8 June 2012 Friday Day 1
We depart at 0630 and take Blake Island to port. The weather is cooperating and we have patches of blue sky in the south.
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| The Sun Gods are Smiling |
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| We prepare for departure |
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| Blake to Port |
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| Colvos Passage |
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| Entrance to Ollala |
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| Olalla Lagoon |
The tide is flooding so I will be able to be explore to explore Olalla. We arrive at 0807 hrs. and Too Tall decides he will stay in Shatoosh, drift and wait for me to explore and I will venture in Pashmina and enter the lagoon.There is a road bridge over the lagoon entrance and where there is shoaling or the spit was built for the bridge construction, I do not know, but Lt Puget says there is room for the HMS Chatham to enter. Not today, the entrance is narrow but once inside the lagoon is large and stretches for quite some distance and at the end there is a large meadow. I return in 35 minutes. A harbor seal follows me and pops up 3 times to check me out. I pull up along side Shatoosh and tie Pashmina off the port stern.
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A small Buddha statue sits in a tree at the entrance.
How peaceful. |
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| Shatoosh and Too Tall Stand Off |
We are trying to observe as Puget did and as we venture southward into Colvos Passage we become aware that the southern boundaries appear as one large bay. Could this be a dead end? When we see the southern tip of Vashon Island we can define Point Defiance, but still can not see a southern inlet which is known as the Tacoma Narrows. We have to wait until 0935 or get beyond mile 14.5nm of today's run before we can see the narrows or some of the bridge spansions. Interesting to see this and put it in perspective of the explorers. We will learn much on this trip.
While the explorers did not go into Gig Harbor, we did. To eat another big breakfast. This cold is making us hungry and we have been traveling all morning with the heater on and Puget had to endure 90 degree temperatures.Too Tall needed to talk with some local business people to set up selling Skol. We also wanted to wait out the tide change. The sun was out but small rain showers continued to pass through. We departed 1400 hrs.
We rounded Pt. Fosdick where Puget had to wait out the tide. Then we entered Wollochet Bay or Indian Cove just as Puget did at 1500hrs. It is very large bay with a small inlet in the rear. I can see how the Indians would find this place attractive. Many large homes surround the bay. Lt Puget liked this place and even today it is clear many other people like it as well. It has a peaceful quality to it. The wind is piping up from the south and one storm blows through after another.
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| Pt Fosdick |
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| Wollochet Bay Indian Cove |
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| A nice home in Wollochet Bay |
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| Shaw's Cove Hale Passage |
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| Entrance to Penrose St Pk |
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| The sun tries to burn a hole into the storm |
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| Our shoaling entrance |
We depart the bay at 1530 hrs and arrive at Shaw's Cove at the western end of Hale Passage 1630 hrs. This is where the explorers spend the night. We, on the other hand cross Carr Inlet and spend the night tied to a dock at Penrose State Park. As we enter this intriguing inlet on a flooding tide we find the depth sounder reading 3 and then 2 feet, which means we are about to run aground. I move to port a bit and find some deeper water. It is pouring down rain but the sky behind the storm is blue. I keep hesitating with the gear to kill time so we can dock with blue sky and 7 feet of water under the keel.
I break out the steaks, asparagus and grog and feel like we have had a busy day of exploring Puget's Sound.
Day's run 34.4nm
Total: 68.3nm
