THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Yesterday was 30 March 16. It was not only granddaughter Makenzi's 13th Birthday, it was the day we officially began our 2016 passage. We left Hayden Island's Salpare Bay Marina, fully stocked and fueled. Skipper John and first mate Tracey also ready. Left at 9 am with clear skies, 56*, heading west on the Columbia River. We arrived appx 2pm. at Martin's Island (1st scheduled over night) Made great time! Our engine speed at 1600 rpm was 5 knots, but our SOG (speed over ground) was 9-10 knots. We set the anchor with no problems and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the sun on the flybridge. 

Columbia River Fuel Dock

From the pilot house

At anchor for the 1st night in Martin's Pond in 35' of water. 

Our first night on the "hook" was awesome! It was very peaceful, beautiful and secluded! Not a soul in sight... We had a relaxing afternoon and evening dining on the boat and watching the sunset. Hit the rack early in preparation for our 2nd leg to Astoria.

It was 8:15am, Thursday 31 March 16 (Day 2). Clear skies 48* The mouth of Martin's pond is appx 30' wide and very shallow. We watched the depth gauge... 8', 7', 6', we touched bottom at 2'! John managed reverse and we found the path out. A bit nerve racking way to start the day!

Leaving Martin's Island day two. Heading to Astoria

The rest of the trip to Astoria was very smooth going. Passing Mt St. Helens and other port towns on the Columbia was beautiful. With fair winds we traveled @ 1600 rpm, engine speed 5 knots, but our SOG (speed over ground) was 9 knots. We arrived at West Basin Marina, Astoria, WA at 3pm. We had an end tie of C dock $35 for the night.  Our friend Mike recommended The Portway Tavern for dinner, "the oldest watering hole in the oldest American Settlement west of the Rockies". Astoria is all about the Lewis and Clark Trail West to the Pacific. It was fried prawns and the best baked potato I ever had. Back to the boat for early shut eye. Tomorrow was the infamous "Bar Crossing".

Some info about Astoria. While in Portland, one soggy Friday, after who knows how many days of rain... we took a road trip to Astoria visiting the Maritime Museum, climbed the historic "Column" with 360* views of the Bar and drove across the bridge to learn about Cape Disappointment. The following are some pictures of that day.

What is the Bar? Click on photos to in large and scroll through

View of the Bridge from Astoria, OR to Cape Disappointment, WA 

Light House at Cape Disappointment (Washington side) The Bar is in the distance

"The object of your mission... the Pacific Ocean" - Thomas Jefferson

The Historic Column is commemorating the Lewis and Clark expedition, Thomas Jefferson and Robert Gray. It is a lookout tower with 360* views of the area. Inside there is a 164 step spiral staircase. Very narrow, you actually get dizzy if you climb it too fast. It's in a State Park at the top of a large grassy hill in Astoria. I was surprised to see John start the ascent before me. I is very cold and windy on the observation deck. The views were spectacular!

These signs are all over the town.

The view of the Bar, The columbia River meeting the Pacific Ocean

Views of Oregon due West

West Basin Marina Astoria

Crusty Chief prepping to leave the marina for The Bar

1 April 16 Friday, (day 3) Our son Seth's Birthday! We were up early, John called to check in with the coast guard, who confirmed slack (high) tide for "Bar" crossings is 9am. We left at 7:15. We prepped our life vests with the Co2 cartridges and headed out. It took appx 1.5 hrs to get to "The Bar". To my surprise, we actually wore the life vests. After all it is regulation and we don't want any trouble with the USCG. The crossing was pretty much uneventful. 3-5' waves, rather rolly. Once across, we will headed north in the Pacific Ocean. It was Friday 1 April 16. There are stories that it is bad luck to start a voyage on a Friday. This was April Fool's Day and there was one thing we weren't prepared for. There were thousands of crabs pots set out and we spent the day dodging the traps. We both had to keep watchful eye out. Different fisherman use different color codes. They to port and to starboard. The auto pilot linkage wouldn't hold in the seas, so we took turns steering, changing at hour intervals. I was thankful I had thought to make some hearty banana berry oat muffins the night before. 

Managed to make it in without incident. We arrived in Gray's Harbor, WA and moored with a side tie by 4:45. Reservations, were not necessary, or available. One of John's trawler forum buddies had just been there and recommended a dinner destination. It is a quaint little charter fishing resort town. We took a welcomed walk down Main Street and enjoyed dinner a hand breaded Halibut dinner at Bennett’s Fish Shack. Showered and early to bed again. The stars were out and it was beautiful, yet way to tired for star gazing!

2 April 16  Saturday (day 4) Departed Gray’s Harbor, Westport, WA... heading north for a short day to the next overnight at La Push, WA. Very early this morning we got a call on the VHF from a boat named “Mary Louise” They followed us out of the marina and asked if we were headed up the hill? I was pretty sure we weren’t hiking. John explained that’s what they calI heading north. 

heading in to La Push, WA

We reached our La Push destination and had some difficulty discerning how to get into what they consider a marina. It’s working fishing docks with shallows and narrows. We were not able to reach the dock master, so again we made a decision on our own accord, sent shout outs to dock life. Much like our experience in Westport, the response is... “don’t think the dock master is in. Tie up where ever you want. Want me to give you a hand? Of course that came from the live about sailor.  Love those sailors! We went on walk about to try to find info and pay for moorage. Brother Dave had informed us earlier, La Push population is 361 and there is one restaurant called the River's Edge. We ended up there early and had a wonderful smoked salmon seafood salad and garlic toast.. 

Riverside Restaurant

Returning to the boat our sailor mate told us about the whales at the beach. Apparently, yesterday, April 1st, the local Quiletute Indian tribe (who live here) performed their annual ceremonial dance calling the whales in. They played loud whale "music" and danced. Reportedly over 11 whales showed. Sorry to have missed that!!! He told us there were still some whales out there. So we headed for the beach he was talking about. It is a magnificent beach! Complete with beautiful waves, lots of driftwood and spouting whales. Families and surfers filled the RV park. We saw three blow spots from whales while in the beach just before sunset. We sat awhile and walked the shoreline. You can see a whale watching boat in the picture, with a whale to the left.  You can be sure we will be watching for them tomorrow morning when we head out!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening at the Quileute Indian Reservation La Push, WA

John's taking a quite moment, whale watching.....

You can see the whale spout, lower right corner (difficult to photograph)

John snooping about a fishing rig.

Lights Out!  Love it... La Push, WA and the Quileute Marina was a great experience!!!

Tomorrow we push on rounding Cape Flattery into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, on to Port Angeles, WA ....looking forward to heading east again.  Good night all!




Sunday 3 April 16 (day 5) 
Today is our daughter Kristin's Birthday. We can't call, we are offically of the grid. No, cell service internet or television in La Push. While "sogging" along "up the hill" we realized that at 7-8 knots our Port Angeles destination was not a good idea.  It was much to far and unfamiliar. We are both pretty tired even after a good night's sleep. Reseaching our options with our charts and Waggoner's Cuising Guide book, we only had one choice, so that decision was easy. We rounded Cape Flattery to starboard (and yes, dodging crab pots) heading for Neah Bay, to stay the night at Makah Marina. Today's highlight was seeing the whales around Destruction Rock west of Cape Flattery. We saw their spouts hear and there. John spied one's tail in a dive and I saw one's back. Impossible to capture on film. I'm guessing the whale watching cruises have to feed them to get any kind of pictures. 

We arrived around 2pm, got a slip assignment and paid $1 per foot. $47. This was the most expensive moorage yet and it is a dump. It is a fishing village of the Makah Indian Tribe. Very smelly and trashy. Never saw anyone actually maintaining anything. No fishing boats in or out. Even a very old sunken boat (the rusty mast was above the waterline) was not worthy of a photo. Noisey sea lions were plentiful. I walked to the general store for some fresh produce and left with Frigo parmesan cheese and some gatorade. Hung out on the boat, bathed and ate pasta and chicken parm. The next morning we couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Monday 4 April 16 (Day 6)
We did end up with wifi at the marina and the weather confirmed, it was going to be windy with rain today. We decided to head to Port Angeles anyway. Obviously, we won't always have favorable weather. We headed southeast in the Strait of de Fuca toward Port Angeles. Using a heading of 145*m our SOG was 7-8 knots. It's a beautiful morning with sunbreaks through the clouds. We are thankful the autopilot is working this morning. Looks like it will be raining soon. By 11am the westerly winds the auto pilot won't hold course so were back at it. There are no boats or crab pots in sight. The compass is acting wacky, John thinks the dense clouds are screwing with the GPS and readings. 12:40 3 miles off the coast of Northwestern WA, the ocean depth is 350'. Averaging 8 knots with following seas. We can see Canada to the port and Washington to starboard out the windows. This boat has great visibility. The boat pitched more and more are the wind picked up throughout the day. John dropped the rpm's making it easier to steer and move around in the boat. Port Angeles eventually came into view. We had to go pretty far east to clear the breakwater channel into the Port Angeles Boat Haven Marina. We traveled quite aways back west to get into the entrance.