Narrow Passages

We've taken a couple of days off from blogging (for the holiday? Yeah, that's a good excuse), so let's get caught up!

We spent the Fourth of July at Penrose Point State Park.  Fireworks in Washington are good ANYwhere you are.  There was a cannon going off.  There were lots of colorful bursts on all shores.  We could even see the professional show at Purdy above the trees.  One good thing this year?  We weren't close enough to have to breathe much of that smoke!  AND we weren't woken through the night by MORE fireworks.

The next day we set out for Olympia.  We decided to go through Pitt Passage, just to say we did. (and at a -3' tide as well!)   Yes, it's narrow, but pay attention to your charts and you are fine.

That little bit of shiny blue water between the two sand banks is where we are going, then turning right.

Pitt Island has grown in the ebb tide.

Looking north on Case Inlet, we see boats out enjoying a beautiful day below the Olympics.

Sunset at Percival Landing in Olympia

After docking for the night at Percival Landing, we filled the water tank, had Thai food, visited the hardware store and TWO coffee shops.  Time to get out of town!  We pick up a buoy on the NW corner of Hope Island, intending to stay here a couple of days.  BUT, wait, we talked about going to Shelton sometime!  It would be a good time to do that, before our plan to be in Allyn on the 9th and 10th. (we need to plan around the neap tides to make sure we have depth at the Allyn docks)

Study the chart and the guidebook -- we hear that a lot of people don't like to go to Shelton;  many are intimidated by the narrowness, which can spur the currents.  Yes, it takes attention, but we are confident!  

It IS about a 3 knot current, and there are small 'waterfalls' on the surface.

Here you can kinda get a feel of how it winds.  Sometimes you can't see the next bend.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but where there is salt water, there is a very sharp line of defoliation at the high tide line.

Proof we made it!

Shelton is a cute town.  We met James on El Mistico when he came to grab a line.  The marina is a little tight, but we are assured that the boats next to us 'never go out'.  James has owned his boat since last fall, but it was built in the '20's.  It's beautiful!  We will see if he will pose with it later.

We walked in to town, visited the hardware store, the Farmers Market, and the Dairy Queen.  It is a very warm day, and we had hoped for better air conditioning at the DQ.  Back at the boat, we are sipping ice water.  We have the sun shade in the window, and the fan was on for a bit.  It has cooled down a bit now, from nearly 90 degrees earlier.  Supposed to be warmer tomorrow!  We intend to go to church in the morning.  Then we will decide if we will stay another night.