Day 11 (Black).
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Friday our goal was to make it back to my home marina in time for Deb to head out and pick up her cat from the boarding place before they closed at 6pm. By the time we got up and got ready to go, we were pretty much the last boat still at the marina. This was something we had noticed at other points on our trip. Other boats would be long gone by the time we left. In fact, there was one boat that was at the same marina as us on four different occasions. Each morning they left before us, and each evening they were docked at the next location when we arrived. I guess the lesson here is that "early" is not really our forte.
We motored out of the marina and headed south for Seattle. The wind was blowing reasonably strong out of the south, the water was a little bit choppy, and the sky was overcast. There was another sailboat out headed in the same direction, under sail. We debated putting up our sails but at this point we just kinda wanted to get there, so we continued motoring. As we reached the south end of Whidbey Island and got out in the Sound, the water became a little bit choppier. Nothing crazy, but enough that the boat was bouncing around a little bit. I entertained myself by matching up radar targets with boats on the water, and listening to the Vessel Traffic Service chatter on the radio. When the operator in the VTS radar center would describe the positions and speeds of various vessels to other boats, I'd try and figure out which ones were visible to me. One in particular, the Millenium Falcon, caught my attention, due to being named after the most famous spaceship in Star Wars. Gradually I pieced together that it was a tug, towing a barge of some kind. It was further out in the Sound, but was headed for a point that we would be passing.
As time went by, I realized that we were on a converging course with the Millenium Falcon. It was on our right, also going south, at more or less the same speed, but was angling over towards us because it was headed for a point on shore, to our left. I really didn't want to have to slow down and go behind it with it's barge strung out on a tow line an eighth of a mile back. I also didn't want to cut it off and get in its way either. I did everything I could to coax a little more speed out of our boat, but every time I checked we were still on a converging course. With about 1/4 mile separating us, we altered course to starboard to pass behind the barge. At the same time, the tug began reducing speed as he approached his destination. This meant we had to turn a lot farther out of our way than I had planned to get behind the barge. By the time we had gotten around it, and also ducked behind a ferry boat, we had lost a little bit of time. Not much, maybe 15 minutes or so. The GPS was putting our ETA at the mouth of the ship canal at 3:00.
It was right about then that I remembered the bridge schedule. On weekdays, the drawbridges are closed to boat traffic during rush hour, from 4pm to 6pm. Today was Friday! On a good day, it takes approximately 1 hour to transit the canal from the Sound to the Fremont bridge. If everything went perfectly, we would just make it. If the railroad bridge didn't delay us getting to the locks, and the locks were ready for us just as we got there, and the Ballard bridge didn't delay us getting to the Fremont bridge, then we'd be OK. If not, we'd be stuck waiting for 2 hours someplace. We decided we would go for it, and if we were delayed getting through the locks we'd just tie up at the public dock in Ballard.
The area at the mouth of the ship canal was busy with boats coming out of the locks, no doubt getting an early start on the Memorial Day weekend. As I turned into the channel, a large power boat was coming out. Behind him was another large power boat with some clown in a HUGE hurry to start his weekend. Not even out of the channel, he passed the other boat, cutting between it and us, creating a massive wake. His wake constructively interfered with the wake of the other power boat creating a giant rogue wave right in front of us. With nothing to do but hang on, we crested it and plunged down the back side. Like something from an offshore sailing video, the bow slammed into the trough of the wave throwing a wash of water over the deck. Nothing dangerous, but it irked me that the roughest water we had encountered in 10 days of sailing was caused by some arrogant prick who's thoughts start and end with himself. Dollars to donuts, he's a member of the Seattle Yacht Club.
As we approached the railroad bridge, it was already up, and a quick call on the radio confirmed that they could stay open for us. We passed through and in short order were loaded into the locks. The sailboat next to us was in the same predicament, racing the clock to get through the bridges to Lake Union before they closed. We decided we might just make it after all. The lock discharged us upstream around 3:30. As we approached the Ballard Bridge it was about 3:40, and the bridge was already stopping traffic and getting ready to open. Sweet! We motored on through, making it to the Fremont bridge at 3:50, with just 10 minutes to spare. Our companion boat sounded the horn signal, and after a brief wait, the bridge opened for us and we were through!
A few minutes later we were tied up at my dock, and Deb was off to pick up the kitty! I spent some time putting things away, tidying up, and reflecting on the voyage. Altogether it was about 170 nautical miles, with just the right amount of adventure and challenge. Not bad for our first big cruise!
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