Port Angeles

Today we sailed from Port Townsend to Port Angeles on a cold but dry day. We decided to delay getting underway until 12.30 PM to take advantage of the ebb current at Admiralty Inlet. I spent the morning finishing the tidying up of the boat and doing a handyman task. I took Nancy's advice and bent the staysail on the inner forestay to be ready for use in high winds. Soon after lunch we weighed anchor at 12.30 PM and motored well out past Pt. Hudson with a 10 kt SE wind. In Admiralty Inlet we hoisted the mainsail with one reef and soon had the full jib rolled out. The ebb current assisted us most of the day and for the majority of the trip we sailed at 6.5-7.5 on a broad reach from a 15 kt wind. Passing Protection Island we looked at the houses on the coast and wondered if Nancy and Lynn were watching us sail by. The wind died down at about 5 PM when we were 7 nm out of Port Angeles so we cranked up out rejuvenated SABB diesel and motored in. We dropped anchor at about 6.30 PM next to near the public jetty in 7 meters of water.

There is a deep low of 970 mb off the coast affecting this area and tomorrow will be its biggest effect. The prediction for tomorrow (Tuesday) is for 15-30 kt E winds in the Strait of Juan de Fuca gusting to 45 kt. Prudence would dictate that we sit tight in Port Angeles except that the forecast for Wednesday is for 5-15 kt SE winds switching to SW at noon. We figured that it is safer to do the 50-nm trip to Neah Bay with strong winds in daylight than clawing our way in weaker winds and arriving after dark. So we plan to depart at about 7 AM tomorrow for Neah Bay.

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