Blake Island April 20th !

[Skagitguy]

Being there has not been an exactly overwhelming response to our Blake Island outing this Saturday April 20th,the event will be rescheduled at a later date with maybe better weather.Only one person has said they would be coming if the weather was decent. Chuck

It's about that time again. Who will be coming ? We will meet up at the Northwest end of the Blake Island on April 20th around 11-11:30am to have lunch ( "brown bag" ) and if you would like to explore the island (Tillicum Village) there would be time for that. You can pull your boat up on the nice beach( no big rocks ! ) or anchor just offshore. Being the island is centrally located in Puget Sound ,you can launch your boat just about from any place on the Sound like, Everett,Edmonds,Kingston,Winslow ( Bainbridge Island),Bremerton, Seattle,Tacoma,Gig Harbor,etc. Below is some information on the Island. I included some pictures from earlier events at Blake. You can used a Buddy Anchor ( it like a big rubber band that you throw out just before you come to the shore line so your boat stays out a little in the water ) or just any anchor on the stern to more or less keep your boat straight from not going sideways onto the beach. The tides that day will be 1:46 am 10.2 feet at 8:26 am 4.9 feet and start coming in and at 1:30pm it will, be 7.9 feet then going back out till 7:30 pm will be 2.7 feet. All you need to do is keep a eye on your boat.
Hope to see you there !

Nestled between Bainbridge Island and Vashon Island, the 476-acre island once was privately owned and then in 1974 became Blake Island State Park.Blake Island is a favorite location for kayaking, bird watching and year-round camping or stopping off and watching the world go by. The popular Northwest attraction and tour, Tillicum Village, is located at the north end of the Island and is a daytime cultural attraction for visitors during the summer.The island's proximity to nearby Bremerton, Seattle, Tacoma and other surrounding cities makes it a stop off destination for daytime and overnight trips.Blake Island, which can only be reached by boat, has 15 miles of hiking and bike trails, three campgrounds and approximately 1700 feet of saltwater shoreline. The Island has views of the Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound and the Seattle skyline.
Chuck

[Bruce and Toby]

We're new to this so please forgive the odd question.

How do you handle the beach mooring with the changing tide?

I was hoping to avoid coming back from lunch and finding the boat high and dry. Waiting hours for the tide to come back in doesn't sound fun.

And in addition to the line to shore, do you use an anchor on the opposite end pointed away from the beach?

[Skagitguy]

Bruce, You can used a Buddy Anchor( it's like a big rubber band ( line ) that you throw out just before you come to the shoreline so your boat stays out a little in the water ) or just any anchor on the stern to more or less keep your boat straight from not going sideways onto the beach. The tides that day will be 1:46 am 10.2 feet at 8:26 am 4.9 feet low and start coming in and at 1:30pm it will, be 7.9 feet high then going back out till 7:30 pm will be 2.7 feet. All you need to do is keep a eye on your boat.

[Skagitguy]

.......

[Bruce and Toby]

So if you were to camp overnight, would you have to moor your boat on the East side at the marina?

[Skagitguy]

Bruce, Call the Parks system listed on this link. (360) 902-8844 Chuck


http://www.stateparks.com/blake_island.html

[Tim_Mattson]

So if you were to camp overnight, would you have to moor your boat on the East side at the marina?

Bruce ,
These are really slow tides for this area,.5 foot change per hour is really slow,you do have to watch for large boat waves on occasion.Or float it just off beach.....
Good rubber boots and the double anchors will help out if coming for the day.Overniting would be best at the dock ,some have beachcamped but you`ll be restless if you have ever seen a swamped boat.....
Will be good Lingcod tides,some are on the Reef along the SW shore of Blake Is....super rocky and not easy to fish so bring extra stuff.There are 4` fish here ,and WolfEeel you`ll never see!
TM

[Skagitguy]

Blake Island April 20th This Sat !

Ok, We need to start a list of the people that will be attending this Sat April 20th. The weather looks like it will be a whole lot better than this weekend. More info can be found at the top of these postings Chuck

[Bruce and Toby]

Here's the link to the NWS forecast for Blake Island:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick...50442504882812

Right now the forecast is for "chance of showers" but it's still several days away.

[Bruce and Toby]

Weather permitting, we'll be there. The forecast now says "partly sunny" for both Saturday and Sunday.

We were planning to launch at the West Seattle ramp around 9:30 on Saturday morning. Any one else leaving from there?

Sounds like it will be a fun trip!

[Andy E.]

Darn

I can't make it, still to many loose ends to round up on my boat before it's ready to sail. Sounds like a fun outing. Andy

[Skagitguy]

Blake Island ....Rescheduled

Being there has not been an exactly overwhelming response to our Blake Island outing this Saturday April 20th,the event will be rescheduled at a later date with maybe better weather.Only one person has said they would be coming if the weather was decent. Chuck

[Skagitguy]

I can't make it, still to many loose ends to round up on my boat before it's ready to sail. Sounds like a fun outing. Andy

Andy, Thanks for letting me know. Maybe the weather will be better at a later date anyway and more people can come. Best,Chuck

[DMCI]

Weather permitting, we'll be there. The forecast now says "partly sunny" for both Saturday and Sunday.

We were planning to launch at the West Seattle ramp around 9:30 on Saturday morning. Any one else leaving from there?

Sounds like it will be a fun trip!

Bruce:

Hopefully, by the time this thing is rescheduled my red boat will be ready. As you may or may not know thing is 18 Skagit runabout, which is not a very big boat. I would feel a lot better if you and I were to meet up at the boat launch and go over together. That way if I get into trouble you and Toby could rescue me or at least tow me in. There is nothing worse than being DIW in the middle of the shipping lanes, and so with a buddy system that possibility will be eliminated.

If it gets a little choppy, I can always run in your wake and that would cut down the apparent sea, if that became a problem. The boat will have a new 90 hp Merc 4 stroke and a few extra life preservers and by then a radio, as well.

I would have to come down from the Mount Vernon area, and at that time in the morning traffic isn't really a problem. We would have to watch the weather really carefully. One of the rules of boating, even with airplanes in fact, is that you have many opportunities to go out, but only one life to lose. Therefore I think going over together would provide a comfortable reliability. Let me know what you think.

The water could be flat as a pancake, but my experience crossing the ship lanes, things are usually a little bit choppy and the Sea of 1 to 2 feet which was perfect for my 27 might provide some entertainment for these small craft.

My plan in the interim is to dump the thing in that LA Connor, go down the Swinomish channel, around Hat island and back to the LA Connor, just to get some time on the engine.

[Bruce and Toby]

Dave,

Sure, we would definitely enjoy some company on the run to Blake Island. Thanks for your kind offer.

Your Skagit 18 Runabout looks like a really nice boat. When do you think it might be ready?

Bruce