Garibaldi - Sept 22 - Oct 1, 2009

Garibaldi has been a wonderful port to call "home" during our stay. The folks at the Coast Guard & Port had been more than helpful. Marine services and supplies were nearby the harbor, and for the few items that we needed that could not be found in the local shops, the locals had been most helpful to pick them up for us on their errands. Thank you Tom & Holly at Big Tuna Marine. Small town living at it's best.

We bought a fresh salmon from "Deep Water Dave" at a local fish market & cannery. We used the head, bones and tail for crab bait, which supplied us with several very tasty meals. We were able to crab right off of the aft deck of the our boat while tied at the dock. The salmon was delicious, as well.

If we would have stayed in the area any longer, I think that we may have been issued library cards! We made several trips to the library which was a short walk from the marina. Dave enjoyed their free wifi service, and I picked up a few paperback books that they were giving away.

Part of our daily routine was to listen to the NOAA weather channel for an updated weather report looking for an encouraging forcast. A novice soon learns that winds and swells "increasing" are bad, and that "decreasing" or "diminishing" winds and swells are good. The larger the number in feet or knots is typically NOT a positive sign (i.e. one would prefer wind waves of 1 -2 feet over those that are 5 - 6 feet). You also learn that "Max Ebb" is not your friend! Our dilemma in Tillamook Bay was that, on average, it would take us approximately 10 hours to reach our destination (and the next available port). We had to cross two bars, both of which are well known for being inhospitable, at times. When there was an opening to cross the Tillamook Bay bar, the Columbia River bar would be at max ebb (and rough) by the time we would reach it to cross. So we waited...

We enjoyed the town while we were there. Dave had taken the bus system up to Astoria towards the end of our visit, hoping to make connections to Washington to bring a vehicle down for us to use. Fortunately, he didn't make his connection, since two days later we were able to make a run for it. The day after he had journeyed to Astoria, we took the bus into Tillamook to go shopping...a fun little excursion.

On the morning of October 1st we were in the salon of the Sea Crest, drinking our coffee, watching boats head out to the bar. We turned on the weather radio, and found (to our surprise) that the bar restrictions had been lifted and it would be safe for us to cross. With that, we quickly got the boat ready to travel, and headed for home.