Bainbridge Island and Seattle

While Al is away, Kristi will play!

I have been checking out various coffee shops on Bainbridge and Pegasus remains at the top of the list.  The Bainbridge Bakery had a good latte and a tasty quiche. They did a brisk business with the largest seating of all the shops I have been to here, and more seating outside.  Yesterday I  lunched at the Blackbird Bakery.  Their case was nearly emptied of baked goods, so they must be good! I had a generous slice of another quiche, and a tasty latte, but seating was limited and very crowded.  There IS additional seating in the courtyard of many other businesses, but it was raining heavily, and the wind gusts were quite cold.

Pegasus!  Perhaps I am influenced by the mere convenience to the marina, but the atmosphere is warm, even though the fireplace has remained unlit.  They have a gourmet kitchen that serves MEALS featuring local produce and meats.

On Monday I took the ferry across to Seattle.  The Pike Street Market was busy, as usual.  I got some mini-donuts and a Starbucks Chai tea latte, as usual.  I bought a couple of small scarfs, suitable for neckware, or even hair or purse decoration, and I bought a dahlia bouquet.

I resisted making any purchases at Macy's, but did get a head and shoulder massage and a haircut from David at Milagro's, an Aveda salon.  He took 2-3 inches off the length to help even up some of the layers, and I walked out with shiny, bouncy hair.  

On the ferry ride back to Bainbridge, I noticed the Adventuress was out for a sail.  It had come into Eagle Harbor on Sunday evening and unloaded a large group of passengers. On last night's news there was a story about a 'last chance' school with students out for a cruise.  Perhaps that is what was going on Monday!

Yesterday I went to the local branch of the Kitsap Regiional Library and attended a class on downloading ebooks and audiobooks from the library.  There were about 30 people in attendance, larger than I expected.  I learned a bit, but was unable to participate in the hands-on portion because I do not have a KRL card.  When we get settled at Friday Harbor I was planning  to volunteer at the library there, and will get a card then.  OR perhaps Al can use his Multnomah county library card and download from them in the meantime.

Still, I hit the jackpot at the marina 'take one, leave one' shelf.  Sshhhh, I took TWO, but left three.  And the Eagle Harbor Book Co has  used books in their downstairs.  There are LOTS of authors who live on Bainbridge!  I got another David Guterson book, and learned that there is a new one coming out. Al just re-read Snow Falling on Cedars last month. (http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/jun/01/personal-history-informs-david-gutersons-newest/)  I left the store with three books, telling the clerk I needed to leave quickly before I found MORE.  

This afternoon I plan to do boat chores.  Laundry, make up the bed with winter clothes, sort a box, haul out garbage.  More work, less play today.

Fisher Birds

We do enjoy watching the birds, and they can be quite entertaining at times.

If you can get over their prehistoric squawk, Al and I find herons to be very beautiful birds. This guy brought several small fish up.

This guy has quite a mouthful.  We don't know if it is the SAME bird we saw the night before, strutting around and squealing if any other gull came near.  Another couple told us that they digest starfish as they go down....we just wonder how long the process takes!

Calm Winds....

Calm winds can mean calm seas, and today they do, but today they also mean rain and fog.  But I'm not complaining.

We left Hope Island this morning planning to stop at Coupeville. But as we approached, the weather appeared to lift, and Al proposed that we continue along to Everett, estimate travel time 5 hours.  That would get us there before sunset....let's go for it!

Al called Bainbridge to make sure that arriving a day sooner than planned was alright, and it is.  We look forward to a relaxed day together Sunday before he needs to travel for work.  A church service and Pegasus Coffee sounds good to me!

Wow, the current gives us a little push and we arrive in Everett around 3 PM.

Enjoy the moment!  A bottle of wine (thank you Chuck and Betty), chocolate, a good book, and a good husband...

Plovers?  They chirped and flew away in a 'bird cloud' dance, then returned.

Another Jetty Island sunset

Looking at Fuel Usage

Yesterday we topped off the fuel tanks in preparation for Winter. Fuel is a bit less expensive in Anacortes than Friday Harbor...

We took on 145 gallons between the two tanks - the last time we fueled was at the end of July.  When fueling we do not Fill Them Up, but only until the fuel gauge reads 9 bars.  Yesterday we filled to 9 bars and then added 15 gallons extra per tank.  So to calculate our fuel usage for August and September we will back out 30 gallons - giving us 115 gallons used.  Taking a look at things:


August / Sept:

• 115 Gallons Diesel Used

• 121 Hrs on Kubota Generator / Watermaker
• 121 Hrs on Hurricane Heater
•   59 Hrs on Main Motor

Breaking it down:  Generator is estimated to use 0.25gph,  Hurricane is speced at .33gph.  Doing some math I come up with this allocation during the two months:

• 40 Gallons used for Hurricane (20g per Month)
• 30 Gallons used by Generator / Water Maker  (15g per Month)
• 45 Gallons used by Main Motor  (22.5g per Month)

40 gallons for the Hurricane surprised me, but then we tend to run it twice a day:  in the morning for showers, evening to do the dishes.  And also when doing whites in the laundry.  I know our Hot Water heating setup is perhaps not the most efficient, but it sure it nice to have unlimited hot showers onboard.  Will be interesting to see how this number changes over the Winter heating months.

We have typically been motoring at a nice low 1300rpms - 6.5kts.  To be honest, this is a bit lower than our 'normal' 1400 rpms - 6.9kts, and much slower than the 1500rpm we touched while moving up the coast.  But we have not been in a hurry.  Quick division of hours and gallons gives us 0.77gph at 6+ kts.  Not bad for a 'Power Boat' 

What does it cost to Cruise? September

September was a more typical month for us in terms of Pure Cruising - with an exception of going to port to celebrate Kristi's Birthday.  Which does lead to an obvious conclusion if you are attempting to cut costs:   STAY OUT OF TOWN!  (and for me, keep off the Internet shopping as well!)

Ok, here are our costs for September:

Maintenance:       $184
Fuel:                      $9
Moorage:            $136
Groceries:           $428
Dining Out:          $390
Personal:             $161
Insurance:            $314
Transportation:        $8
Communication:   $138
Miscellaneous:         $5
==========================
Total:               $1,773


We made our goal again this month!  Even with the Celebration Dining.  Groceries are a bit lower because we were able to shop in Bellingham for a major portion of the provisioning (as opposed to the Islands).

Maintenance reflected hose / parts to install the aft head and LectraSan, plus a couple of LED bulbs.

Personal is a direct result of Kristi and I losing weight, we needed new clothes that fit.

Fuel was Propane, Oct will reflect us filling the Diesel tank for the winter.

Catching Up

We have been enjoying the company of Chuck and Betty Pritchard for the past few days!

We were to meet them in Anacortes on Sunday morning about 10AM, so Saturday evening we set our alarms and went to bed.  We awoke to pea-soup fog.

We have been educated in many ways on how to deal with such a situation.  The first is through classes offered by the US Power Squadron.  I have taken Basic Boating, Seamanship, Piloting, and Advanced Piloting.  I even taught the Seamanship class two sessions.  Al has reached the milestone of having taken EVERY class offered, and has taught all levels.  We have run the radar for numerous hours during clear weather, so we have had lots of practice interpreting the screen images.  Sailing with the Christmas Ships also offered experience operating at nighttime or low-visibility situations.

So the expected hour and a half run from Cypress Head in to Anacortes went off without a hitch.  Well, AFTER Al had to make a repair on the horn's air supply hose, and then the main compressor over-heated and we had to use the secondary compressor.  When travelling in fog, you are to sound your horn at 2-minute intervals, and the compressor was getting a workout.

I had planned to be doing some general house-cleaning during our voyage, but conditions required that I also keep eyes and ears at attention.  Side doors were open slightly to catch any sounds.

How far ahead can YOU see? The chart plotter/AIS display is running on the screen at Al's head, the radar is on the left.
Al prepares to sound the horn (hands on the button, AND the ear closest to the horn).
-- Visability is about 75 yards at this point --

There was rather a bit of traffic out there.  AIS (Automatic Identification System) was also very useful.  We could 'see' most of the working boats out there.  We were just about to call the James T Quigg, when he called US  'Boat approaching the green can on Guemes Channel, this is the James T Quigg.'  He made sure to let us know he was a tug towing an oil barge, and we let him know our intentions to stay far to his starboard.

The James T Quigg and barge in tow emerge from the fog

Later we are able to call the Alyssa Ann, another tug and barge approaching Anacortes, and we coordinate our passage across the channel to the Cap Sante Marina.  We arrive right on time, safe and sound!

The weather forecast called for rougher weather than we wanted for showing off our favorite spots in the San Juans so we stayed in the marina to ride out the wind and waves.  We ate at Anthony's restaurant the first night to celebrate with our guests.  The next day they took us shopping and Al bought some new electronic devices, hoping to improve our phone and internet interactions (so far, so good!).  The day after that still looked pretty rough, so we took a BIG boat (the ferry) to Friday Harbor. We decided we like the town a whole lot more without the summer crowds.  We also took the inter-island ferry on a loop to sight-see and test our new communications.

Yesterday the conditions were very calm, so we took Viking Star out around Cypress Island, through Obstruction Pass, down Blakely Island to James Island.  Chuck, Betty and I hiked over the south portion of the island and surprised two young deer, a spike, and a forked-antler.  Al had a work phone call.  

Though the afternoon was rainy, we were warm and dry on the boat.  The pleasant evening was capped by turning off all the lights and pouring water into the sea to activate the bioluminescence.  Then, since the rain had stopped, we took a nighttime stroll across to see if the sailboat on the other side of the island was still there (yes).

This morning we dropped our guests off back at the Cap Sante Marina, and after fueling, we left down the Swinomish Channel and are moored at Hope Island.  We have Hope today!  In mid-July we had no Hope (All the mooring buoys were taken so we moved on to Cornet Bay state park).

Our final morning together, and I finally take a photo of Chuck and Betty

A favorite pose of cormorants, along the Swinomish Channel

Looking Back, do we really need a Water Maker?

Before heading up to the Puget Sound area I asked lots of folks about their experience with and without water makers.  As expected I got both answers, some said No Need, Water is available anywhere, others pointed out they used theirs all the time.  Here is kind of my summery after spending the summer in the Islands.

We hold 225gal of water and that will last us 8-10 days - depending on how much laundry we do. This is our Life and it is not camping.  We shower daily, wash dishes, and even clean our clothes!  Not looking to spend the next 10-20 years finding Pride in stretching 5 gallons of water over two weeks.

One person pointed out that we will need to get into port every week or so to re-provision, and that has held true for us.  Picking up a slip for a night would allow easy access to groceries and the water bib to refill the tank.  I think this is a VERY workable scenario and as such one would not really need a water maker here.

However, we have found that we will often Dingy in to get groceries.  Either because we are just too cheap to pay for moorage for one night, which can run up to $80 for a boat our size during peak season,  or because there is no dockage available (e.g., Blind Bay).

Some folks have said 'No Problem, just pull up to a Fuel Dock and fill your tanks there'.  Well, we carry 8 mo+ of fuel, and I would not feel right pulling up and just taking water.  'Just buy Gas for your Dinghy then' was a suggested solution.  We have used 2 gal of gas ALL SUMMER for our dinghy, again taking on 200 Gal of water and purchasing perhaps a cup of gas every week does not feel right either.

One of the few truly great pieces of advice for cruisers when trying to make a decision like this is to just start Cruising and see what you end up doing / needing. Last summer on the Columbia we found lots of water sources without the above issues and did not use our water maker.  However this summer we ended up using the water maker several times.  We also used water bibs when they were available to us, but I think without the water maker we would have felt severely limited in our water usage.  And a bonus?  Some dock's water just tastes terrible (Friday Harbor!).  I mean worse than the City of Vancouver WA water if you can imagine. . .   Our RO water basically has no taste as long as we have not let the pre-filters stink up too much from lack of use / flushing.

In the end:  IF you are of the type that picks up slips often, I would say no need for a water maker.  HOWEVER:  If you are the type that anchors out a lot, even anchoring out at a Marina (ala Roche Harbor), then get a water maker.  And make it the largest one you can.  They are all noisy during operation; I would not want to have to listen to one run for 2-4 times longer than our current setup.