Thanksgiving Cruise

[mermike]

An early Happy Thanksgiving all. We're spending Thanksgiving with my SO's family in Olympia, so decided to sail there and bring our lodging with us. We left Port Ludlow around 11:30 AM and had a lovely sail to Bell Harbor, arriving around 5:30. The winds were kind - as we headed east, they veered south. Sailed all the way from Point No Point to the marina entrance on one tack. Finished the day with an eclectic meal at Ohanas on Second Ave in Belltown. Off to the Biscuit Bitch for breakfast, then a tour of the Sculpture Park. Considering stopping tomorrow night at Foss waterway to check out the Chiluly Bridge of Glass. If not tomorrow then on the way back.

 

[MikeHoncho]

It was pretty windy in Tacoma today. If your heading to Foss just for the bridge, I’d reconsider given the distance off the path. If check out GigHarbor. If your looking for anchorage in the Commencement bay are I recommend Quartermaster

 

[Will Gilmore]

A Chiluly Bridge of Glass? That has got to be a spectacular sight. Get pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving, right back at you.

-Will

 

[jssailem]

Great idea Mike. It is so nice to have transportation and a bedroom.

It kind of confuses that old “New-England Boy’s song”

Over the river, and through the wood,​

To Grandfather's house we go;​

the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh​

through the white and drifted snow.​

​

Over the river, and through the wood,​

to Grandfather's house away!​

We would not stop for doll or top,​

for 'tis Thanksgiving Day.​

May the winds be fair and carry you onward to your Thanksgiving gathering.

 

[SoSound]

It looked like a great day for a sail to Seattle! My wife and I think that the Bridge Of Glass and the Tacoma museum campus is definitely worth a visit! In addition to the Museum Of Glass, there is the Tacoma Art Museum, the Washington State History Museum, and the Murano Hotel is quite an art gallery in its own right. There are quite a few restaurants within easy walking distance, some are still among our favorites, The Koi, Indochine, and The Fish Peddler is good for casual seafood in a small setting. We spent about five years at Foss Harbor Marina and the people there were great. The noise is pretty significant from I-705 and the BNSF tracks... this time of year, you should also be able to get a spot at the Delin Docks, past the 11th Street Bridge and right next to the Museum Of Glass. The Tacoma Link light rail is running now and can expand your range even farther.

 

[mermike]

Thanks to all who responded. We had a lovely sail to Bell Harbor, intending only to stay the night. A quick trip to the Biscuit Bitch for breakfast, and a stop at Pike Place market for some Kumamoto oysters to go, then back to the boat. For reasons that escape me I decided to confirm operation of the nav lights. Perhaps it was all the boats greeting me on the approach the night before with 5 short blasts. I thought they were being friendly. (Kidding! Really!) Turns out my nav lights at the bow were inop.

It's been said the cruising is really just fixing your boat in nice places. So I got to work and confirmed that I had power to the lights, but the unit itself (a Marinebeam bi-color) was kaput. We hopped the bus for West Marine, as they were the only place in town that had a vertical mount bi-color fixture. A Hella. As in Hella offal. Back at the boat, I tried to assemble the little b**tard and immediate busted the cheeziest stamped POS metal tab that passed for a 1/4" male disconnect. Good grief. Back on the bus, back to West Marine, where they cheerfully replaced it with an identically cheezy unit. Back to the boat where further surgery was required to mount the #$%#$ and success was finally mine. The oysters were fabulous.

We are at Gig Harbor this evening where Claire's sister joined us for happy hour on board. The sailing today was as nice as could be with 8-12 kts of breeze until around Point Heyer where it died completely. We motored the rest of the way and arrived around 7 hours after departure.

Tomorrow we're hoping to reach Olympia. It will be a longish day so we'll be off early. We're planning on visiting the Glass Museum and the Bridge in Tacoma on the way back.

 

[Terry Cox]

The oysters were fabulous.

Nice sail write up. Were the Kumamoto oysters better than our Willapa Bay or Ekone critters? Hard to imagine so.

 

[mermike]

Only one way to tell, Terry.

 

[BigEasy]

It's been said the cruising is really just fixing your boat in nice places.

So true!!

 

[capta]

I no longer find being cold and wet on a boat fun. Not much chance I'll be sailing the PNW anytime soon.

 

[mermike]

If I lived someplace warm and sunny I would feel the same way.

 

[Terry Cox]

Only one way to tell, Terry.

Uh, they're farmed!

 

[mermike]

We are back on dry land. Always a sad moment to lock up the boat and drive away, especially after such a nice outing.

We made it to Olympia Wednesday evening for Thanksgiving with Claire's family.

The finale:

The trip back north was calm. Oh well. The iron genny ran smoothly for hours and the view never got old.

As planned, we stopped in at the Thea Foss Waterway. We stayed 2 nights at the Dock St. Marina. Very convenient to the Museum of Glass. Love the hot shop! And the Chihuly Bridge! And the Foss Waterway Seaport!

After leaving Tacoma we overnighted at Eagle Harbor and finished the trip back to PL without setting the sails once. That gave me time to tinker with integrating the tiller pilot with OpenCPN, which I mostly figured out, except for how to get the AP to follow a magnetic course instead of a true course.

I found the checkbox for that after we got back. It's right here in plain sight:

I could not get my Android tablet to transmit the sentences, so there's more to do.

All in all, a really fine trip.

 

[jssailem]

Looked like a grand Thanksgiving trip.
Me Oh My…. Pie

 

[mermike]

I have not seen that movie in years. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[SoSound]

A Chiluly Bridge of Glass? That has got to be a spectacular sight. Get pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving, right back at you.

-Will

Since you asked, @Will Gilmore... I thought I had more photos than this, from when we lived in Tacoma, but this is all that I can find. You'll just have to get curious enough to Google "Bridge Of Glass", and then come see it for yourself! There are a couple of decent photos on this Travel Tacoma web page that look good when you click on them to enlarge.

This is looking straight up at the ceiling.

 

[jssailem]

The Chihuly Garden and Glass Art museum in Seattle is also cool.

 

[Will Gilmore]

To quote my wife, when I showed her these pictures, "Holy moly, the guy's amazing."

-Will

 

[mermike]

What's amazing is the team approach to creating these works. It was fascinating to watch the action.