Sea Eagle, Elliott Bay and Seattle. What a great day.
The weekend weather was stunning, so we cruised up to Seattle for the weekend. Running north against the flood tide can be an exercise in futility, so I took the slightly longer route around the west side of Vashon Island (Colvos Passage) and sure enough, we were pushed north against the flood. Most of Colvos Passage always flows North, even on a flood tide.
By the time we cleared Vashon Island, the North wind was blowing a good 25 knots, with 3-5′ seas. It gave the crew a taste of the boat actually pitching and rolling just a bit. It was fun and stunningly beautiful outside.
Robinson Point Lighthouse (Maury Island) was very popular
The wind kept a lot of the boat traffic down and we cruised on into Elliott Bay Marina. The office staff told me that my reserved slip was not available (I found out later it was in fact empty), so that gave me some odd end-tie assignment.
The very brisk north wind made approaching the end tie very challenging, but we figured it out, tied up and then discovered we were on the wrong dock. Damn It!!! 😉 I asked the new kid in the office to please go stand where he wanted me to tie up, so I didn’t have to move the boat a third time.
Mount Rainier was stunning.
He walked out and arrived just as I made a very tight, squeeze between two giant boats, turn. My crew was holding their breath and watching with wide eyes. I asked the dock hand, “you want me to squeeze in there?” incredulously. He did and I did, walking the boat sideways, upwind for a good 50′ with no real room to maneuver.
When we secured Sea Eagle, the young kid said, “wow, that was pretty good!” At least that made my day.
We had a great evening, secured a slip for the summer months and the return cruise to Tacoma was perfect weather, calm with a slight tail wind to gently push us home. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
Captain Boyd loving life underway on the Sea Eagle.