A Quick Trip to Cutts Island

I made a quick trip to Cutts Island last Thursday to investigate sites for the Puget Memorial Project. I still had Pashmina on the cabin top, so the first order of the day was to get her into the water so I could have her available to me to travel ashore at Cutts. Since I can't do that at my slip, I found some fellows to help me unload her on to another dock. With P2 in the water we departed the Foss Waterway and set our course to Pt. Defiance, The Tacoma Narrows, Hale Passage, Carr Inlet and destination Cutts Island.

We ran easily with the flooding tide all the way and approached the island in early flooding from a minus tide. The partial tombola connecting Cutts to Raft Island was still visible and ahead was quite the sight. A sea plane had landed and the pilot and his lady were enjoying a lunch break on the tombola. He sat with the plane's bow and stern line in his hand and as the tide came in, they would move farther up to higher land. Finally, they boarded their plane and took off.

I tied up to a buoy but then noticed it was under water, so I started the engine back up and motored up to it to unhook my snap shackle. This took some doing, as the buoy had tipped over and the snap shackle was under water. I used the boat hook to pull the buoy up and got the shackle off just in time for the tide to pull my bow away. Off I went to find another buoy, but one had a crab pot tied to it, so I picked another. I rowed P2 in and explored a bit. There is a trail to the top of the island, but it is very steep and the thought of me sliding down on my butt was not something I wanted to do. I was told there was lots of poison ivy. I could have climbed up but my unstable knee would not have lasted on the steep decline so I opted out.

I had an incredible sunset with the Olympic Mountain range in the background.. Two young ladies appeared from the Raft Island area. It looked like a quiet night but that wasn't the case.

I was awakened at 0130hrs to the sound of P2 pounding into Shatoosh's swim platform. I got up and got dressed, put on my life jacket and climbed out on the aft cabin top. We are bouncing up and down with 3 ft rollers. I grabbed the bowline and with a few flips freed the line off the platform. I really did not want to get down on that bouncing platform. Luckily the moon was shinning and my LED Anchor light shins a bright light around the hull of the boat. Back to bed but sleep was light and the rollers waxed and waned, but returned with a 0430 increase in wind. I got up and dressed for weather, long pants, socks, fleece pullover my silk long sleeve turtleneck. I made coffee and oatmeal and sat up until dawn. At 0700 hrs I was underway with the turn of the tide. I'm still smiling in spite of sleep loss and cloudy weather.

 I head for Gig Harbor to stop for brunch with a friend and re-rig P2 lines for when I get back to our slip. I will keep her on the swim platform while in the slip and then hoist her up topsides for the winter.
40 nm.

The Highest Bidder Goes to...

In May 2013, the Tacoma Waterfront Association had their annual fund raiser at the Tacoma Museum of Glass. I donated a Evening Cruise on Shatoosh with Wine and Cheese. There were quite a few bidders, but my long time sailing friend, Georgia and Sue hung in there for the final accounting and won.

We have been waiting for good weather and on the 3 August I cruised from the Foss Waterway to Gig Harbor outlasting the perimeter of a fog bank and arriving in beautiful sun filled Gig Harbor to pick them up. We had a delightful cruise heading north to Pt. Richardson and then crossing over to Vashon Island and returning to Gig Harbor. This loop offers a nice look at the variety of homes, which Georgia and Sue were interested in seeing.

After a tour of Gig Harbor we returned to the guest dock which was full. We headed to the back end of the harbor and set a lunch hook, but then the Skipper of the Ellie K hailed us and said an opening was available for us behind them.

Wine, cheese and heavy Pupus flowed in the cockpit of Shatoosh. It was a delightful afternoon and evening for all of us.

Georgia on the left and Sue on the right