Tidings of Joy: Rounding the Bend

We were getting so close we could practically touch it. One more stop and then we would get to round the bend of Washington into the Straits of Juan De Fuca. One final stop at La Push and then off the Pacific Ocean. Like the entire summer cruise this would not come easy and we would have to work for it. Several days in advance and in the hours leading up to our arrival in La Push we called the marina, left messages and tried and make a reservation and get some information about transient moorage. La Push is located on Native American soil and home to the Quileute tribe. We were both looking forward to this as a final stop on the Pacific and anxious to see the tribe. When we arrived the evening of August 2nd we surveyed the marina for what we would guess would be a transient dock and tied up on an end tie across from the fuel dock. Once situatated we made our way out of the marina in search of the marina office hoping to check in and pay for our nights stay. Wondering around aimlessly finally Jeff shouted across the street to one of the natives asking where the office was. He cordially pointed to a building shortly past where we stood. We thanked him and made our way. Everything was locked up and all the lights on. Weird we thought but maybe just a securtiy measure. We checked out the fuel dock and debated filling up before we headed out. There was a very impressive totum pole we spotted in the parking lot we were walking over to see when a pickup truck marked police stopped and parked next to us asking us what we needed. Jeff told him we were trying to check in and we had just arrived. The police officer very bluntly told us we can't be here. The natives have closed the land to any outsiders due to Covid-19 and we would need to return immediately to our boat and not to get off again and he would returen later that night or in the morning to advise us. Instantly we felt nervous and quickly made our way back to the boat. "Shit!" Now what? Laying low I started dinner and took a shower. As I was making my way back to the galley I noticed Jeff outside talking to someone. It was a man who lived across the street from the marina telling us once again that we couldn't be here and we had to leave. Now we really felt panicy. I asked Jeff what authirity does this man have? He isn't the law of whom we already spoke. Over the intial shock Jeff went back outside and told the man we had spoken to the police who advised us to stay on the boat (which we were doing) and he would get back to us. Jeff also explained it was getting dark and foggy and we couldn't leave safely. This seemed to appease the man but we really felt all eyes were upon us.

Heading into La Push

Entering La Push

La Push Marina

View from Boat

Tribe Office

As you can image that wasn't a very relaxing evening. We watched t.v. and made sure to keep the blinds open so everyone could see us staying on the boat. One night. No big deal. Little did we know that the scare with the tribe in La Push would be the least of our problems. The next morning around 9a.m. we set off for Neah Bay - our first stop in the Strait of Juan De Fuca and off the Pacific Ocean. Fog was rollig in and out and fortunatly when we left we had some visibility of the harbor exit. Not two minutes into our ride did we hear the coast guard calling us on channel 16. They informed us that we needed to call the harbor master. We aknowledged and called and left yet another message. Very strange to be hailed by the coast guard to call the harbor master. Either way we did what we ere asked and proceeded making our way in the fog. Gitty with excitement we watched the radar and Jeff talked to his sister on the phone. Only about 8 miles from La Push it all went downhill. The engines started making a puttering sound that jolted us to attention and the port engine shut down followed by the starboard. What was going on?! No power and dead in the water. Jeff quickly ran down to the engine room to survey the situation. I manned the helm looking around to see if we were going to drift into anything. Fortunatly nothing was on radar and I couldn't see any hazards. After many many many times trying to restart the engines as waves pelted us from the side knocking everything in the pilothouse to the floor we came to the frightening conclusion that we couldn't fix the situation ourselves nor could we stay drifting dead in the water so we had to call in the big guns - The Coast Guard. I can still hear that chilling call that no boater ever wants to hear as Jeff let the coast guard know we were dead in the water. "Quileute Bay Coast Guard, Quileute Bay Coast Guard this is the motor vessel Tidings of Joy hailing you on channel 1-6" I sat behind Jeff watching and listening in total disbelief this was happening. I even took video to document the mind blowing occasion. The Coast Guard took our information, put out an all call to see if there were any good sameritan boats around willing to help and we waited and rocked nervously with the boat from side to side as the waves crashed into us. Nobody was around and the Coast Guard informed us they would be getting a boat together and heading out to meet us within 30 minutes. And just like that through the fog on the port side we saw the calvery coming to our rescue. It almost brings me to tears typing this now but at the moment Jeff and I remained calm, procedural and collected. The Coast Guard walked us through the process of hoistig us a tow line, our role and what to expect. Jeff went on the bow, caught there tow line and they did the rest. We sat helpless for the hour long ride ironically back into La Push.

Seeing the Coast Guard Arriving

The Calvery Has Come

Coast Guard Approaching

Securing the Tow Line

The Long Tow Back to La Push

We were so relieved and grateful for the Coast Guard. They were so heroic and professional. We felt in good hands and also in total disbelief that this was real and not a movie. Since we were going back to La Push we decided to get towed to the gas dock and fuel up thinking full tanks would fix the problem. Unfortunately it did not. I thought well we have been cranking on the keys for so long and floated aimlessly at sea for an hour maybe we need to charge the engine batteries. So, full tanks and tied up at the fuel dock we fired up the generator. At this point the harbor master was in his office located at the top of the ramp of the fuel dock and came down to assess the situation. He was kind and sympathetic to our situation. Jeff asked about a mechanic and he said the closest one was 50 miles away and we would have to provide a ride for him in order for him to come. What?! After about 15 minutes of the generator runniing we once again primmed the engines and began hopelessly caranking on them to start. Nothing. With our limited diesel mechanics knowledge we were out of ideas. Completely drained from the mornings events, out of ideas, tied up to a dock at a place we weren't even allow to be we had no idea what to do next. Fortunately, Gene (the dock master) did. He came walking down with this burly guy wearing jeans and suspenders. He introduced us and said this was the engineer for the Coast Guard startion down the road. Instantly we perked up. Jeff explained our situation and our troubleshooting and the nice man asked if he could take a look. Of course we said. Finally someone knowledgable helping us out. It took him all of two seconds to review and size up our engine room and diagnos our problem - air in injectors in both engines. He asked Jeff for some wrenches and told us what to do. He bled the lines and Jeff turned them over from the pilothouse. First the port and then the starboard. Music to our ears - two purring John Deere engines. Thank god!!! We thanked the nice Coast Guard man and offered to give him some money but he wouldn't hear of it. After all the trauma we got Gene's permission to tie up for the night, collect ourselves and then head out the next morning. He kindly agreed.

Coast Guard Securing us to Fuel Dock

Once Again Tied up at La Push

Harlod the H-Dock Heron From San Diego Wathcing Over Us

Coast Guard Station

We both slept like babies that night - with permission to be at the marina, working boat and exhaustion from trauma we were ready to move on. Once again at 9a.m. in partial fog we made our way out. Slightly holding my breath I hoped this time would be sucessful and it was. We rounded the bend into Neah Bay and were extactic! Finally all of our hard work (long 12-14 hour days, endlessly navigating in the fog, being in waves that scared us rounding Cape Mendicino) paid off. We were in protected water off the Pacific. We had arrived. In our home state, in our desired crusiing waters, no more long days or big swells. We dropped the hook, settled in and had some celebratory drinks. We also Zoomed with Randal and Michelle to cemororate the occasion. What a wonderful day.

Rounding the Bend into the Straits of Juan De Fuca

Fog in the Strait

Watching Strats of Juan De Fuca

Canada from a Distance

Entering Neah Bay

Celebrating our Success

Neah Bay Anchorage

The next day we decided to slow it down a bit and had a lazy p.j. day on the boat. We read and relaxed and took in all the beautiful scenery. Neah Bay is like La Push in that it's all native land. Again we were not permitted on land but were allowed to anchor.

Neah Bay

That night a small craft and gale warning came in so we were forced to spend another night at anchor. After all of our go-go-go the last couple of months it felt really nice to sit still, take in the scenery and slow down. It felt like we could finally catch our breath after a long run. It had rained pretty hard overnight and we were excited by the sounds. Rain is so obscure to us southern californians and we get excited when it comes around. The day brought a lot of the same as the day before but we managed to work in some exercise and boat projects. Then later in the day something astouding happened. We saw this fishing boat coming in dragging a line behind it and another boat following it. We didn't understand why this was happening in the anchorage and Jeff immediatly got out the binoculoar and inspected. Much to my horror we found out the boat (driven by natives) was dragging a whale that they had killed and was putting it on the beach to be butchered. Jeff was mezmorized and I was appauled and sickened. While he rationalized thier actions as culturual and stayed glued to the binoculars I stayed in the salon pretending it wasn't happening. He watched for hours while they knifed through the carcass, blood everywhere, guts spewing and what looked like the entire tribe watching in delight.

Dead Whale on the Beach

Cutting up the Whale

Dragging the Dead Whale to Shore

Sunset Neah Bay

After the whale trauma I was ready to move along. Neah bay was gorgous and a great first stop in the Strait and gave us some much needed r&r. Our next stop was Port Angeles - a 7 hour trip further east. The cruise was uneventful and at 5:30 we tied up to our assigned slip. Cooincidently as we were walking our trash up to the parking lot we bumped into a man saying he had just made his way here from San Diego. Us too we told him half sleepily half excited. We grabbed our key from the marina office and made it back in a drizzily rain. We sat on the aft deck and took in the scene of our new location.

Port Angeles Marina

Cloudy Cruising Day

Port Angeles

Logger in the Parking Lot

View From the Stern

Rainy Night

Cruise to Port Angeles

Excited to stretch our legs (it had been 5 days since we've been on land) we hopped off the boat, grabbed the Travoy and dragged it into downtown. I was excited because we read there was a farmers market every Saturday and we found a market where we wanted to provision a bit. Unfortunately the farmers market was all of 8 tables and nothing too exciting. We did buy some sourdough bread and was in and out in 5 minutes. The town was okay nothing special the usual shops, restaurants but not charming more functional. Half the people wore masks the other half looked at us like we were aliens. It was nice to walk nonetheless.

Downtown Port Angeles

Port Angeles Marina

Weather Vain/WindChime Port Angeles

Provisioning done and put away we spent the rest of the afternoon making plans for our departure in the a.m. and relaxing. Our next stop - Sequim Bay (where we currently are anchored) was a short three hour cruise. It was so nice to have such a short crusing day after our long arduous days on the pacific. The morning was not uneventful. Several of the freighters in the bay were making their way out at the same time as us. We saw pilot boats loading and unlaoding and we were even called on the radio by one of the freighters telliing us their intentions and telling us they would like to pass us port to port. So cool! We love all that commercial boating action. I told Jeff I would love to get a tour of a working freighter while it's underway. The Goliaths of the sea. After our departure entertainment the rest of our cruise was calm but attention demanding as there are tons of deadheads (partially submerged logs) that are all over the Straits and the Puget Sound so you always have to be on a sharp lookout. I avoided several during my shift. The anchorage at Sequim is nesseled in the trees and forest and it took us an hour just to reach it once we entered the bay. It's quiet and serene and very peaceful. Since we arrived so early (2p.m.) we decided to launch the dink and go exploring. There really isn't much here except the John Wayne Marina and a state park. We cruised the isles of the marina looking at boats and commenting on everything from their names, size, shape and make. This to us a pure entertainment. We Zoomed with the kids, made dinner and went to sleep. Today a lazy morning we are still here at Sequin and will dingy over to the state park and hike a bit before we head out tomorrow for Port Townsend.