We awoke this Monday morning to overcast skies and temperatures about 30 degrees cooler than yesterday evening’s. After Morning Prayer, we released the line from our mooring buoy and, dressed in several layers of clothing, we motored out of Jarrell Cove at about 8:45 am, first heading northeast around a point of land and then south along the forested shores of Harstine Island toward Anderson, McNeil, and Fox islands. Because our refrigerator and freezer had been running too warm for the past several days, Walt decided to remove all the contents from the two compartments, get rid of accumulated ice and frost, dry the interiors, and repack them to see if this would bring the temperatures back into a satisfactory range. I stood at the helm while Walt worked in the cabin, and after the refrigerator and freezer had been shut off for a time and then turned back on, I replaced the contents. We will see if we obtain the desired results (about 38 degrees F. for the fridge and 18 for the freezer).
Braesail hopped onto the “current train” as we traveled again toward the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and took advantage of the rapid current’s additional six kts. (seven mph) of speed to achieve a surprising 12.2 kts. (14 mph)! As a result, we decided not to anchor in Wollochet Bay on the Kitsap Peninsula, which we’d thought it would take us about six hours to reach, but instead to motor on to long, wide, quiet Quartermaster Bay on Vashon Island. We arrived there at about 1:30 pm and anchored in about nine feet of water (if the water beneath Braesail is less than seven feet deep, we will run aground as we did on Friday!). The sun had chased away the morning cloud cover by about noon, and we enjoyed clear azure skies and gently rippled seas and temperatures in the mid-70s throughout the afternoon.
While I rested “on the sun porch” (in the cockpit) and Walt napped in the “Captain’s Cabin,” Braesail swung lazily around its anchor, and I enjoyed the cheerful chirpings of a large bird that had settled near the top of the mast and that continued to comment melodiously throughout the afternoon and evening. I worked on this post while Walt prepared a supper of ham-wrapped asparagus spears, and after KP duties I finished some reading, and took a photo of the ranks of cirrocumulous clouds that decorated the sunset sky. Plans for tomorrow’s travels having been discussed, and Walt having completed all his online student evaluations (HEARTY CHEERS!!), we decided to make an early journey to our bed.
Braesail - A grand yacht in the Salish Sea 