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Westport to Neah Bay |
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09/01/04 - Wednesday - We arrived about noon by van in Westport. Started working on setting things up again for the trip. The wind in the marina was about 20-25kts. It was about 17:30 when we got things running for the test run. We stuck our nose out beyond the breakwater and really got slapped around. Executed an immediate 180 and headed back in. The engine ran fine. We didn’t know how to act with no engine smoke in the engine room. We tied up for the night and after listening to the weather some more decided to cancel the departure tomorrow and just work on more technical cleanup. Went to the local Pizza place for dinner. 09/02/04 - Thursday - Scratch that schedule. Weather conditions are the same and should stay with 10-15kts from West and NW with 5-10ft swells. I couldn't face 10 hours of riding the trough to Neah Bay. We finished up some of the projects and headed back to Port Ludlow in the early afternoon. 09/06/04 - Monday - We have just been watching the weather forecasts. It looks like the rough weather will break on Wednesday, so we are planning to leave Port Ludlow tomorrow afternoon to get ready for a Wednesday morning departure for Neah Bay. I checked the wave height forecast website. It looks like a couple of days worth of 3-6' swells. 09/07/04 - Tuesday - I rounded up a crew of 3 and we headed for Westport. For this leg Mike Mallett from Port Ludlow volunteered to make the trip. We arrived about 15:00 and finished the fuel hose and valve system for pulling the fuel from the barrels instead of the two 100 gallon tanks. The evening weather report still looked favorable for the trip. Departing Westport for Neah Bay 09/08/04 - Wednesday - We were up at 05:00 and got underway at about 06:30. The Grays Harbor Bar was flat and the seas were about 1ft. Hurray. At about 11:00 the forecasted showers started and the wind from the south picked up a bit. So were running in 4-6 foot swells and 10-15kts to our backs. The NOAA forecast was right on accurate. We arrived at Neah Bay about 16:00, tired and whipped. Royal and I cheered when we made the turn Eastbound. Roxane was there with the van and pre-scoped out the layout.
We tied to the end of the A dock and headed for the showers. We then had dinner in town and went back to the boat and died about 21:00. Departing Neah Bay for Port Angeles
09/09/04 - Thursday - Everyone was up around 06:00 and we enjoyed one of Royals great Coffee & Pancake breakfasts. The trip to Port Angeles should be about 4 hours. We got to the fuel dock about 08:30 and underway about 09:20. The trip was fantastic. The weather was warm with high clouds and the sea state of the Straits was calm with 1-2 foot rollers from the westerly winds. We arrived as guests at the Coast Guard Station Port Angeles about 13:30 and tied up between three 110 footers. We got word this afternoon that an 80 foot tug that was going to be at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival had cancelled and we were invited to tie up in their place. Now we have to clean up this "scow." There is a lot of stuff we can unload in Port Townsend. Port Angeles to Port Townsend
09/10/04 - Friday - Departed PA about 08:00 and arrived at Port Townsend about 11:30. We are guests at the Wooden Boat Festival. We will probably push the last hour to Port Ludlow on Monday morning. Arrived at Port Townsend - WE MADE IT! Wooden Boat Festival - Port Townsend
09/11/04 Saturday – Open house for guests. Had a fun day. High winds came up in evening and the boat was seriously slamming on the dock. I stayed up until after midnight keeping fenders between the boat and the dock. Royal came up to help if we had to get underway to clear the dock. Fortunately the tide started pushing us away from the dock and about 1:30 the winds subsided. The port lower rub rail was knocked off in the commotion. Port Townsend to Port Ludlow
09/12/04 Sunday - Port Townsend to Port Ludlow – More open house in the morning and early afternoon. About 1:00 pm we departed from the dock towards Port Ludlow. Chuck did a big photo shoot with Mike Mallet and the “Vessel Assist” boat. We had Tike Hillman as the guest skipper. There was a good group of friends turnout to meet us in Port Ludlow. Port Ludlow to Tacoma
09/17/04 Friday - Had a great article in the Tacoma Tribune. We worked on boat cleanup. 09/18/04 Saturday – More open house today. We arrived about 10am. There at the dock I met Ed Young. Ed served on the 83527 and had been looking for any history on her for about 10 years. Then yesterday morning in the paper is the article about "Home at Last." Boy was he surprised and waiting at the dock when we arrived to take the tour. One great story on Ed was that he remembered carving his name on the bottom of the crews mess table. We were too crippled up to look very good and decided it was a different table. Later when his granddaughter arrived he asked her to look and sure enough, it was there. They made some etching of the signature. That was really neat. 09/19/04 Sunday – More Open House. Had a mini-83 footer reunion and story time at the Working Waterfront Museum. We heard some good stories from Coast Guard guys that served on a lot of different boats. I told the story of the trip up the coast. 09/20/04 We got a ride down to the boat with John Arscott (Port Ludlow) and departed for Port Ludlow later in the morning. Weather was great and the water was calm. Ed Young and Dick Craig were guest skippers. They sure were smiling a lot. We tied up at the Port Ludlow Marina. We're here for the winter. |
