The 2019 Salish 100, Day One...

Saturday, June 22nd

It ended up being a restless night, as would be no surprise to anyone. The boat was really noisy. The lapstrakes in the hull, which give it rigidity, also give the waves something to slap against, making a loud gurgling sound all night long, a quarter of an inch from my ear. I was sure I'd get used to it eventually.

Since many cruisers were arriving Saturday morning, there were two skippers meetings. We had missed the Friday one during our long drive, but I couldn't wait for the one on Saturday. It was a big turnout, and Marty ran us through the itinerary, the route, the safety briefing, and answered everyone's questions. There were going to be support boats along with us, which was a big relief to everyone, and the sheriff's boat was also going to be following along on the first day.

The skippers meeting, with Marty Loken briefing us on the first three days itinerary

Once the meeting was over, we had about an hour to get our last things sorted out before it was time to depart. My long-time sailing buddy, Bart, came by to wish me well and see the first day's craziness. I'm pretty sure he could see the nervousness written all over my face, but I did my best to hide it and smile confidently.

That's a look of confidence, isn't it?!

I checked in with Arnie, who admitted to having a rough time. He had not slept well at all, and was really nervous about the entire trip. Totally understandable: Arnie had only sailed a handful of times before this, and like me had purchased his boat just for this cruise. New sails had arrived the morning we departed and he had had no time to rig his boat, or test sail it with the new sails! This would be his first time doing many things on this cruise, and I was proud of him for taking on such a huge challenge, especially with his limited experience and skill level.

It's time to depart, let's go! I fired up the motor, cast off the docklines, stepped aboard, and slowly pulled away from the dock. My Salish 100 cruise had officially begun.

I could see in the distance many small boats had already departed, and it looked like I was going to start in the middle of the pack. I had a little issue getting my mainsail up, which was embarrassing, but once I had it sorted I raised all sail and shut off the motor. I was sailing!

Vanilla looking beautiful, Cupcake giving a false sense of contentment

The first day's route was Olympia to Henderson Inlet, an easy 11 miles. Marty warned us that the wind and waves can get pretty severe in Dana Passage, so I was cautious and ready for the worst. We made our way up Budd Inlet, and jostled for position and clear wind amongst dozens of small boats. It was only blowing 5 or 6 knots, perfect for gaining confidence on the first day. I didn't see Arnie, and felt kind of bad for leaving him, but also knowing that we were each sailing our own cruise, and would see a lot of each other over the next seven days. He ended up sailing close to a new friend he had met, Dave, and the two were going to stay together for most of the cruise. Dave had a much bigger boat, and gave Arnie confidence that if he got in trouble there would be backup close by. I thought it was great that he had support so I could get the most out of Vanilla, and try to get to our anchorage early. 

Passing north out of Budd Inlet, we turned east into Dana Passage. The wind stayed light, and mostly "on the nose", meaning tacking back and forth all the way. Fun sailing, and an opportunity to show your stuff as a solo sailor.

 Two boats on the water is always a race

A race that Bunny Whaler would easily win

Making our war East, down Dana Passage

I followed this Penguin almost all day, but never caught them

I hope Arnie is back there somewhere!

As we approached Henderson Inlet, the wind Marty had warned us about finally materialized, making for an exhilarating sail into the harbor. Most of the boats were making their way south to the shallower end of the bay, but I saw a group of SCAMPs anchored in close just inside a protected part of the inlet on the west shore, and I decided to anchor nearby. The anchor set firmly, and peace settled around me as I watched through my binoculars the boats arriving in the bay. I must have made a good choice because I was excited to see Marty anchor his boat only 50 yards away from me. 

Marty picks his spot to anchor

And surveys his flock as they arrive

Simeon, in his well known SCAMP Noddy, sails by for a visit with Marty

The view from my cramped cabin

Dinnertime! My kitchen, in all its simplicity. 

I watched Arnie sail in, looking great with his new sails, and hoped he would come anchor nearby. It being his first night though, he decided to raft up with Dave, a pattern that would be repeated for the entire trip. I was on my own!

As the stress and anxiety of the day was released, I started to develop a nasty headache. I hoped that dinner would help, and cooked up my usual backpacker freeze-dried food, with a cup of coffee. As I was finishing eating, I saw Josh Colvin, editor of Small Craft Advisor Magazine, row over in the most ridiculous pool toy of a rubber raft, and visit with Marty for a few minutes. Once they finished talking he rowed over to visit with me, and we had a really great chat. Josh is one of those people who makes you feel like you are instant friends--what a great guy. Unfortunately, neither the coffee or the pleasant company helped my headache, so I once again turned in at sunset and called it a night. The boat gurgled, my head pounded, and I eventually ended my first day on the Salish 100.

Day one, estimated mileages

The 2019 Salish 100, preparations

It all started with a conversation at the 2018, Wooden Boat Festival

in Port Townsend, WA.

Marty Loken, a local small boat enthusiast and director of the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters, made the announcement that he was thinking about organizing a new small boat cruise on Puget Sound (also known as the Salish Sea). After having missed a number of the Pocket Yacht Palooza "Palooza Crooza" events, I just knew that I could not miss this exciting opportunity. He called it The Salish 100, a small boat cruise from Olympia, WA, to Port Townsend, WA, a distance of almost exactly 100 miles, with as many as a hundred boats taking part, coming from all over the country! It sounded like so much fun I instantly signed up, and prepared to join the adventure. Of course, the first thing I had to do was get a boat!

Vanilla

Enter Vanilla, a 1984 Montgomery 15 sailboat. I had owned one of these boats before, and my sailing partner Arnie had actually bought and refurbished my previous boat, so the idea of sailing in tandem on sister ships was irresistible. Vanilla was in great condition, and was small enough to trailer behind my Subaru Outback, so I grabbed her from a seller in Port Townsend, and started outfitting her for the cruise. I vacillated back and forth on towing a dinghy, but in the end decided that the flexibility it would afford was worth the extra trouble to tow, so I added Cupcake, a 7 foot wooden dink to the fleet. (This decision was going to come back and bite me, but that's for a later chapter...)

Cupcake
Don't let the cuteness fool you, she is evil to the core

The cruise was set for June 21st, through June 28th, 7 days to travel 100 miles. It seemed do-able, but I was very concerned about being on a 15 foot boat with no inside sitting headroom for a week straight. What if it rained the entire time? What if the winds were too strong for my little boat? Did I have enough fuel if there was no wind? Would I be bored? Or lonely? How much food should I bring? What clothes should I bring? Would my anchor hold? Where would I go to the toilet?!?!?!? All of these questions were sorted out, (or ignored) and on Friday, June 21st, Arnie and I hitched up our little Montgomerys, and set off for Olympia!

On the road to Olympia

The trip to Olympia was an easy drive, and after rigging the boats in the Swantown Marina loading area, we launched from their very steep ramp at low tide. (After, I must say, what could only be described as a PERFECT job backing down. I'm still learning how to back a trailer smoothly, and I wish someone had a video camera going for that one!) Someone had stolen our reserved slip, so we just tucked in where we could and made ourselves secure. It was so exciting walking around and seeing the huge variety of boats already there, with more arriving every minute. Sailboats, row boats, powerboats, kayaks, and even a paddle boarder were taking part in this incredible adventure!

Vanilla, ready to go!

Arnie's (and my former) Montgomery 15, Iku Turso

A Welsford Penguin, with a beautiful canoe for a dinghy

Many boats had less accommodations than even this

So many cute little boats!

Grasshopper, the media boat for Off Center Harbor

Bunny Whaler, a former R2AK participant

A Hobie Cat?! Seriously hardcore, and he had a guitar with him!

A Michalak Scram Pram

A beautiful wooden cat boat

Montgomery row! There were a lot of Montgomery/Sage 15's and 17's on this cruise, 

they are very popular in Puget Sound

Sigh, one of my dream boats, a Welsford S.C.A.M.P.

Arnie had had the good sense early on to not only find us a place to leave our rigs in Port Townsend, but also secure us a shuttle with a friend of his, so the three of us took off for PT to drop off our cars and trailers so they would be waiting for us when we arrived at the end of the cruise. (Assuming we arrived. Gulp) It was a long drive after having already driven from Everett to Lake Stevens, and then down to Olympia, and it was unfortunately made longer by a horrendous motorcycle accident that shut the two lane road down for over an hour. We eventually made it though, and after dropping off the rigs we hopped in Bob's uncomfortable BMW, and drove right back down to Olympia! That much sitting in a car could only be offset by a massive pasta dinner, and being sailors and cheapskates we stormed Olive Garden for some mediocre Italian style food. After gorging ourselves we could hardly keep our eyes open, so we said farewell to Bob, and crawled into our cramped cabins for our first night aboard of the cruise. I didn't think my nerves would let me sleep, but I was so tired I turned the lights out around 9pm. Despite the noisy gurgling of the water against the lapstrakes in the hull I was soon fast asleep.

We were really going to attempt this thing.