Bainbridge Island – Riveted

Port Townsend to Eagle Harbor

Laura Domela — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 04:27:38 +0000

On Thursday we drove from Portland to Anacortes, and then on Friday morning we cruised from Anacortes to Port Townsend. It was nice chill cruise down Rosario Strait and across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Townsend. So calm and boring that I didn’t take one single photo. We arrived in Port Townsend and went for a walk around town for a bit, stopping in the little shop I like called “Getables” and picked up some Eaglemount Rhubarb Cider. We made dinner aboard, then in the morning Kevin attempted to diagnose the float switch/gray water pump/float switch issue we’ve been having (pump runs and pumps out the gray water, but then keeps running after it’s empty so you have to go turn off the breaker to it to get it to stop). We eventually left Point Hudson Marina and stopped briefly at Boat Haven so we could walk up to West Marine and get yet ANOTHER float switch. The brand new one we put in (to solve the same problem) a few months ago appears to have been bad. (Learned after taking apart the cabinetry in the head to remove and then test the gray water pump itself…which was fine).

The marina at Boat Haven has temporary dockage just past the fuel dock, and it’s an easy walk to West Marine — if you ever need to stop in.

We got what we needed and Kevin finished the float switch replacement while we were underway. Gorgeous cruise today…down through the Port Townsend Canal (with about 3 kts of current with us, woohoo) and into the sound. The light was soft and silvery and the water was mostly calm.

Barge loaded with crushed cars looked pretty cool chuggin’ along in the VTS lanes just north of Seattle:

We thought we might go down to Blake Island today, but since we got such a late start from Port Townsend (~11am) we instead opted for Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. No room in the marinas on a Saturday night, so we tied up for the night on the City Dock and walked down to the Harbour Public House for dinner and a beer. Dinner was just okay. I had fish tacos (pretty good, nothing fancy, fish definitely the highlight) and Kevin got a boar burger. The yam fries with the burger were cold (they brought another order) and the burger was just so-so. We’ve always gotten fish & chips here…maybe that’s the secret!

Tomorrow morning we’ll head across Elliott Bay and into Seattle for some Seattle Boat Show festivities. Should be a fun and busy week!

This Morning in Blakely Harbor

Laura Domela — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 20:45:10 +0000

This morning was soft and pink and quiet in Blakely Harbor, with a beautiful view of downtown Seattle:

We worked there until just after noon and then pulled up anchor and headed up to Winslow (Eagle Harbor, one harbor north of Blakely) for some fish & chips at the Harbor Public House, a stop at the market, and now, more work. The fish & chips were very good, but not as good as the Bandon Fish House's fish & chips. We had a pint of Sound Poundage Porter from the Sound Brewery in Poulsbo, which was fabulous!

It was only a half hour cruise up the east coast of Bainbridge Island. Here is our route, on a larger map, so you can see where we are in relation to Seattle:

Tomorrow: Seattle … Elliott Bay!

Port Orchard and Blakely Harbor

Laura Domela — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 13:12:00 +0000

We headed south from Poulsbo this morning down the back side of Bainbridge Island and made a quick stop in Port Orchard. That's us, wayy out there in about the middle of the picture:

We walked the main street a bit then stopped in the Port Orchard Public Market, where we picked up a bag of Penn Cove Mussels, some smoked halibut spread, a couple bottles of beer, and a little bit of spicy Italian sausage to go in the broth for the mussels. (We actually ordered three pounds of Manila clams, but when we got back to the boat we noticed we had a bag of Penn Cove Mussels instead. Okay well, cool!

Totem Pole on shore:

Port Orchard is directly across from Bremerton and all the navy activity over there:

Here's a cute little ferry on its way into the harbor at Port Orchard:

Leaving Port Orchard:

We headed through Rich Passage and around the bottom of Bainbridge Island, getting some great views into Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, and downtown Seattle on the way.

Downtown Seattle, straight ahead!

Now we're anchored in Blakely Harbor for the night, with a gorgeous view of downtown (and our neighbor's sailboat):

I'd better get to cookin' dinner now! Penn Cove Mussels steamed in beer with garlic and italian sausage, a salad, and a jalapeno roll from Sluy's Poulsbo Bakery.

Here's our track from today: