Blake Island...1 More Time ?

[Skagitguy]

Ok, We need to start a list of the people that will be attending Sunday the 23rd of this month. We will meet up at the Northwest end of the Blake Island around 11-11:30am to have lunch ( "brown bag" ) and if you would like to explore the island (Tillicum Village) that would be up to you. 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,Poulsbo,etc. Below is some information on the Island. I included some pictures from earlier events at Blake. You can used a Buddy Anchor or just any anchor on the stern to more or less keep your boat straight from not going sideways onto the beach. As far as tides go,just check your tide book.
Hope to see you there ! Chuck

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.

[DMCI]

The big job on the red boat will be getting the electronics installed. If I can get that done in time that I will be good to go. That doesn't leave much time in the scheme of things.

But I will try!

[Skagitguy]

Dave my man ! All you need to do is draw a line from a old fashion paper chart from point "A" to point "B" and in between lookout for Rocks, Ferries,Cargo Ships,and other Boaters.That's all. If we do this maybe you and i could go out of Everett ( and meet up with anyone else along the way at Kingston,Winslow ), boat ramp and just follow each other down past Edmonds,over to Bainbridge and on to Blake Island as i did two years ago with Rick Love. That would give you some running time as it is about 32 miles each way. Chuck

[TheBronze]

Sounds fun. If I can sell it to the wife and kids we'll try and make it. What time?

[Skagitguy]

John, You are not all that far from Blake. It was fun 2 years ago. We would meet up at the Northwest end of the Blake Island around 11-11:30am to have lunch ( "brown bag" ) and if you would like to explore the island (Tillicum Village) that would be up to you. Chuck

[TheBronze]

Excellent. The wife thinks it would be fun as well. We haven't been to blake since last season, so hopefully the weather is nice. By North End do you mean just south of the Kayak landing, by the camp grounds? That is our favorite spot. Easy beaching and anchoring - as long as you are prepared!

[Skagitguy]

John, We would be at the Northwest end where you can see Rich Passage.

[DMCI]

Dave my man ! All you need to do is draw a line from a old fashion paper chart from point "A" to point "B" and in between lookout for Rocks, Ferries,Cargo Ships,and other Boaters.That's all. If we do this maybe you and i could go out of Everett ( and meet up with anyone else along the way at Kingston,Winslow ), boat ramp and just follow each other down past Edmonds,over to Bainbridge and on to Blake Island as i did two years ago with Rick Love. That would give you some running time as it is about 32 miles each way. Chuck

Well a Good News Is that I will be picking up my boat today Wednesday. Then by the weekend I should have most of not all of the electrical work done. That includes putting on the running lights and a few baubles in the electronics department. The thing has no white running light. I also bought mooring lines and bumpers. The only thing I need is a tree line and an anchor line. The tree-lined of course is from tying the bow to the shore. I am investigating the use of a mooring pin which shoves in the beach and you tie the bow line to it. I may need a stern anchor if the tide is to extreme that day.

Spent a few bucks getting ready for this thing I'm definitely going to do it.

See you all there the Creek don't rise.

[Skagitguy]

Dave, Don't forget your hull running numbers and sticker. Anchor ? get a Buddy Anchor for the stern and just tie the bow anchor line to your bow anchor or to a log. See photo.

[Bruce and Toby]

We'd like to go on this trip.

We were planning on launching at the West Seattle boat ramp around 9:30 but we're flexible on the time.

If someone would like to join us for the run over to Blake Island we can meet up whenever is good.

Bruce

[DMCI]

Bruce:

With all due respect, I'm a little concerned that you may not have enough boat for the mission. I haven't had a chance to look at the chart but there has to be a better place (read closer) for you to put in without risking your lives in a small boat.

Perhaps someone else would care to comment on this subject.

I will almost certainly have the 18 with a 90 on it rated go by then and you are welcome to join me on the boat for that day. I think you have more than enough boat to do anything around here freshwater wise but I'm concerned about the Salt Chuck. I know that one three-foot wave which are fairly common might very well cause extreme difficulty for your boat. I used to run that channel 40 kn in my 27 and one day I think I spooked a sub and suddenly I was looking at a 30 foot wave which disappeared about the time I was ready to panic. I think her skipper detected my propeller and it took just long enough for him to say all ahead full followed by all stop to move the sub out of my way. There was nothing else in sight. I would not want to face that in my 18 let alone in your boat.

Anybody else on this?

[Helmar]

Safety First guys

Ok, time to stick my nose in here.
Not quite sure what is going on but remember our safety meetings for the skippers and such.

Clue me in please....I kind of got the gist of things is all.

Helmar:Skipper1:

[Ken]

I'm trying to work it so I can come too. Gotta love Blake Island! If the weather is good will probably launch at Point Defiance...
Ken

[Bruce and Toby]

Here's the route we were thinking of taking.

We have had our boat out in Puget Sound 6 times in the past year. True, it is not the largest boat, but I feel entirely comfortable crossing the 3.7 miles from Alki Point to Blake Island in fair weather.

If the weather is at all questionable, we will not be going. Safety is our number one priority.

Bruce

[Skagitguy]

Bruce, In a perfect world if the wave action was only 1-2 feet that would be great ! ...and i hope it will be for you and your son.Good to see you are going out of Seacrest Launch and along the shoreline by Alki and a little bit down the South side before going across. I know you know your boat better than anyone else since you said you have been out there 6 times.On Puget Sound Sound the weather and water condition can change in seconds as you know. Last Summer we were up in Deception Pass area ( not at the pass itself just around the corner heading south in the 20' Skagit and all of a sudden it changed to BIG 4-5 foot ( no kidding ) waves. The Skagit felt like it was only a 2 foot boat in those waves. Chuck