"October Frost" trip to Kingston

Grey. Cool. A light breeze. The conditions as I prepared to pull out of my driveway came as no surprise for a Puget Sound fall day. With Whisper in tow, I left Shelton at 9 am, arriving in Brownsville just after 10 am. Ubi Ignis Est arrived soon after, and Jim began rigging at the boat launch while I raised the mast and attached the myriad pins, rings, lines and hoses in the parking lot.

View the photo gallery for this trip.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

The launch ramps are narrow and not particularly steep, made of grooved concrete. A delightful small deli with a variety of boating supplies and groceries is next to the launch, with microbrews available plus half-gallon “growlers” of beer to go. A welcoming atmosphere was evident the moment I crossed the threshhold, and I returned a bit later for a custom-made sandwich for my lunch.

We were both rigged by 11:30 am. I helped Jim launch, and in true Potter fashion, he returned the favor. The launch fee was two dollars, payable at a station at the head of the ramp. The fee includes 72 hours of parking.

As my Honda outboard idled, I dropped the keel into place and finished rigging the rudder/tiller.

By now Jim had started his outboard but instead of the joyful anticipation I had seen earlier, his face bore a troubled look. No cooling water was exiting his motor. After checking to make sure the intakes weren’t clogged and trying the motor a few more times, Jim decided he had to withdraw from the trip. I offered to help him take out but he said I should get going to meet Braveheart on time.

Motoring out of the Brownsville Marina I waved farewall to Jim and turned my attention to where I was going. Braveheart was holding station near the north end of the docks, loafing along in the gentle breeze. Her festive green hull was striking in the muted light of a clouded noon.

As we closed with each other I raised sail and in tandem we set forth for Agate Pass. Braveheart looked grand gliding northward at two to three knots.

Approaching Agate Pass, I rolled up the furler and started the motor, making an easy four to five knots. Braveheart’s white sails and green hull formed the perfect accent for early fall colors evident around the nearby cottages and homes.

Exiting the passage we could not see Seattle because of a sea mist on the water and a distinctly overcast sky. But we could see dozens of sailboats, large ones, ghostlike in the mist and illuminated in a brighter area in the vicinity of Elliot Bay.
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Whisper sails Port Madison

In Port Madison the south wind shifted to the southeast and freshened. Whisper lowered her shoulder and accelerated, running four to five knots under full sail, occasionally heeling up to ten degrees.

Pooooh. What was that sound? A few moments later, again, pooooh, this time behind the boat. I looked just in time to see a porpoise sliding below the surface in Whisper’s wake. Several harbor porpoises crossed between Whisper and Braveheart, more porpoises than I have seen before at one time in Puget Sound. (I did report the sighting to Orca Network.)

As we continued toward Kingston, our changing heading and the slowly shifting wind allowed us to run dead downwind.

We tied up in slips three and four in the Kingston Marina, close to the fuel dock and at the base of the ramp to the transient moorage float. Forty-five minutes later our spouses arrived and our two-sailor trip expanded to a very pleasant four-person dinner out as swapped stories about sailing, growing up, meeting our spouses, and kids and grandkids.

About 6:30 pm we called it quits, kissed our wives goodbye and headed for the boats, just as the first rain shower of the evening started. Both of us retired early. I was warm and snug all night, waking occasionally to hear the rain drumming on the deck. This time the rain prediction was correct.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

I awoke to a steady rain. I hadn’t listened to NOAA weather radio since Saturday morning, and the report on Sunday morning was a little more severe with a small craft advisory of 15 to 25-knot winds and seas to four feet predicted. No matter how you measure them, our big-hearted boats are small craft.

Should we go? Or should we call our spouses and ask them to ferry us to our two tow vehicles? We decided to venture forth, with a fallback plan to turn around and return to Kingston if conditions became too rugged. Before leaving the dock we double-reefed our sails.

And rugged were the winds and seas, with the wind on the nose and three and four-foot waves crashing against our bows. Undaunted, we thundered south past Point Jefferson, launching over tall cresting waves and crashing into the troughs four feet below like small whales, throwing white spray to the sides and occasionally over our heads. Spectacular!

Entering Port Madison we finally had wind coming over the port bow. Braveheart soldiered on under minimal sail while Whisper motored toward Agate Pass just fast enough to maintain steerage. After passing through Agate Pass we hit a few minutes of sunshine, and Braveheart sparkled in the bright, turbulent conditions as we tacked southward.

Although only two boats made the trip, it was a fitting end to a tremendous sailing summer. I look forward to sailing with our Bremerton Potters again.

In the spirit of Jim’s Latin boat name, I exclaimed when I returned home, “Mellita, domi adsum!” (Honey, I’m home!)