On Thursday we drove from Portland to Anacortes, and then on Friday morning we cruised from Anacortes to Port Townsend. It was nice chill cruise down Rosario Strait and across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Townsend. So calm and boring that I didn’t take one single photo. We arrived in Port Townsend and went for a walk around town for a bit, stopping in the little shop I like called “Getables” and picked up some Eaglemount Rhubarb Cider. We made dinner aboard, then in the morning Kevin attempted to diagnose the float switch/gray water pump/float switch issue we’ve been having (pump runs and pumps out the gray water, but then keeps running after it’s empty so you have to go turn off the breaker to it to get it to stop). We eventually left Point Hudson Marina and stopped briefly at Boat Haven so we could walk up to West Marine and get yet ANOTHER float switch. The brand new one we put in (to solve the same problem) a few months ago appears to have been bad. (Learned after taking apart the cabinetry in the head to remove and then test the gray water pump itself…which was fine).
The marina at Boat Haven has temporary dockage just past the fuel dock, and it’s an easy walk to West Marine — if you ever need to stop in.
We got what we needed and Kevin finished the float switch replacement while we were underway. Gorgeous cruise today…down through the Port Townsend Canal (with about 3 kts of current with us, woohoo) and into the sound. The light was soft and silvery and the water was mostly calm.
Barge loaded with crushed cars looked pretty cool chuggin’ along in the VTS lanes just north of Seattle:
We thought we might go down to Blake Island today, but since we got such a late start from Port Townsend (~11am) we instead opted for Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. No room in the marinas on a Saturday night, so we tied up for the night on the City Dock and walked down to the Harbour Public House for dinner and a beer. Dinner was just okay. I had fish tacos (pretty good, nothing fancy, fish definitely the highlight) and Kevin got a boar burger. The yam fries with the burger were cold (they brought another order) and the burger was just so-so. We’ve always gotten fish & chips here…maybe that’s the secret!
Tomorrow morning we’ll head across Elliott Bay and into Seattle for some Seattle Boat Show festivities. Should be a fun and busy week!
I didn’t realize you could stop at Boat Haven – I’ve needed some parts up in that neck of the woods and the West Marine would have been convenient.
I’m off to the Boat Show this weekend as well!
Yes, very handy! Dockage between the fuel dock and the boat launch. West Marine is about a 2 minute walk to the north. (Additionally, Safeway is less than a half a mile to the south.) 🙂
My last transit of the Port Townsend Canal involved a tidal miscalculation that enabled me to buck a four knot opposing current while only having 8 knots at my disposal. I attended the Wooden Boat Festival, which is not to be missed, and stayed overnight at Mystery Bay. Left near high tide slack, but the current turns sooner at the Canal. Much sooner…..