What a lovely night, with Seattle’s illuminated downtown and waterfront structures glowing in rainbow hues like the towers of a fairy (“ferry”?)-tale city across Puget Sound from the mouth of Eagle Harbor, and Braesail swinging comfortingly to and fro as sea swells came and went–I love the sensation of being in a floating cradle rocked by the gentle hand of the ocean!
The sun smiled upon us when we rose at about 8:30 am and prepared to leave our anchorage. Walt had found that our refrigerator/freezer’s remote temperature monitor was suffering from a severe case of dead batteries, and he also needed some line to replace the frayed one that secures the boat’s swimming platform, so at about 10 am we raised our anchor and motored to the city’s decrepit dock, where we received help with tying up in somewhat adverse conditions (gusty wind, shallow water, and the dock’s wobbly surface being a long way down from the deck of the boat) from a kind and capable dockmaster. Walt rode our folding bicycle to a nearby chandlery where he found AAA batteries but not the special kind of line he wanted, so upon his return I pulled the boat away from the dock successfully at about 11 am and piloted us to Port Madison, a twisty harbor that winds inland from the northeast corner of Bainbridge Island. Walt spent our two-hour motoring time (winds were blowing at about 10 kts. but from the wrong direction, so we exercised our diesel engine) working again on splicing loops into the ends of lines, and then took the helm when we entered the harbor, an especially attractive one lined with palatial homes in a wide variety of architectural styles, surrounded by towering trees and displaying gorgeous gardens (lavender rhododendrons seem to be especially popular) and broad lawns reaching down to the beaches where piers and ramps lead to floats hugged by watercraft of all sorts.
We cruised slowly through the harbor, enjoying the scenery and checking water depths, until we found a secure anchoring spot and settled in for the rest of the day. I made lunch as Braesail swung around its anchor and Walt continued his labors on the lines, and then completed some reading, writing, and telephoning tasks. I next assisted with hauling Coracle up onto its davits (frame at the stern of the boat from which it hangs when it isn’t in the water) using the new lines on which Walt had been working so hard–it’s a challenging pull but good exercise! At one point I looked toward the shore to see a flotilla of eight Canada geese paddling past a neighboring boat, their cacophonous cries reminding me of puppies yapping!
Following his usual afternoon nap, Walt cooked salmon fillets for dinner–mmm-mmm-marvelous! Rain displaced the afternoon sunshine at about 8 pm after I had performed galley clean-up and finished this post–I wonder if its liquid songs will serenade us all night?
Braesail - A grand yacht in the Salish Sea 