Deception pass, everett

We motored through Deception Pass just after daybreak and made for Everett. We often stopped in Everett on our drive to or from Bellingham, back when we were chartering boats in the summer to see our dear friends, Peg and Dave Ludwig. Peg and her kids, Kristi Meyers Lovern and Jeff Meyers lived across the street from us when I was a child and our families stayed close for the 45 years since. This was our first stop with our boat, and our first stop since Peg was lost to Alzheimer’s in January. Coming into the marina, I could picture where she would have stood to greet us, at the end of the pier with her giant smile and exuberant wave. We met up with Dave for dinner and drinks at a distillery in the marina. It was good to see him and raise a glass to our dear friend.

poulsbo

We were attracted to Liberty Bay in Poulsbo because of a sailing blog we follow called Ran Sailing. It’s creators are a couple from Sweden who sailed extensively and stopped by Poulsbo. It’s a cool town nicknamed “Little Norway” with many waterfront restaurants to choose from. We met up with Teresa and Randy Mitchell for dinner and drinks. Teresa is Marty O’Toole’s sister and Marty encouraged us to look them up while we were in Poulsbo. We had a lovely evening at a waterfront restaurant with great food, views and wonderful company. (Melinda)

Skipper’s Perspective

After several tries we finally left Bellingham for an extended duration, with the intent to get to Blakely Harbor for the Coho Ho Ho raft-up on the following Saturday, April 15th. We left the dock late Monday afternoon with Melinda at the helm, motoring south in Bellingham bay. We had attempted this journey the previous Friday, intending to meet up with Sarah and Max in Anacortes but were stymied by the 25+ knot winds and resulting waves on our nose. This time we were successful, spending a quiet evening in Cap Sante marina with a brief shore excursion to the Sebo’s hardware store and dinner at Coconut Kenny’s.

The direction for the next step of the journey was a struggle to decide. Our intent was to try the “inside passage” behind Whidbey Island as a safe weather and wave state alternative to our last trip across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. To get there we needed to either go through the Swinomish channel or Deception Pass, neither of which we’d previously done. The Swinomish looked attractive but had both an uncertain depth and overhead bridges. Deception pass had to be transited at slack tide due to the high currents.

To be clear, we carry one of the most dangerous items onboard Perception as we cruise: a schedule. My work schedule tends to dictate when we can travel, at least to get on and off docks and anchor. I’ve found that I am able to work effectively while Melinda drives the boat, but I need to have open time at the start and end of each leg. This constrains our ability to freely travel whenever the weather and tide conditions are best.

The Internet supplied ample warnings about shoaling areas in the channel, and the last dredging was five years prior. I wasn’t too concerned about this with our shallow draft, but our available window on Tuesday to get through the channel coincided with a negative tide. It was clear that no-one recommended going through the Swinomish Channel at negative tide even with a shoal-draft boat.

Compounding my worry was my inexperience passing under bridges with clearances above the water in the range of our mast height. The Swinomish has three such bridges: a pair of bridges for State Highway 20 in the north section, and Rainbow Bridge in the south section. All three bridges are listed with a clearance of 75′ on the charts. Furthermore there is an indication of an overhead telephone cable near the north set of bridges that have a clearance of 72′. Perception is spec’d at 68′ air draft, and I suspect we are a couple feet higher (~70′) with our VHF antenna (haven’t yet had opportunity to directly measure!) With some hunting on the charts it became clear that the bridge clearances are specified at Mean High Water (MHW). Further searching on the NOAA Tides and Currents site to find MHW for La Conner in the middle of the channel. In theory we would have at worst 2′ of clearance at MHW, and more clearance if we went through at lower tide.

In the end we gave up on the idea of going south through the Swinomish due to the negative tide during our window of opportunity. That left us the option of going through Deception Pass, which also constrained us to go through at slack water. We had a reasonable window with slack tide on Wednesday morning before my meetings started, so Tuesday evening after my meetings ended we motored around the west side of Fidalgo Island and anchored for the night in Bowman Bay to set ourselves up for the pass the next morning. Luckily the weather was light – even with little wind the swell coming into the bay made for a bouncy evening. I wouldn’t want to stay there with significant swell coming in from Juan de Fuca.

Wednesday morning bright and early we motored through Deception Pass at slack tide. The views of the bridge in the morning light were stunning, and we were soon greeted by the protected waters of Skagit Bay on the other side.

Melinda motored us south the roughly 38 nm to Everett during the day while I worked through a number of zoom meetings. It was our first significant test of Starlink’s ability to function well while underway, and it performed amazingly. The technology does not seem to be bothered much by either the forward motion of the boat or the bouncing across waves and wakes.

The entrance to Everett Marina is inside the mouth of the Snohomish River, and however short this became our first-ever river entrance. We had to crab the boat sideways into the marina out of the ~2 knot current, but were met with relatively still water once past the outer docks. We stayed at Guest Dock 5, a long linear dock up against the shore. Only two other boats were at the dock when we arrived, but left shortly thereafter leaving us with the place to ourselves.

Even though we evaded the vertical clearance issues of the Swinomish channel, the next leg of our trip would test that in any case. Thursday at noon we left the Everett Marina, and Melinda motored us south towards Port Madison and Agate Pass.

Highway 305 spans Agate Pass on a bridge with a 75′ clearance – seems to be a popular clearance height for highway bridges in the area. We were approaching a couple hours before slack tide at the end of the ebb and had a current against us. I liked this scenario as it would let us approach the bridge slowly, gave us additional clearance margin under mean high water, and if we hit the current would push us off rather than forcing us under.

Needless to say we cleared under the bridge successfully, though from below it looks very close. I do wish we had a picture of the transit from afar to gauge how much clearance we actually had!

Shortly after getting through Agate Pass we arrived in Liberty Bay and dropped our hook a ways from the Port of Poulsbo Marina. It was raining and cold, so we didn’t spend time looking for a closer spot among the boats already anchored in the bay.