We departed Elliott bay at noon for the short hop to the picturesque inlet of Eagle Harbour at Bainbridge Island. We anchored for the first time on our own, and used the davit to put the dingy in the water to go for a sightseeing trip.
After the dingy trip we fired up the BBQ for a nice steak. That night we enjoyed the great view of the Seattle skyline.
- The start of our Good Luck? …Swallows that joined us in the early morning hours
- Swallows on the deck enjoying the rain
- Sunset at Eagle Bay
- Red wine sunset at Eagle Bay
- BBQ in Beautiful Eagle Bay
- The Weber and the Chef
- Scolamanzi with Seattle in the background
- Scolamanzi in Eagle Bay
- Trying out the new tender
The next morning we departed at 8 am to get our timing right to be at Tacoma narrows at slack tide around noon. Currents here can get up to 4 knots flowing North during ebb tide and south during flow tide.
Transiting the narrows we had a great view of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge which was at some stage the third longest span bridge in the world. The original one has collapsed after
It now started raining quite heavily – which was a nice way to get the dust off the boat.
We continued on to Olympia (the State capitol situated in the far south of Puget Sound) in poor visibility which made for interesting ng navigation to get us to Swantown Marina.
Swantown Marina had good easily accessible guest moorage in a beautiful protected parklike setting. The marina was close to the excellent Farmers Market and a short bike trip into the city and Capitol Building.
The next morning we took our two folding bikes to the market were we bought some nice fresh fruit, vegetables, sausages, smoked country beacon and other meats at a very reasonable price. We dropped off our purchases at the boat and headed up town to the Capitol Building.
As the pictures shows – this was a real impressive site inside and outside.
- Olympia sights
- Capitol Building
- Johann on the steps of the Capitol Building
- Scolamanzi with her cockpit enclosure – it is worth its weight in gold to have a dry cockpit!
- Local musicians with some Bluegrass entertainment at the Farmers Market
- Farmers Market colours
- Farmers Market beetroot!
- Farmers Market in Olympia is a must see! An array of colourful veggies, flowers and fruit and very reasonable meats and sausages
- Beautiful Blue skies at sunset
- The tidal range here at Swantown marina
- Johann with George Washington
- Capitol Lake with Capitol Building in the background
Later that afternoon we again headed into town to the Oyster House (who claims to be the oldest seafood restaurant in Washington State) for a good feed of oysters. They were fresh and excellent tasting. We opted for the medium size Japanese oysters …. This was follow by Oyster House Clam Chowder and Oyster Bay Stew with. 14Hand Pinot Gris completed a perfect meal.
We departed 7 am the next day to again make our transit of the narrows at maximum ebb flow, heading for Elliot Bay. It was a glorious day of clear skies and no wind. With the current to our advantage, we hit a record for now of 13.4kts !
Johann
********
Foot Note sent by Martie-Louise, a good friend of mine:
The Swallow: It is considered a most fortunate bird as it symbolizes spring and renewal, revival, rebirth and awakening. To spot a swallow in the early springtime is considered a most fortunate sign. If swallows build their nest in the eaves of a house it forecasts success, happiness and good fortune for all who dwell within that house.
Henriette
Leave a Reply