ROCHE HARBOR MARINA APPROACHING HIGHWAY BRIDGE STEEP DOCK RAMP AT EXTREME LOW TIDE IN POULSBO

DOCK POST COVERED WITH MUSSELS AT EXTREME LOW TIDE

June Update

EXREME LOW TIDE IN POULSBO GIG HARBOR DOWNTOWN TYEE MARINA BREAKWATER THE OLD I-90 BRIDGE Greetings: We returned home to San Diego for initially a week until Chuck had to have dental surgery (successfully) to repair an old root canal. We left our boat in a marina near Tacoma called Tyee Marina. This is a family run older marina, but clean, safe and secure. Our friends Gary and Ruth keep their boat here so they were able to watch over Mairead. Tyee has an unusal breakwater to keep storm weather from entering the marina. There was a floating bridge in Seattle that a number of years ago broke apart in a storm. This bridge carried the I-90 interstate. The large concerete structure actually floats and a big section of it is used as the breakwater.

We left Tyee on June 18 and went all of nine miles to a very quaint small town called Gig Harbor. Gig is a very wealthy community, a very secure enclosed harbor, with beautiful waterfront homes, many with their own docks. There are many restaurants, gift stores, book stores and artists here. It was a fun place to stay for three nights.

We left Gig and made a journey of about 30 miles to a community called Poulsbo. This community has a Danish Heritage and of course many bakeries and nice restaurants. We had an unusual, but not unheard of event enroute to Poulsbo. We saw a small U.S. Coast Guard boat with flashing lights approach us and shouted to us to stop. Of course we complied. They came onto our boat and did a safety inspection. We passed 100% but it is a bit intimidating seeing armed men come onto our boat. This is also a procedure used to see if terrorists are trying to infiltrate via the waterways. We really enjoyed two nights in Poulsbo. We also purchased diesel fuel here and paid $2.61 per gallon, a lot less than the $4++ we paid last year!

We left Poulsbo on June 24th and are currently in Roche Harbor out on San Juan Island. It was a long trip of about 75 miles. In June there is a curious event in that there is a day where this is the largest tide swing from low to high and back in the entire year. This tide swing here was around 20 feet! When you have these large tide swings you also find fast and sometimes dangerous or at the very least turbulant currents. We timed our trip to Roche to ride the tide is it Ebbed or flowed out to see. Our normal speed of 8 knots was boosted to 13-14 with current of about 6 knots pushing us out. Fortunately the wind was also with us. If the wind is blowing opposite of the current direction it can be extremely rough. Just as we entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the wind indeed did shift and we encountered some very choppy weather. As the bow of the boat hit into the waves, salt water spray was literally flying over the top of the boat. Not dangerous, but quite spectacular!

We are departing Roche Harbor heading into Canada tomorrow, June 28th. Our next post will be from Canada.

Chuck and Margaret

SPACE NEEDLE SEATTLEJune 5, Friday

We left downtown Seattle on Tuesday, Chuck's "medicare" birthday day! We had a great time in downtown. It was totally opposite of our previous cruising where we have spent many days and nights in some of the most beautiful and isolated anchorages. Bell Harbor marina was noisy, people everywhere, cruise ships, sirens, great restaurants, and Pike Place Market. We walked and walked during our three days here. Our last day we went to the space needle. This was built in 1962 for the worlds fair. Go to http://www.spaceneedle.com/. This was a bit disappointing to us as it seemed to be very commercialized.

We left Seattle on June 2nd, Tuesday, which was Chuck's "medicare" birthday. We traveled further south to Tyee Marina where we had dinner with our friends Gary and Ruth. This marina is in Tacoma. Wednesday the 3rd we flew home to visit family but also because Chuck has to have oral surgery to fix an infection with an old root canal tooth. Ouch! We will be home a couple weeks and then back to the boat. We are enjoying seeing our family.

Chuck and Margaret