0910 I depart Walker island with calm seas and no wind, plus an ebbing tide. How nice is this after a day and a half of wind and rolling seas. 1000 I stop at the little town of Stella on the Washington side. There is a deep water inlet (Coal Creek Slough) that runs back up inside which has a good anchorage apparently. Locaal knowledge is a must to get inside. There is a huge sand bar and pilings at the entrance and I have tried to venture in once before and couldn't find the passage, so I thought I would try from a different angle today. No such luck, I run into 3 ft water again and this time I can see the bottom. I back out and head down river. I've asked around and no one has been in there. Maybe this is my clue; Stay Out of Stella.
1030 I anchor at Gull island in 13 ft of water and off load Pashmina. I want to find the channel going between Gull and Crims island. Last year it looked too ominous to go in, but larger boats than mine have gone in during early summer when there is higher water. This is such a beautiful beach. I often see kayakers here camping on shore. It is so inviting, so today is my day to explore. Just as I get to within shore, my phone rings, I'm in 6 inches of water and then I see an inbound ship, the Liberty Crusader from Panama approaching. I briefly take the call and state I'll return it in a few minutes. I watch the ship's wake on my anchored Shatoosh and it doesn't look bad. Then I decide not to get out of the dinghy and we rode the waves well. There are 
many deadheads and pilings up through the inlet. I would never try to come through this in Shatoosh. I dinghy up about half way and the water is pretty stagnant, so I turn around and head for shore. I get out and walk Pashmina out of the inlet and head back to Shatoosh. All this fun and sun is making me strong as I am able to manually pull the anchor up without having to use the engine to pop it free.1200 I depart Gull Island towing Pashmina for the first time and head for my next exploration which is an anchorage I have noticed in previous years. It looks interesting, is off the River and behind a small island that my diesel m
echanic Mike and his family calls Eureka island. There's several wing dams and a sandy spit to block the ship's wakes. At 1300 I am anchored in 17ft of water and the tide continues to ebb revealing more of the land spit and more beach. 2 ships pass coming upriver: The Washington Voyager- Chevron out of San Francisco and the Ansac Asia from Panama and there is no effect from their wakes. Large flocks of Canada Geese are in the area and off in the distance I can hear Sandhill Cranes.
echanic Mike and his family calls Eureka island. There's several wing dams and a sandy spit to block the ship's wakes. At 1300 I am anchored in 17ft of water and the tide continues to ebb revealing more of the land spit and more beach. 2 ships pass coming upriver: The Washington Voyager- Chevron out of San Francisco and the Ansac Asia from Panama and there is no effect from their wakes. Large flocks of Canada Geese are in the area and off in the distance I can hear Sandhill Cranes. Sometime later in the afternoon I row ashore 
and the water is so clear and warm that I take a little swim and just sit in the warm water and squish my feet deep into the sand. It is so peaceful and nice. I see there are Mount St Helens volcanic pumice stones on the beach so I collect 3 to replace some I gave the boys on the La Rondine. I decide to take a picture of the clear water and my shadow and am surprised to see my feet so clearly that I include them in the picture. It looks as though my feet are on backwards.
and the water is so clear and warm that I take a little swim and just sit in the warm water and squish my feet deep into the sand. It is so peaceful and nice. I see there are Mount St Helens volcanic pumice stones on the beach so I collect 3 to replace some I gave the boys on the La Rondine. I decide to take a picture of the clear water and my shadow and am surprised to see my feet so clearly that I include them in the picture. It looks as though my feet are on backwards. 
I row back to Shatoosh and take my solar heated shower on the aft cabin. How wonderful this is. I rig my boat hook up to dry my clothes and towel. Clean body, clean clothes. Great.
I stow Shatoosh on the cabin top. Not knowing what the seas will be like tomorrow I would prefer to stow her rather than tow her. My general rule is to stow, as I am usually single handling the boat and towing can complicate things a bit. It is one less potential problem that I have to be concerned with.
Keep it safe and simple for me
Getting Shatoosh on the cabin top at anchor is a bit tricky and this is the most dangerous task I perform. I always wear my life jacket, as I could fall over board doing this. (I move slowly and take my time and I always have the bowline in my hand. I figure if I tripped or lost my balance and went over, the dinghy would go with me. If I couldn't get in the dinghy I could swim to shore, get in her and row her back.) I pull her up to the aft gunnel and grab the bow handle pulling her up onto the deck. I then lift and rotate her so that one stern bullet is on the aft cabin. Then I do the same on the other side. Then I slowly and carefully walk out and around the resting dinghy on the aft cabin and cabin top and lift her by the transom and slide her up on the cabin top. Then I secure her to the flag staff and the grab bars on the cabin top. A piece of cake!
I have a nice dinner and have some tea at dark. Oh boy, coyotes and lots of them on the oregon mainland. They are yelling and circling for a kill and reach their peak crescendo, then silence. I have heard this ritual so many times while I am docked at Coon Island. I love to hear this wild song. I hear the sandhill cranes off in the distance. I stay up late to see how I am going to swing when the tide changes. I fall asleep in the cockpit and but about 2300 I am awakened by the lapping of the waves against the hull. Before I open my eyes I think the tide is changing and open my eyes to see that we have swung around. I check my depth sounder and beam a light to shore to see my position. I think we will be fine and head down below to get in my warm bunk. I get up a couple of times during the night just to check my position. A new anchorage is always worth checking on during the night especially during tidal changes.
days run 9.3 nm
Total 58.2 nm
