Summer date

Departure: 3:30pm Sat 8/12/2006
Return: 7:30pm
Weather conditions: Clear skies and steady breeze (10mph?)
Tide: flood (from 2' to 12')
Boat: 'Red' Club Boat
Crew: 4 (Woody, Monica, Rob, Michell, Garrick & Elena)

We had a very pleasant date night on Saturday. We finally did something we'd been talking about doing for a long time. We invited several of our friends to go sailing with us - without the kids. I didn't realize it until we were out there, but this was the second time Monica had ever been out sailing without the kids, and the first time with friends. It was a lot of fun.


The weather was about as perfect as it can get. It was Washington warm (meaning we had to wear jackets while on the water), and breezy. The tidal currents were strong, but my recent experience on Monday ( see previous post) had prepared me for what to do. We immediately headed up Colvos passage to get out of the strong currents. On the way, we saw the Davidsons at their beach. It's always fun to see someone you know when out and about.


After sailing past their beach, we hove-to and had a wonderful picnic on the boat. We feasted on a tasty cheese/meat pie, some beef wraps, fried chicken, melon, cherries, soda, candy bars, and some tasty home-made lime bars. We probably could have ate and chatted the entire time, but we were there to sail. After cleaning up, we trimmed the sails and were off again. We had drifted south a bit so
we continued on toward Point Defiance, then back across towards Gig Harbor. The wind gave out briefly just as we were entering the harbor. It wasn't completely gone, but with all the traffic, I felt uncomfortable trying to tack into the harbor so we motored in. We got a couple more tacks in before we had to put the sails away and motor home. It was a shame to quit with at least 40 minutes of good sailing left, but our time was up. I've included the photos the tide when we left and the tide when we came back to show the difference.

Fool me once...

Departure: 1:00pm
Return: 5:00pm
Weather conditions: Partly Cloudy and light breezes
Tide: Flood tide and strong currents (14 ft range)
Boat: Club Boat (red)
Crew: 4 (Woody, Tom, Paul,Carol & Sophia)

We've all heard the saying "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me". What do you do with someone that never catches on? I'm afraid that's me. This is going to be yet another story about underestimating the currents in the sound. I'll try not to dwell on it too much though.

We ended up with 5 people on the boat this time. I brought Sophia because there was supposedly a free spot on the boat, but it wasn't so. Everyone was a good sport about it though and didn't mind her along. The tidal range was -2ft to 12 feet meaning it produced some of the strongest currents you can get in the narrows, and we were sailing right in the middle of it.

Leaving the harbor we knew we should head north to compensate for the current, but there didn't appear to be any wind in that direction. We had a motor so we all agreed to head a "little" south where there did appear to be wind. Well, there was wind, but it turned light on us and before we knew it we were within sight of the bridge.

Again another conference and we decided to let the current sweep us under the bridge. It was quite and impressive and a lot of fun and there was some great wind south of the bridge. But alas, we needed to head back. What a fight.

We motored for at least 1.5 hours and used 3/4 tank of gas creeping back home. We had to stay really close to shore to make any progress at all (probably about 25' from shore).

It was a fun trip, and worth the struggle with the current, but the lesson is this. The 22' boats cannot exceed speeds of 6.43 knots (or 7.4 mph). At it's fastest the Narrows can just about match that speed so even with a motor, we can't just zip against that current.

Enjoy the pictures.

Sailboat racing in Gig Harbor

Departure: 1:00pm
Return: 4:00pm
Weather conditions: Partly Cloudy and breezy
Tide: Flow. Tide was from very low to very high
Boat: Club Boat
Crew: 4 (Woody, Sophia & Dave, Paul, Chuck and Susan?)

I wish I had the skill and time to do these experiences justice. The last club sail was a blast! There were six of us who showed up including the instructor. We took out both club boats, laid out a course, and raced. We kept to the harbor since there were plenty of obstacles to use in our course.

This was the first time I'd ever raced, and it made me nervous. I'm not a competitive person or maybe I'm ultra competitive. The result is the same, I don't like competing. But, I have to admit racing sailboats was pretty fun. It's competition, but not "in-your-face" competition. The captain can determine the level of intensity and unhappiness.

Sophia, Dave and myself took to one boat, Chuck, Susan and Paul to the other. We won all but one of the races, but it wasn't really fair. Our sail was bigger than theirs.

All in all, a great day sailing.