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Yes Please tied up at the Gig Harbor Public Dock

With a New Year on the horizon, we headed up to Gig Harbor to celebrate, despite the freezing temperatures and High Wind warnings. We stopped by Boston Harbor Marina for some fuel and as seems to be the case 3 out of every 4 times, fuel was not available and the fuel dock was blocked by derelict boats. The fuel gauge said we might have just enough fuel to make it to Tacoma, but I had not idea how accurate it was.

The currents were in our favor, so caution was thrown to the wind and we spooled up the big engines and headed for the Tacoma Fuel Docks. We arrived safely about 2 hours later, with the fuel tank reading fumes, and filled up with fuel that was $100 cheaper than what Boston Harbor Marina would have charged. I will be SO glad when Swantown gets their new fuel dock operational this spring.

After filling up with diesel, we headed over to Gig Harbor, just in time to snag the prime spot on the very end of the Public Dock. I was very surprised to find that power was now available on the dock (which is no longer free, but quite reasonable at $0.50/foot/night). We registered at the Kiosk and had some issues with the GFCI tripping on the pedestal, but eventually made it work and settled in for a weekend of fun.

There are lots of good restaurants in the area, so we ate well and were very happy with the many changes to the waterfront that had happened since our last visit a couple of years ago. I also had to chuckle at one of the captains that came by to congratulate me on my docking skills. He said he’d watched while I docked and was very impressed that I had pulled off parking in a tight space without the use of any thrusters. He said he was giving me a 9.9, which made me smile and chuckle when Sherri reminded me, “not to let it get to my head”. 😉

It snowed overnight on our second night, which was beautiful and we headed home through light snow flurries and and made it back to the boathouse before the gale force winds hit. What a great way to start the New Year!