IT's A "GO" FOR SUNDAY !

[TheBronze]

With the rain and no bimni, we won't be making it unless things clear up suddenly. Yesterday would have been perfect!

[DMCI]

Bang on!

With the rain and no bimni, we won't be making it unless things clear up suddenly. Would have been perfect!

Well, after getting up at four to standby to get ready, I got a message from Chuck, dated yesterday saying please call me at 0630. While we were looking at partly cloudy to semi-clear up here in Mount Vernon, Chuck said it was raining like heck all over the Central to South Sound. So, the game was called on account of rain. Toby and Bruce were already over there camping out. So they had a nice cruise yesterday, and an overnight camp only to wake-up to a slight sprinkling. Good for them.

So I'm back at home, continuing to build wiring harnesses and install gear. I just completed the extension the Stern light, and I'm now starting on the extension for the Loud Hailer. Those equipment manufacturers give you very nice the six-inch long wire or wires that allow you to crimp on regular duplex rewiring. It's a hassle, but comparatively alternative works out really well.

I'm looking for much better weather after the 4 of July. This postponement takes all the pressure off getting the boat ready. It would've been subpar this weekend, but my goal, which I didn't meet was to bring the boat safe for examination by a BSD.

[Bruce and Toby]

Blake Island Trip Report

We went over to Blake Island on Saturday and camped overnight as planned. Very calm and smooth ride over, almost no wind at all and sunny.

Found a place on the dock at the marina and set up camp in the main campground. Explored the area and Toby played on the playground. Watched the bold racoons and tame deer close up. Cooked dinner on the camp stove. Stored all our food in the "wildlife-proof" containers that were provided. Took hot showers. All the conveniences of home!

It was a mostly clear evening as we saw the full moon rise from our campsite near the water. We woke up in the morning to light rain. Made some hot breakfast and then went out for a hike to the middle of the island. The big trees covering the trails kept us pretty dry. Around 10:30 the rain let up and we packed up the our tent and gear. Getting down the ramp to the floating docks was an adventure. By now the tide was very low and the ramp was so steep that we had to rappel down by clinging to the handrails! We got our stuff loaded in the boat and found almost no water in the bilge so off we went.

We headed East from the Blake Island marina, then around the Southern side of the island. We got the NW corner of the island right at the lowest tide and beached the boat. We tossed the anchor astern and used a sand anchor on the bow facing the beach. Our sand anchor is just a 4 foot piece of rebar with one end sharpened and the other end bent over, sorta like a large tent stake, but it worked fine. We stayed for a couple of hours building driftwood boats and exploring the area. As the tide came in we would pull the boat back ashore and reposition the sand anchor so we could get on and off the boat without getting our feet wet. Talked to another boater with a nice Arima 19 and watched people digging for geoducks.

We left the beach and Toby spotted a small steamboat that we had admired in the Marina. We motored up with them and found out that they had camped on the island too and were going back to Manchester. Their steamboat had a one cylinder motor and a vertical wood fired boiler. After tooting the steam whistles (they had two!) we turned off back towards Seattle.

Another very smooth crossing back to West Seattle where we had left the truck overnight. Loaded the boat and called it a day. A very enjoyable trip!

Bruce

[TheBronze]

Nice recap! We've done the blake island rain camp before as well. Nice one day, raining the next. We've even had our boat long on the hard there once. Had to wait till mid day to float and go home. Pretty funny.

Did any one else show?

[DMCI]

I was in a car on my way when I called Chuck Carey as he requested at 06 30. It was decided then that it was raining too hard in Lynnwood for it to happen.

The other problem I had was that while I worked nearly 5 days straight trying to get the boat ready and it was except for the running lights and a few other small details that would've gotten me a serious write up if we had ever been stopped by a BSD. My judgment was that while I would show up as promised, the boat would remain on the trailer with a ladder beside it.

I was a little worried about Toby et al being trapped in a storm on that island. Fortunately, the rule of it's never as bad as the weather service makes it out to be, applied.