Straits of Juan de Fuca - Port Angeles

12 June 2010

If we had relied on the marine weather report we may not have decided to venture out into the big blue on this day. However, we watched small boat, one after the next, leave the harbor, and we did the same. It was a glorious morning with very little wind. We left the safety of the dock by 6 am. It was a low tide, and the harbor is very narrow and shallow, so Dave let the Quilyuette River guid us out to sea. Once in open water, we released the tender from her tie up at our starboard side, and began to tow her at our stern.

This coastline is amazingly beautiful. Fugged and rocky. We followed the coastline approximately 3 - 5 miles offshore to Tatoosh Island (Cape Flattery). Along the way we met a pod of orca traveling south. The ocean was smooth and gave us an enjoyable ride. Matilda and I got to spend time on the deck, sunning ourselves! And Dave got to spend some time fishing. He caught us a nice salmon for supper.

We have spent quite a bit of time on the Straits between Tatoosh Is. and Pillar Point (east of Clallum Bay) halibut and salmon fishing, so we were now in familiar waters. Once entering the Straits we averaged 8.5 - 9 knots speed (a good clip for us). We had anticipated anchoring at either Pillar Pt. or Crescent Bay, although Dave was reluctant with the winds and our current anchor situation. We proceeded to head to Port Angeles where there is a protective breakwater and full marine services. We arrived at 8 pm, found and anchorage in the bay in front of the Red Lion Hotel, and secured the boat for the night.

It was a good thing that we decided to make the run to Port Angeles...at 3:30 am the temporary anchor bropke loose and we were adrift (yet again). This time, however, we were not in a storm and we were in a fairly well protected bay. We motored to the public dock and tied up. We had not realized on arriving to Port Angeles that they have a convenient transient dock for larger vessels outside of the official boat haven. We are now secured to a dock...safe and sound once again. This will be a much more convenient location for replacing our main anchor and doing and necessary repairs.