair of eagles soars overhead, looking for a fresh salmon dinner.
Maureen wakes me at 6:30. She cannot figure out the strange noise that she hears. I assure her all is well but still get up to confirm it. What she is hearing is the propeller off of the Ferry as it makes his way through Rich Passage. While up, I click on the diesel heater to take the chill off of Destiny and crawl back into bed for another fifteen minutes.
When I do get back up, I am treated to one of the most incredible sunrises I have ever seen. While the sun has not yet cleared the horizon, you know it is there. Mount Rainer is ablaze with brilliant colors of the rising sun! I put on the coffee and move to the wheelhouse to take in the incredible scene.
I sit there mesmerized by the scene around me. The teakettle begins to sing bringing me back to reality. I pour the hot water over the fresh coffee grounds filling the galley with the aroma of fresh coffee.
We will enjoy a fresh cup of coffee with Jorge and Marcus and then it will be back to Shilshole to put Destiny away for another week.
I am off to Alaska for the week; Maureen is off to New Mexico. We will once again meet back in Seattle on Friday and do it all over again!
Stats for the weekend:
75 Miles Covered
12 hours engine time
20 Gallons of Diesel Burned
7 Bottles of wine consumed…
What a great life we lead!
