Port Townsend is still the same...the hippies are just a whole lot older!

Well, the electrician showed up and we got the pump working just fine.

Saturday morning we shoved off the dock bright and early and headed East in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Our original intention was to go to the southern part of Hood Canal but we know better to make plans. The conditions were great and we definitely enjoyed being back on the water. By the time we were south of Port Townsend, we decided we were tired plus the weather forecast was becoming a bit iffy. We called ahead to Port Ludlow and found that their reciprocal moorage was already filled.

Reciprocal moorage: For those of you not associated with a Yacht Club, they each offer a dock space available for visiting members of other Yacht Clubs. Usually it can accommodate one or two boats and there is no charge or very little charge.

Instead I called in to Port Townsend and found their reciprocal dock was unoccupied but they said it was "first come, first served". We turned around and made a "beeline" for their harbor entrance. Visiting in Port Townsend was like going back home. We had lived there in 1978 when we first moved up from Oregon...even lived aboard our 29' sailboat for a while when we were in between homes. Our experiences this past weekend reflected little change in Port Townsend. Still a "salty" old boating town with an atmosphere of doing things "your way". Still lots of hippies, they are just much older.

We walked to the local West Marine store to search out a falfunctioning gauge and on to the hardware store for a couple plates and brass polish. Good exercise after sitting on the boat earlier.

Saturday evening, true to the weather forecast, the wind came up with a vengeance. We had forgotten how noisy the slap of the halliards on the sailboats are in the wind. We were however tired enough that, once we had secured the boat with extra lines, we slept through the strength of the blow.

Sunday morning when we awoke around 6:30, it was fairly calm and so we "boogied" home...oops, keep calling Port Angeles "home" and that is now in Oregon! Anyway, since we needed to be back for appointments on Wednesday and Thursday, we decided if the weather was going to "kick up" again it was best to be closer to PA than farther away. In route we encountered a good deal of chop but it was just a good practice for the adventures we will have when we go north.

Our big excitement both on Saturday and Sunday was traveling in the near proximity to nuclear submarines being excorted through the Straits by a large Coast Guard boat. The size is humbling and overwhelming. We were definitely "put in our place" when the Coast Guard "hailed" us on the radio and addressed us as "little fishing vessel near the shore". Gary kept looking for someone in an inflatable but finally realized they were talking to us. Wanted to know our "intentions" and make sure we were aware of the required "stand off" distance. They take things very seriously in these times of domestic terrorist threats, etc.

I have now become pretty good at negotiating in the engine room and lazarette of the boat. We had a fuel gauge that was not working properly. Ended up being a tube that was spliced behind a bulkhead and had come apart. I had the fun of restringing the new one tube in the engine room. One of these days I will stay out of that hold long enough for my neck to heal up but for now....Tylenol is still my drug of choice!

Thursday is Gary's birthday and our 37th Anniversary. We got married on Gary's 21st birthday...you do the math...yes he is going to be 58. Not sure what meaningful gift I could get him for his birthday...other than saying...now, let's go crusing!

Happy to be the Old Bro's Old Lady
Linda