Got out of Port Townsend at around 0900 and headed south towards the Port Townsend canal. Along the way we crossed a Navy base at Walan Point with a submarine docked inside. We gave it a good wide distance as a navy boat with sub-machine gun on front tracked us to make sure we did not turn towards sub with nefarious intentions.
Navy Goard BoatWalan Point Submarine
The Port Townsend Canal is a short fairly narrow pass which is a short cut heading south towards Seattle from Port Townsend. We passed at slack tide and had not trouble at all with deep water the whole way.
Bridge At entry To Townsend Canal
Stopped for one night at Port Ludlow.
Port Ludlow Anchorage
This is a one resort town. Nice large inn with maybe/probably good restaurant (well reviewed). Very dog friendly. Many trails in surrounding cookie cutter residential neighborhoods, to a small town center with gas station, grocery, bank, cpa etc… a tiny town in itself. There is a golf course on other side of bay and an RV park which seem to often be near marinas. I found a trail on line to a waterfall. Its small but it was a cool walk, good info on area, lumber industry etc.
Waterfall hike, not a lot of swimming opportunityPort Ludlow FallsPort Ludlow Falls
On the way back next to the falls we walked through the Port Ludlow RV park which was small but had nice wooded sites.
Port Ludlow RV ParkPort Ludlow RV ParkAnchored out at Port Ludlow.
Port Townsend is a very nice town to visit with nice walks down the beach to the park on the north side, nice shopping in town and the start of the Olympic Discovery Trail along the bay south of town for bike rides. Beach walk is MUCH longer at LOW tide and it was not too muddy. Nice.
Got out of John Wayne Marina a little late at 1100 to catch the incoming tide and save some fuel. Ran at a little under 1600 RPM and 5 GPH at 9-10 knots so had a quick fuel efficient trip.
Day was over cast as you can see from looking in too Discovery Bay as we passed by it on our starboard side pilot house door.
Discovery Bay Entrance
We soon rounded the Point Wilson Light House and arrived at the narrow entrance to the Port Hudson Marina. The entrance makes a short dog leg to the right so a good long toot on the horn to warn some one coming the other way.
Port Hudson Marina Port TownsendPoint Wilson Light House On Way In
The marina is directly to the North of the water front down town section with many nice shops and places to eat. Our slip was on the far side across from town next to the Port Hudson RV park. The RV park had some nice spaces along the water but are pretty packed in due to the small space.
Port Hudson RV ParkPort Hudson RV Park
Later in the day we walked up the dock and across the RV park and took a left at the water for a walk to Fort Worden State Park along the edge of the beach at low tide. Dogs got a swim in along the way.
Fort Worden Park Walk
Dogs Port Townsend Beach WalkPort Townsend Beach Walk, low tide…at high no beach just cliff
Just a quarter mile down the beach we ran in a set of stairs up the bluff to a very nice Chetzemoka Park. The park is very nicely done with views of the water and lush greenery and grass.
Chetzemoka Park Steps UpChetzemoka Park SignChetzemoka ParkChetzemoka Park
On the way back we stopped at Doc’s directly behind the boat where I had the Mussel’s in Curry Sauce appetizer and Patty had clam chowder. The mussels are highly recommended.
Doc’s Marina GrillDoc’s Marina Grill Liars Bar
On Monday we walked south along the road above the waterfront to Up Town and viewed many old Victorian houses on our way to the court house to check on details on boat rules in Washington State for taxes.
Port Townsend Court HousePort Townsend HousesPort Townsend Houses, a few like this one are B and BsPort Townsend Houses, many nice yards and spring!
We then got some sandwiches from Aldrichs Market in Up Town to eat at the park across the street.
Patty Aldrichs MArket For LunchUp Town Port Townsend Down Town
After looking for at least 10 years Patty found the right table at the right price for our foyer.
Since it started raining Sunday we ended up staying at John wayne Marina for three nights from Friday to Sunday.
We got out of Makah Marina at 1100 hours to catch the incoming current to Sequim Bay. Patty read some good stuff about John Wayne Marina which is run by Port Angeles which is a large commercial port just West of John Wayne. John Wayne donated the land back in the 60’s to Port Angeles with the requirement that they build a public marina at the site.
On the charts saw something new where you have the normal traffic separation zones in the middle for ships to pass port to port, like cars in the US. On the outside of the normal lanes on the US side you see traffic indicated for starboard to starboard passing zones as you can see in the photo below with the small arrows in the lower left below the normal traffic separation zones for ships. The NOAA chart notes barge traffic and fishing vessels pass starboard to starboard in the area. I followed this and all the small vessels complied to this on past Port Angeles.
Strait Juan Defuca Traffic Seperation Zones
We are used to pretty heavy large ship traffic in San Francisco Bay but the shipping channel in the Strait Of Juan de Fuca was very heavy with 300’ or larger ship coming one after the other in the main shipping channel as shown on AIS on our port stern quarter below.
Strait Juan DeFuca Traffic
We then had one ship cross our stern as he crossed us as he went in to Port Angeles then another cross our stern as they exited Port Angeles, exciting stuff.
Stern Crossing Ship In To Port AngelesStern Crossing Ship Out Of Port Angeles
Rules of the road or Chicken 😕
The entrance to Sequim Bay takes a pretty short dog leg to the starboard side with the natural sand spit to port protecting the bay as you go in then to port but is is easy and wide.
Sequim Bay Entrance
We ended up deciding to stay on the outside of the transient dock so we could have a view outside the marina break water.
Water Dog At John Wayne MarinaWater Dog At John Wayne Marina
Forecast was for light winds but even with light NW winds we got a little wind wave action from the entrance from NE.
The marina has very nice green manicured lawns on the 22 acres so is very pleasant and dog friendly with trash cans and doggie bags at the top of the ramp.
John Wayne Marina Park
At high tide good pebble dog beach. At low tide mud and likely one could dig in the mud for clams and such. A stream empties right at the junction of marina and beach of RV park.
The next day Saturday we took a short walk past the John wayne RV park at the south end of the marina and up to a short cut across the back of RV park and up along the south side of Sequim Bay along Olympic Discovery Trail. The trail runs along the shore for many miles on the Olympic Peninsula along the shore and is a great hiking and bike trail. The RV park had small spaces parking lot stile but some did have nice view of bay from across road.
John Wayne RV ParkOlympic Discovery Trail South Left Side Road
Sunday things cleared up rains wise and we went back up too Olympic Discovery Trail but this time took a right to head to the City of Sequim to see what is there.
Patty At Start Olympic Discovery Trail North To Sequim
Not much at downtown Sequim to look at so just passed through and turned around to go back over trail.
Today NW wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 9 seconds. A slight chance of showers in the afternoon.
Westport To Neah Bay
Got out of Newport Marina by 05:30 for an early start on our longest leg for a day trip, we did the longest 160 nm leg over night to Crescent City. We arrived at Neah Bay Makah Marina at 19:00.
Had a pretty rough ride for the exit out the harbor since we had the ebb tide going out. Don’t ever underestimate what can happen on these bars when you cross even on a nice day like we had where the combo of 2’ wind waves with 4’ swell really rocked and rolled us even on a 58’ well found boat.
The rest of the ride was fairly smooth with just some small somewhat rough patches.
Sun came out by 0900 and we had some nice views of the Washington coast on the way up.
Washington Coast Deception IslandWashington CoastWashington Coast Deception Island Light House
Around 13:50 Patty spotted 7-8 whale spouts off the port side so we got a few decent views of whales but they stayed pretty far off.
Whale BodyWhale SpoutsWhale Tale
Arrived at Cape Flattery around 17:00 and got some good views of the Light House and rocks on our way by.
Cape Flattery Light HouseCape FlatteryDuntze And Duncan RocksDuntze And Duncan RocksNeah Bay Break Water
The next day we took a short walk around the Makah Mari and played a little chuck it with the dog’s before we left for John Wayne Marina for our next stop.
Water Dog At Makah MarrinaNeah Bay First EagleTerra Approving Makah Marina Land FallPatty Dog Chuck It At Makaht Rv Park
NW wind 10 to 15 kt with gusts to 20 kt. Wind waves NW 3 ft at 5 seconds. W swell 4 ft at 11 seconds. Patchy drizzle in the morning.
This is our next to last leg with a long 110 nm leg from Westport to Neah Bay at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Got out of Garibaldi Marina at 0600 on our way too South Port Marina. Only stayed at Garibaldi one night since we have a good weather window and not much to do at Garibaldi. Was a very nice calm day which turned out to be better than the NOAA forecast. Feeling lucky with all the good weather we have had for all our legs on the trip so far. We ended up staying until Thursday at Westport waiting for a good weather window.
Garibaldi To Westport Nice Day
We once again came in on the ebb tide at 13:30 so we the swells coming over Westport bar got bunched up and had a fun ride down the back of the waves.
Westport Bar Breakers
When you enter marina you go down past the fish plant dock on the port side where the guest dock is located, we took a starboard side tie on float-6.
Water Dog Starboard Tie Guest Dock Westport MarinaWater Dog Westport Marina
Westport has a large charter fishing fleet on the side we docked at on the North side and also a large fishing fleet mostly on the other south side of the marina.
West Port Marina Charter Fleet
If you walk to the outside jetty, around the North side of the marina to the entrance the Fisherman’s Boardwalk allows you to view Grays Harbor and the fishing fleet on the North side.
Fishermans Boardwalk Fishing Fleet
We then took a quick outside tour of the Westport Maritime Museum across form the marina where the dogs enjoyed the nice watered green lawn. They have a large glass display case so you view exhibits from along the lawn.
Museum Outdoor DisplayWest Port Museum
On Monday had breakfast at Blue Buoy (good basic breakfast stuff) right across from marina. We then took a hike over to the viewing tower and then down the paved trail along the South jetty through West Haven State Park to the beach for a dog romp.
Westport Dogs At BeachWest Port Beach LightHouse Trail RideWest Haven State Park
Left very early in morning, lots of fishing boats going out to dodge but calm seas. Had lovely cruise up the coast with flat water
Mad rush of fishing boats for HalibutThree arch rocks
Patty was disappointed by how much clear cutting is done. No one likely sees it except the few cruising up the coast. Still it was a great cruising day with sun shining, good weather and nice coastline.
Big Product in Oregon is Lumber, Clearcutting is product of that
Entering Garibaldi (harbor is about 2miles inside Tillamook bay we found that since Memorial Day Week the transient dock we planned to stay at was full of small fishing boats. We ended up tying up at the only dock free and once we walked up found out it was the local fish market dock and they were happy to let us stay for $30, good news since we where not sure what we where going to do. Had a short one night stay. We checked out a Myrtlewood factory, walked the dogs, had dinner at the towns top rated cafe (wonderful crab melts) and then early to bed for the early wake up needed for next jump up the coast to Westport (in Gray’s harbor Washington).
Approach to Tillamook bayBreaking swells at jetty tip
Tides are big up here, ie 9 foot in Tillamook. Currents are also big. We arrived at Tillamook at wrong time with outgoing time (can make swells big over the bar and also slow you down). Such a strong tide there were visible rapids.
Rapids! Means shallow water…twas out of channelNice view from tie up at GaribaldiGaribaldi tis a small quaint harborEnded up at the fish market dock since transient dock was full of small fishing boatsTransient dock full. We tied up at the fish market Across From Guest Dock In ForegroundMyrtle Wood Store
Our planned route in OpenCpn is in blue, our actual track of the voyage is in fusia.
NOAA Marine Zone Forecast PZZ255 Marine Zone Forecast
N wind 5 to 10 kt, rising to 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves N 2 ft at 4 seconds. W swell 6 ft at 11 seconds. Secondary swell S 3 ft at 16 seconds. Patchy drizzle in the morning.
Nice short trip was nice after the last few longer ones.
We really enjoyed Newport since there are trails out the beaches on each side of the jetty and also some town walking with shops for Patty.
We almost got stuck in Florence as mentioned in the last blog since the Siuslaw Bar closes almost every day when the current starts going out and the swell steepens and start breaking in the entrance. We had a 0700 Florence bridge opening but when we heard S/V Tango on channel 22 getting escorted out we got going and mad it out the bar for An uneventfull short trip to Newport where we arrived at 0100. We ended up staying two nights where for the first day we hiked out to the beach on the south side of jetty and on the next day hiked over the US 101 bridge to Newport on the North side of river. The Port Of Newport Marina is the first recreational boaters marina we have seen since we left san Francisco. The working boats stay across the river to the North at Newport.
Dogs roughing It On TripTerra At Land FallPort Of Newport Marina/RV ParkWater Dog At Port Of Newport Marina/RV Park
It was opening day for Halibut and the cleaning tables where packed with people cleaning fish.
Cleaning Halibut
For the hike out to the beach you start on the trail under the south side of the bridge and proceed down the south jetty.
Dune Walk Looking Back At BridgeStart Of Beach Hike Under Bridge
You then can cut over to the left on to the trails through the dunes to get off the road as we did if you like.
Patty And Dogs At BeachDune Walk Looking Back At BridgeTrail On Dune WalkTrail On Dune Walk
Our first evening we checked out the Rogue Brewery. There are also Rogue spirits. This place is a true farm to table organization as they have Rogue farms which grow grains, hops and flavoring veges (ie cucumber gin) and then incorporate into the beer or spirits. Dinner was ok (not great food…go for the beer).
Alex in breweryEntrance to brewery
The next morning we took a short walk on the Estuary Trail across from marina to the east and then on over to South Beach for lunch of oysters and Halibut. Freshest fish we found in Newport.
Yaquina Bay Estuary TrailSouth Beach Market LunchYaquina Bay Estuary TrailSouth Beach Market Lunch
A little later in the day we walked over the US 101 Bridge to Newport proper. A bit of a tourist town but is was nice to see a number of fish processing plants along the shoreline along the main drag.
Water Dog In Marina From BridgeBridge From North SideAlex on Bridge
we then took a short walk under the north end of the bridge towards the beach and then turned back to the right up the trial towards the bridge for trip back.
North Side Beach TrailOne Of the Newport Fish PlantsCoast Guard StationDown Town Newport Working HarborOne Of the Newport Fish Plants
Warning: We found that the Siuislaw bar closes more often than others along the coast and opened only on the after the slack tide incoming current, twice each day. This is even with nice seas with 3-4’ swell. With the bridge tender asking for minimum two hour call before opening got dicey having to call bridge tender with bar closed a couple hours before high slack and you just hope the bar opens.
Here is a web page we found will all the bar status that would be a good idea to get closings as you go.
Washington/Oregon Bar Reports (Open or restricted Etc):
Fairly short leg to Florence which we have enjoyed visiting by car so we decided to stop there for a few day’s. About half way there the starboard stabilizer fin stopped moving the way it should on the TRAC monitor where it just floated around center. I went ahead and went below to mid-ship space and pinned the fin to disable it. Water Dog handles well in moderate seas with one fin so all is well.
Florence is about four miles up from the Siuslaw river entrance and has some nice looking sandy beaches along the starboard side with more development along the port.
Holly on bow river watch for shallow waterBridge opening over Siuslaw River
We pulled up to the guest dock for a side tie that’s just past the bridge on the port side of river.
Water Dog At Florence Dock
We happened to arrive on Rhody(Rhododendron) day at Florence so they had the fair in town with rides and games as well as the local Harley riders.
Down Town Florence Rhody DayPatty At Fair
Had a great bowl of Crab Chowder at little floating place Novelli’s crab shack … all seafood from their own boat.
Novelli’s Crab Shack
Took a walk just north of guest dock where the Port Of Siuslaw office is and their nice RV park.
The people at the port were all super nice.
Florence Marina And Rv Park Office To The Left
The next day we want over and got 840 gallons of diesel at $2.28 per gallon, a great price right now. No high speed pump so took a couple hours to pump but Jasen was very nice to watch the pump for that long.
Florence Gas Dock Jasen Helping
We went out to dinner one night. Someone had recommended the Firehouse Grill for the best clam chowder. Another local passed by and mentioned the Water Front Depot as the best place to eat. I (Patty) had seen it on yelp as the best restaurant in town so when Alex wanted to divert I said sure. We had a great meal at the bar with an attentive and friendly bartender, Tom. When I asked for good sipping Tequilla he offered one up which was good. He suggested cinnamon instead of salt prior to the tequilla then follow with an orange slice YUM!…. Alex asked for a special drink which Tom made (bourbon or scotch based drink)
Ended up the starboard stabilizer fin hydrolic cyclinder nut had come loose so the fin was not longer attached to it and was swinging free. Ended up taking it out to make sure cylinder OK and re-installing Wed.
Starboard Stabilizer Fin Repair
We called for 0700 bridge opening the night before but at 0700 bar was closed so we called to cancel. We then heard Tango being escorted out by coast guard and called bridge back to open and we where lucky enough because he was still on bridge (we actually ended up going through at our scheduled time of 7am).
Passing S/V Tango Outside BarSiuslaw USCG Standing By just inside the Bar
The route we set down is in blue our actual track in fuscia. When we have good weather we will stay more inland to make our route shorter to save time and see the coast which is nice to see the sites as we pass. As you can see we cut inside our route since it was such a nice sea day.
Left for Bandon, OR Friday May 18th. Bandon is a small town just inside the entrance to the Coquille River. The town is so small the coast guard station is seasonal and did not open until after Memorial Day weekend so we were on our own to cross the bar (we do always refer to the most recent Coast Pilot NOAA publication). We did call a sports fisherman in town to ask if there was any special local knowledge we should know. Other than staying south side of entrance he said nothing special.
Approach to Bandon
Stayed at Bandon two nights. The first night we had dinner at Tony’s crab shack. Had dungenous crab which was good but kind of pricey for a tiny crab. The next day we walked to the hardware store for some compression fitting to fix air horn. Then we went to Bandon Beach and Bandon rocks for a fun walk. Face rock sort of looks like a head facing up from the water and there is an legend about a princess that was lured into the ocean by an evil spirit and she disappeared to surface as “face rock”. Great walk on the beach with dogs having fun. Bought some fresh caught Halibut from the fish market and had that for dinner. Plan to head for Florence OR the following day.
We left Noyo Harbor with no problems. Nice clear, sunny, beautiful and calm day. Departed around 2pm with plan to run overnight past Cape Mendocino to get to Crescent City, CA.
Twas a very nice afternoon. Saw a pod of dolphins feeding and some left the feast to ride our wave. With us they tend to ride our side wave from the displacement hull vs the bow wave.
View of coastlineFar in the distance is Cape MendocinoFrolicking DolphinsFeeding
We did the overnight with 3 hour alternating shifts. I did 8-11, Alex 11pm to 2am, then me 2-5 AM. Neither of us got much sleep so we were tired upon arrival. Sunset was around 8:30 pm, nice.
Sunset just south of Cape Mendocino. Calm sea with mild swells. Sunset was around 8:30pm, getting into long days.
Arriving at Crescent City it was overcast but clear. Entered into harbor without any problems, stopped at check in dock and fortunately harbor mistress was there at 7:30 am, our time of arrival. We were assigned a slip with the fishing boats. We took a lovely long beach walk on Crescent City Beach
Crescent City, a working port with lots of fishing boats.Crescent City beach, at south end we entered the northern end of Redwood National and State park.
Happy Dogs!Crescent City SeaQuake Brewing Company
We stayed two nights at Crescent City. 2nd day, after a good night sleep, we walked north from Marina to town. Nice waterfront park. Also north coast Marine Mammal Center, a lighthouse and a brewery. Stopped at Seaquake brewery and got a flight of their beers in honor of Albert 🙂 . They make all their own beers at had a wide selection of their IPA’s in our beer flight.
Beer Flight, I tasted the dark and they were good!Battery Point LighthouseWalking Bridge From Marina To Down Town Crescent City
We caught a fleeting glimpse of what looked like a Sasquatch on the hill outside town but by the time we got closer it was gone, photo is with tele-photo lens so we where a ways away when picture taken.
