Port Townsend - missing photo's from last post!

Ooops, hit 'publish' before I uploaded the rest of the photos: here goes

Leg 2-Day 3- Port Townsend

Today we had breakfast ( omelette, hashbrowns and ham) before an on-shore coffee at a neat coffee shop that has a similar atmosphere to Weed’s in Calgary. Then we each went on our own voyage of discovery and met later in the day at Propolis brewery for a beer.

I added to my collection of quirky signs, the first two give a feel for the ‘vibe’ here. The third, at the entrance to the court house, confirms that we are not in Canada. [that was further confirmed when I saw a guy driving around in an old armoured jeep-like vehicle that had 3 large machine guns mounted on it and at least one had a magazine fed into it!]

I wandered around the upper residential area in the old town, and it is populated with old homes , most of them restored/kept up. The older downtown is mostly old, 19^th century built brick buildings. These were built in the hay day of Port Townsend. This was THE major port in the late 1800’s, 1000 or more sailing cargo ships would pull in here; ( easier to reach than having to sail down the sound to Seattle). The waterfront had one bar per 75 residents and almost as many bordellos: to extract as much cash from paid-off sailors! This shipping traffic coupled with the promise of the railway ignited the building boom. The double whammy of the cancellation of the railway and the introduction of steam, killed the boom and many buildings sat empty for a long time.

Now it is a busy hub for all things “wooden boat” and what appears to be a thriving art’s culture, along with tourism of course. The rest of the photo’s show the marina near the Maritime centre and examples of the town’s buildings.

Tonight was a vegetarian dinner to use up our veggies before crossing back to Canada tomorrow: tomato soup, salad, corn on the cob. Am going to make up a batch of pita bread dough tonight for bread for the next few days.

We expect to be away relatively early , heading for Oak Bay and the wooden boat show in Victoria.

Wind forecast is sketchy, may have morning wind but looks like it will fade away in the afternoon...which is the opposite of the last few days....fingers crossed!

Weather from now until Richard leaves looks to be cloudy at best and rainy at worst. Let’s hope we at least get some wind with it!

Port Townsend photo- set 1

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

Leg 2- Day 2 - Port Townsend

We made here at about 2;30 just as the winds were building; we motored the whole way. We could have sailed at about the 2/3 point across but the wind angle was such that we would not have made much progress and would have added at least another 3 hours to the trip.

The directions to our slip at the marina were clear but the signage was very bad; we ended up having to do 3 U-turns; one in a slot about 44' wide with us at 40', boats either side of the slot and a wind blowing us sideways. Fortunately there was no insurance claims or personal harm! There are 2 marinas here and we are in the one furthest from downtown; the Point Hudson marina is adjacent to the PT Marine centre/wood boat building crafts,etc and near more coffee shops...no room but definitely the preferred destination. I have learned that US marina's don't take same day reservations, you need to book the day before at least.

We walked to town, lots of buildings from late 1800's, funky stores and many art galleries, in addition to the wooden boat associated businesses. At the first coffee shop we stopped at, Richard was mistaken for being my brother... I suppose that is an improvement from being my "wife" ?!? I told the clerk that he was actually my father...

This is an active place: free concerts on the waterfront on thursdays, wooden boat show the week after the Victoria show, then a film festival, etc.

We dropped in to sample some beer at an unassuming local brewery that had a sandwhich board sign in industrial area near the marina that had a silhouette of a bee and the word "Ale" on it. Turns out they brew beer according to some ancient method, using herbs,etc ( think of this as being medicinal!). Some of their beer is aged for 2 years.... I bought a bottle to have with Mike when they show up later in September. I was told that I could not buy unless I promised not to open it for at least 2 weeks. However, we HAVE to go back as I found a math error on their label need to point that out...and maybe get a free sample?? Check them out at http://propolisbrewing.com/

The plan is to stay here tomorrow, then depending on weather , cross back to Canada on Saturday or Sunday. Ideally, we will be able to change our Oak Bay reservation from Sunday to Saturday and all will be well. Whatever we do, we need to check in a Canada customs location before we can even think about anchoring,etc.

Photo's will be posted separately.

Over and out

Update for Nora

Nora was looking at the blog with Grammy and wanted to know why there was no pictures of grampa - so here it is !

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

Leg2-day2:Juan de fuca

Away from marina at 7:20 with a favourable current that spit us out by cattle point at 9 kts over ground. 1030 and we are 2.5 hrs from Port Townsend- no sailing yet

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

Leg 2-day 1-Friday Harbour

Arrived at Friday Harbour about 2 after a uneventful motor in light rain and no wind. 

We had some strange local currents( moving in opposite direction from the expected flood direction) but otherwise nothing to report. 

Clearing customs required me to walk to their office to buy a cruising permit; without thus we would be required to report and fill out paper work ( and pay a fee) at each harbour we enter. 

The customs officer I spoke with on the phone was a bit distracted. After I gave her our full names and passport no's,  she told me to come to the office with my passport and my wife's!! Not sure Richard wants to be mistaken for my wife. 

After getting some fruit and veg ( not allowed to bring these across ) we went for a walk about and a coffee. I asked the barirista  where we could get a good croissant: answer was nowhere on the whole island- she recommended a bakery on Orcas island! Perhaps another business opportunity. The other we found was with Garth on leg-1- the small tour/water taxi business based at E dock is up for sale. 

Tomorrow is a longish day; 8 miles to Juan de Fuca then about 23 to get across. Forecast is for light winds building in late after noon. Hope we can sail and not have to motor again. 

Alarms are set and we hope to be off the dock by 8. 

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng