Tidings of Joy: Splashing Around in South Sound

With the rendezvous completed we would begin our final 5 weeks of cruising before we take our slip for the winter at Elliott Bay Marina on November 1st. It was hard to believe it was coming to an end. Six and a half months of nonstop cruising to Alaska and back and around the Puget Sound. We left Anacortes with some excitement because we would be making our way down to South Puget Sound where we have never cruised before. We met a nice lady at the rendezvous named Peggy who keeps her DeFever in South Sound and was kind enough to give us an itinerary of all of her favorite places. Before jumping right into it we will take our time heading south to see a few of the stops we missed last year.

One of the things Jeff wanted to do was cruise down the Swinomish Channel. Last year we traveled through Deception Pass bypassing sections of the Swinomish. The cruise down to La Connor in the channel felt familiar like we had been there during the Great Loop. The scenery felt lake like and remote. We timed currents and tides and made it to La Connor with no issues. It was a sunny warm day and we were eager to see La Connor now that things have opened up after Covid. The town was full of life as people walked up and down the main street. Most stores and restaurants were open and we made sure to stop at the Olive Shop and restock.

Mount Baker From Anacortes

Swinomish Channel

Cruising Swinomish Channel

Jeff Liked This Truck in La Connor

La Conner Dock

Log Booms La Conner

La Conner

After a long weekend at the rendezvous and the next night at the dock in La Conner I was more then ready for a quiet peaceful anchorage away from it all. At 9:15a.m on an overcast and rainy morning we set out for Penn Cove completing the rest of the Swinomish Channel. Penn Cove wasn't the most scenic anchorage but it was vast and remote and we had lot of space to ourselves. A couple days of quiet was just what we needed. Later that day Jeff decided we should take a boat ride so we hopped in the dink and explored the bay. We read there was a wilderness resort called Captain Whidbey's in our same cove. After finding the dock we tied up and walked around the grounds. Fortunately they had a quaint little bar that was open that day and we cozied up and took in the beautiful log cabin. After some libations and snacks we explored the rest of the grounds which were just gorgeous and remote feeling and peaceful. What a great find.

Captain Whidbey's

Bar at Captain Whidbey's

Grounds of Captain Whidbey's

Anchored in Penn Cove

Grounds Captain Whidbey's

Sunset Penn Cove

The next morning we had a slow pj morning taking our time and enjoying the anchorage. Today Jeff was on a mission to get local muscles at Coupville just a short dingy ride away. Remembering the town being cute and fun when we visited with Sam & Josh I agreed to come along. Boy was it crowded. People on both sides of the street and everything opened. We went straight to Toby's Pub where they are known for their muscles. There was a wait but we avoided it by eating at the bar. The place was cute and charming and you could tell it had been there awhile. They had a vegan burger for me and Jeff enjoyed his muscles. After we walked around and out of town visiting the shops we had previously liked and saw several deer eating grass in peoples lawns. It was a nice day but I was looking forward to getting back to the anchorage.

Deers in Coupville

Heading to Coupville

Deer

Muscles at Toby's

Toby's Pub

Coupville

Slowly meandering south we set out for Edmonds, a city we both had heard of but had never been. The 30 mile cruise south was uneventful, sunny and cool. As we continued making our way south we noticed how the number of boat just kept increasing and it felt crowded as we got near Seattle. The town of Edmonds was charming and busy and felt like being back in a big city again. We spent the afternoon walking around the town, seeing the shops then later had FaceTime cocktails with friends.

Heading South to Edmonds

Crusising to Edmonds

Port of Edmonds

Mount Baker

Town of Edmonds

Walking Around Edmonds

Port of Edmonds

We spent the next day doing much of the same. Jeff found a lobster roll for lunch and I watched. We found a distillery that neither of us liked after our tasting then came back to the boat and read and napped.

Finally on September 26th my sister's 40th birthday we said goodbye to Edmonds, cruised passed Seattle and made our way to our final stop before entering south sound - Gig Harbor. We went to Gig last year and the one street barely had anything open. We decided after being at a marina for two days we would anchor out and dingy into town. It was raining and foggy and despite my apprehension we left during a small craft warning. Fortunately we never saw more then 17mph winds and felt protected in Gig. Call it laziness or weather or Sunday football but we never lowered the dink and went into town. We made pizza and watched football instead. Neither of us minding not getting pelted by rain in order to see a town we saw before.

Gig Harbor - Final Stop Before South Sound

Leaving Port Edmonds

Passing By Seattle

Downtown Seattle

Anchored in Gig

The next day was much the same in Gig - raining, cold and windy. This time we made no attempts to leave and settled in for an all pj day of reading and card playing until Monday night football started.

Gig Harbor From Anchorage

Finally the day had come when we would go through the Tacoma Narrows and enter South Puget Sound. We both woke up excited and ready to go. Leaving at 9:00a.m. put the current in our favor through the narrows and off we went. Our cruise to Raft Island was a short 30 mile hop and was we were going under the bridge in the narrows we heard the coast guard calling a "Pan Pan" for an unmanned boat adrift in the Tacoma Narrows. That's exactly where we are. We looked all around looking for said boat but didn't see anything and before you knew it we heard, "Tiding of Joy, Tidings of Joy this is the U.S Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound." Jeff responded and we were asked to switch to 22A. When Jeff did the coast guard said they noticed we were in the area of the adrift boat and wanted to know if we had seen anything. Jeff told them we hadn't but would keep an eye out. What a way to enter south sound. As we rounded the corner into Hale Passage we both sighed a relief that we had successfully transited the narrows. The wind was still blowing at bit (11mph) but we got good protection as we tucked in behind Raft Island. I had read that there was some hiking at Kopachuck State park just a short dingy ride away. We lowered the dink and set out. Little did we know how good of protection Raft Island was giving us because when we rounded the corner in the dink we suddenly were in 2 foot waves and taking spray in the face. We battled the elements for a while then fully soaked and frustrated we turned back. So much for a big hike.

Cruising Through Tacoma Narrows

Anchored at Raft Island

The next morning we would continue on to Penrose Point Sate Park and anchor in Mayo Cove. The 30 mile cruise was overcast cool and rainy. By this point we were both looking forward to taking the dink to the park on shore and taking a walk. When we arrived there were three other sailboats there but plenty of room for all. We quickly took the dink to shore and took a stroll through the woods. After we tied up at a local marina also in the cove but quickly left after seeing there was nothing there.

Owl at Penrose Point State Park

Outdoor Panino at Marina

Marina

Mayo Cove

Marina

Hike Penrose Point State Park

Penrose Point State Park

Penrose Point Sate Park

The next day brought more rain and we spent a second day in Mayo Cove. Again we took the dink to shore and walked in the Park.

Mayo Cove From the Park

Penrose Park

After a couple of nice days of hiking and relaxing we up-anchored and headed around the corner to Filucy Bay. This time we had the anchorage to ourselves. If you tucked in far enough the shore was completely treelined with houses further out. We took the dink around the bay and checked everything out. We tied up at the marina and walked along the street for a bit then headed back. Filucy was mostly a community with no parks or good hikes to take but we were happy for the leg stretch. Back at the boat we played cards and had happy hour.

Birds in Filucy Bay

Anchored in Filucy Bay

FIlucy Bay

Anchored Filucy Bay

The next morning we took our time and left around 10:45a.m. for the short two hour cruise to McMicken Island. We saw seals underway and the day was sunny cool and crisp and felt like fall. McMicken has several mooring balls but only for boats 45 feet and under so we dropped the hook across the bay with lots of room. We took the dink into the park, beached it and went for a nice walk.

McMicken Island State Park

Anchored in McMicken

McMicken Island

Hike on McMicken Island

Beached Dink at McMicken

Due to some winds that were coming in we decided to stay a second night at McMicken. Today we didn't walk just watched football and enjoyed the views.

Another sunny and cool day lead us to Jarrell Cove. We had heard from our new DeFever friend that this cove can be tricky for anchoring because its narrow, gets shallow and is full of mooring buoys. She wasn't kidding. By the look of it it's not really an anchorage unless you want to take a chance and squeeze in-between the morning balls. Right as we were turning around and trying to figure out where to go instead we noticed the public dock near the entrance of the bay. The entire end was open and just big enough to fit us. What the hell we thought and maneuvered in slowly checking the depths as we slid in. We never saw less then 12 feet so I got us tied up and off we went for a hike. The park had many trails and even and r.v. park. It was green and gorgeous and a great place to walk.

Jarrell Cove Park Hike

Public Dock

Jarrell Cove

Morning Field

Jarrell Cove

The next morning we woke up to a small craft warning and decided to get moving before it got worse. Today was the big city of Olympia the state capital of Washington. We have some friends who have boated down there and recommend that we stay at Percival Landing Marina - the city dock which is right in the heart of downtown. Grateful for the suggestion we called ahead and were told there was plenty of space and to tie up anywhere. To say that being back in a city was a bit of a culture shock would be the understatement of the year. Shortly after arriving on the dock we saw a couple of shady looking guys hanging around the marina. Since it's a city dock there are no gates and nothing keeping the public out. Then after a few minutes one of the guys walks down the dock and opens the fire box next to our boat, rips out the fire extinguisher and throws it into the water. He makes his way down the dock doing this to all the fire extinguishers. We called the marina to let them know all of their fire extinguishers were gone and wondered where they hell we were. I kept reminding Jeff we were just in a city now and with it came homeless and people who were mentally ill. We called around to several other marinas all downtown and all with no locked gates. We decided to lock the boat up and venture into downtown. It was your typical big city downtown with lots of shops, bars and restaurants. Jeff even found a sushi place he had scoped out in advance for dinner. Ah the big city. When we returned to the boat it was safe and there were local kids having sailing practice.

Heading into Olympia

Log Freighter

State Capital

Cruising into Olympia

Downtown from Dock

Docked in Olympia

State Capital from Dock

Sailing Practice

Downtown Olympia

Sailing Practice

The next day brought rain but we decided to do more sightseeing while we could. Jeff got some local oysters from a restaurant by the marina and we made the rainy treck to the capital building where we took a self guided tour. The building was beautiful with marble and a tiffany chandler. When we returned to the boat the crazy person drama continued. This time it was girl who was sitting on the dock holding a large blanket. She wasn't doing anything so we didn't think much of it at first. Then as we watched we saw her get one a sailboat that was tied up behind us. We thought maybe she was with that boat but then after a while she went to another sailboat in front of us and jump in their dingy. She made her way back and forth between these two boat hoping on and off while dragging this large dirty blanket. Finally Jeff decided to call the park rangers who came and escorted her off the dock and talked to her. After some time a woman came (we assume who also worked for the city) with clean clothes and they threw out the girls blanket and left. We decided that tomorrow would be our last day in Olympia.

Jay Inslee's Office

Walking to Capital

Washington State Capital

Inside the Capital

Capital Lake

Tiffany Chandalere in Capital

Girl on the Dock

Evening Sailboat Practice

Girl on the Dock

Statue on Capital Grounds

Our third and final day in Olympia we crammed in the rest of our to dos which included going to the farmers market, getting gas for the dingy and eating at a restaurant that friends had recommended. We were both more then ready to leave.

Lunch at Cascadia Grill

The morning couldn't come fast enough for either of us. Because there are no gates to the dock or lights each night we turned on all of our exterior flood lights as a security measure hoping nobody would hop aboard while we slept. This seemed to work as we never felt or heard anyone come aboard. By 11a.m. I was throwing lines and not looking back. Oro Bay would be our final stop in south sound. The day was sunny and cool and we saw pelicans and seals as we cruised. A big weight felt like it had been lifted from our shoulders and we were happy to be heading to an anchorage away from all the craziness of the city. We arrived around 2pm and dropped the hook just in time to take a nice nature hike at the park on shore. The trails were nicely maintained and we were so happy to be in nature again.