Friends & Poulsbo
9/20/2019 - 9/22/2019 🍒
Boating With Tug Friends
Cerise's friend, Doghouse 2 that owned by Bob and Kim arranged a little weekend trip to Poulsbo as a good bye to summer. The stars aligned and we were able to join this little band of tugboats (or is it a band of little Tugboats?) for a few days in a port that we had never been to (by boat) before. That is always fun, seeing new places from the water.
The plan was to have everyone arrive on Friday, spend a couple days enjoying the bustling town of Poulsbo. Since the trip to Poulsbo is about 65 miles from La Conner, we decided to break it the trip up into 2 days. We decided to leave Thursday afternoon and spend the night in Everett, then continue into Poulsbo the next morning.
Everett Challenges
Just outside the breakwater south of the Everett Marina always seems to be a little bumpy and today was no exception. Once inside the breakwater, it flattens out and becomes the Snohomish River. There was plenty of current running as we arrived at the inside of the guest dock near Anthony’s Restaurant. Everett has a lot of guest moorage, but I have always liked this dock. This time of course, the current was pushing me off the dock a little. Just enough to test my skills and hand me that dose of humility that usually shows up while people are watching. I am not sure if anyone was watching, but if they were, they got a show. Well, we managed to get Cerise all tied up for the evening with no scratches or dents, so I’ll call it successful.
Waiting For My Shower Guy ... wait...wait...wait....
After the wonderful pasta dinner that Tracy cooked, I decided to go take advantage of the marina showers since that is one of the amenities, we get for our $30 moorage fee. I walked the 300 yards to the showers in the rain and the dark, only to find the door locked and I have no idea what the code is. I look around and find a phone number to the security office and tell them of my plight. After explaining where I was, I was told on officer would be there in a couple minutes. So I set on the bench to wait….and wait…..and wait….. and wait….. Well, turns out, the officer had been waiting for me too. He apparently didn’t want to get out of his car in the rain. After several minutes I got up from the bench, with my bag of clothes and shampoo, to look around and see if I could find anyone. Well, there was car parked there, in the dark, and the window rolled down and he yelled “Are you the guy trying to get into the shower?” I really have no idea how long he had been sitting there in his nice warm car, while I was outside on a park bench…. I had to prove that I had a boat there, and had paid the fee before he would tell me the code to the shower. I know he was only doing the security part of his job, but it was a little frustrating. After my shower and the walk back to the boat, we enjoyed the evening watching it rain.
As we cruised south in the morning, passing the Mukilteo Ferry dock, there seemed to be a massive flotilla on the water just west of the Edmonds area. Wow. There were 100’s of fishing boats, all packed into a few square miles of sound. There were so many that I slowed to displacement speed and picked my way through the bunch and made my way west to an area that seemed to have fewer boats…. We continued south and rounded the point toward Agate pass. Checking the time, we weren’t exactly at slack, but it was only running about ½ knot, but of course that was against us. I have never taken through Agate Pass. This passage was uneventful. The water was flat and there were few other boats. We follow the pleasant little channel around the bends past Keyport and arrive in Poulsbo bay. After hailing them for a slip assignment, we got to the dock and found Doghouse 2 and Laxey already there. It was nice to finally meet Barry (and Jake) from Laxey in person. We have emailed and discussed various items about our similar boats many times. He has an R29 as well, but with the 2nd floor option (command bridge).
Poulsbo, Here We Come!
Once all secured and Settled in, we went for a walk up into town. The busy downtown area is mere yards from the Marina. Downtown Poulsbo is a lovely to spend time strolling shops and restaurants and of course, Sluys Bakery. The create wonderful treats!! Access to stores, Restaurant and bars is very convenient. We did pick up some groceries for happy hour that was planned for Saturday. We may have picked up some licorice, too!
Friends Visiting Cerise
I have colleague that lives near Poulsbo so I invited her and her family down to the boat for snacks and drinks. We sat in the cockpit and talked, ate and drank until well after dark. I have worked with Johnnie for several years, so it was nice to finally meet her husband, Joe and her very athletic 8 year old son Kalen. It was a fun evening, but they finally had to leave. As Tracy and I walked them to their car, we heard music coming from one of the bars.
So after saying our goodbyes, we popped in to the bar with music. It was a Karaoke bar!! And as it turned out, this bar allowed kids to sing karaoke until 9:00…. We ordered a couple of drinks about 8:30 and watched kids sing karaoke until 9:00, then the adults after that. I don’t think we witnessed the next Beyonce, but there were some talented people, all with more bravery than me. After finishing a couple of drinks and tasty nachos, we called it a night and walked back to Cerise.
Saturday morning, I got up early and got in line at the bakery. It was worth the wait. I brought back Danishes, and Butterhorns for breakfast. After breakfast, another walk around town found me at the barber shop, I was way past due. Poulsbo is a Scandinavian town where you'll find many northern European shops and restaurants. Tracy likes to experience different food cultures and I love German food and beer. We had a lunch at a German restaurant called Tizley's Euro Pub. Then we had to check out the famous Longship Marine. A local chandlery that specializes in used boat equipment. I didn’t need to buy anything, but it is always fun shopping at boat stores
Happy Hour Pot Luck On The Dock
Bob and Kim had arranged for a happy hour pot luck on the dock near the boats. To be honest, I don’t remember all the peoples names, but I do remember most of the boat names. Cerise, of course, Doghouse 2, Loan Ranger, Laxey, Sweet Pea, Blue Gail and I believe 2 others. We spent several hours snacking and drinking and laughing on the finger piers between the boats. Thank you, Bob, for arranging this.
The weather forecast for the trip home on Sunday was not perfect. It appeared that the earlier we leave, the better it will be. So we got up early enough to leave about 7:30 am. We are going the whole way back to La Conner. Once again, the trip past Keyport, and through Agate Passage was uneventful. Once we got out to the central sound, there was a little more chop on the water, 2-3-foot waves. It was better than predicted. That is always a good thing. Also, once again, we had to pick our way through the armada of fishing boats west of Edmonds. How many fish are out there??? There are a lot of boats competing or them!!
Trip Bonus -- A Whale Show
Once we were through the fishing fleet, about a mile north of Edmonds, we were settled into our cruise and we spotted a whale blow! We watched a humpback roll and dive a few times. No breaching, or big show, but seeing whales is always a highlight of being on a boat trip. They are such amazing animals, and todays sighting was really unexpected, but wonderful.
The rest of the cruise up Saratoga passage, past Camano island, and into Skagit bay was wonderful. The weather was still better than predicted. However, there was plenty of rain and overcast. No fog or big waves, though so the cruising was nice.
Once we arrived back in La Conner, we tied up Cerise and did all of the other chores that need done when arriving home.
Looking back, we had a really nice time this weekend. We saw a new and different port of call, met some old friends and made some new ones. Cerise performed flawlessly and we capped it off with a whale sighting. Life is good.
More pictures from the trip...