ToG's First South Sound Cruise

We left the Foss on Sunday just before noon to avoid the worst of the north flowing current through The Narrows, headed for Anderson Island and Oro Bay.

This was about our 4^th visit to this pristine little spot near the Nisqually area, on the south eastern side of Anderson. The Tacoma Yacht Club outstation was just about full but only one other boat came in to anchor. This was our first time anchoring this boat and all went well. We spent a quiet evening watching birds: common loons, various gulls, surf scoters, osprey, bald eagles, buffleheads, geese, black guillemots, and pigeons. I’m sure there were more that I didn’t notice.

Ocean City ferry from our anchorage

Oro Bay

We pulled out of the bay around 9:30am Sunday morning, headed around the bend to Hartstine Island and Jarrell Cove State Park.

Weather was beautifully sunny…and chilly. Happily anticipating the higher temps forecasted for this week.

A note about temperature. We have concluded that this boat is just a colder experience than we are used to. For a couple of reasons. It’s a bigger boat to heat, for sure. The Webasto diesel heater takes quite a bit of time to get going, and the electric heater is small. There are no skylights in this boat, so no direct sunlight coming in over our heads to warm things up. The nights we’ve spend so far have been super cold, as we really don’t like to keep the heat on all night. It makes for a very chilly coffee-making experience for me! And more blankets on the bed than I like. I’ve taken to wearing my Sperry boots again to try and warm cold feet, and I now have a lap blanket in the pilot house. In the long run we think we’ll be happy about this…should be easier to stay cooler in the hot summer months. For now though, guess we’ll keep some heat on overnight.

On the way past Herron Island, we noticed the small ferry Charlie Wells underway, which we haven’t seen before – it’s always been at the dock as we’ve cruised through the channel. Midway across the channel, it reversed, and a ladder went over the side. Not sure what the heck they were doing but we had to steer clear.

Ferry Charlie Wells

Because of expected wind we headed for the Jarrell Cove dock. We prefer the mooring buoys but being at the dock is nice when it’s windy and the park isn’t busy.

On Tuesday we walked along the road further than we had in the past, just a couple of miles (round trip) to the community center. Our neighbors on the dock went the other direction, all the way to McMicken Island. They were gone about five hours so I am not sure we’ll be doing that hike. But good to know that longer walks are possible. One of the things we don’t like about this location is the lack of a better trail system.

trillium at Jarrell

Nick’s plan to dinghy across the inlet to the McQuarrie cabin to dig clams didn’t pan out for a couple of reasons. Wind, for one. The other has to do with a problem with the dinghy outboard. We got in to take a short ride around the cove and it basically started spewing oil. Bad. It’s never fun to see a slick on the water, especially when you caused it. We will head to Gig Harbor Thursday so the guy from NW Inflatables can take a look. Major bummer. It had that initial problem when we picked it up, the guy (Dinghy Steve) came back and tightened the filter, then it worked fine when we took it around the Foss a week or so ago. Not sure what’s going on.

Because we often take care of Mac, we now have goldfish crackers on hand. We thought we had corn chips for our delicious home made chili, but alas, no chips. Yes, I am blaming my grandson for having goldfish crackers on board.

It was a windy and chilly two nights at the park. On Wednesday morning we continued south to Olympia and the Swantown Marina, first visit for us by boat. Sunny and warm!!!

The Z’s met us there, although by car. They are between boats, with the new Coorie Doon Ranger Tugs 31 due for delivery in early June. Can’t wait! (Thanks for the grill fodder!) Much fun was had by all.

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