One might see this photo and think “Meh, it’s just another one of scores of sunrises or sunsets that these clowns have posted on their blog. Seen one, seen ’em all.” Wrong! Those were east coast sunrises and sunsets. This is our first west coast sunset, from lovely Blaine, Washington, where low tide brings mud flats. So there. Woooo!
Our man Dave—or as we call him “The Peyton Manning of Shipwrights”—absolutely crushed our lengthy list of upgrades and maintenance items. That dude is awesome. Dave even fixed the recalcitrant ice maker. Woooo!
The only thing left was bottom paint, which required a trip down to Bellingham.
Hey now! This is something we didn’t see much of on the ICW: a snow-covered mountain looming over the water like a big loomy thing. Get used to it. An endless stream of snowy mountain photos incoming. And we promise they’re not fake.
Unlike the mountains, that boat dropping crab pots in Birch Bay under Mt. Baker unfortunately was familiar. We thought we were done dodging floats. Nope. Apart from that, however, our first cruise in the Pacific Northwest was fabulous. Beautiful weather, slight breeze, no waves. If every day is like this we’ll have a hellova summer.
Except then the next two days were cold and drizzly and miserable. Outside. Inside, the Hurricane diesel furnace Dave installed circulated equatorial warmth throughout Tumbleweed’s every nook and cranny. Woooo! The haul out for bottom paint was terrifying but successful.
Turns out there’s not much Revolutionary War or Civil War history up here, quite possibly because when the latter ended, these parts still were inhabited by blissfully-ignorant Natives who weren’t yet aware that being clubbed over the head with Christianity and forcibly moved from their ancestral homes to comfy reservations would improve their lot in life. But that doesn’t mean we won’t find cool stuff.
For example, whilst awaiting Tumbleweed’s relaunch we walked a nice stretch of the Centennial Trail, which ends at the Nakashima Heritage Barn.
We’re suckers for old red barns in general, but this one has a story. Constructed in 1908, it sits on what once was the dairy farm of Kamezo Nakashima, who came to the U.S. in 1907. Kamezo imported the first Guernsey cattle to area, raised eleven kids with his wife Miya, and by all accounts was a fine member of the community. But then his former countrymen decided to sink our Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. At that point he and his family were rounded up, then separated and sent to internment camps. The barn is all that remains. Descendants of the scattered Nakashima family periodically reunite at the barn, where the comments about Uncle Sam probably aren’t overly enthusiastic.
While that’s interesting and all, we’re mostly here on business: getting Tumbleweed from Blaine to her new home at Pleasant Harbor. The logistical reality of having a boat and a truck in Bellingham but needing said boat and truck in Pleasant Harbor requires a rental car and a trip down to Whidbey Island and a ferry ride over to Port Townsend, among other things.
Whidbey Island is famous as the place where Libby didn’t kill Nick, before she served prison time, met Travis, and then killed Nick in New Orleans.* Whidbey Island also has some other stuff, of course, like a naval air station strategically placed to defend the Motherland if Canadians launch an attack from Victoria or the Nakashimas obtain heavy artillery and seek revenge at the scene of the crime.
Once on the Olympic Peninsula, our drive took us past Quilcene. On trips through the Chesapeake we stopped several times in Rock Hall, Maryland, which is the self-titled “Pearl of the Chesapeake.” Now we can check “Pearl of the Peninsula” off the to-do list. Woooo!
Anyway, we delivered the truck and returned to Bellingham. More on Pleasant Harbor in a few paragraphs.
Bellingham’s most noteworthy building—for most folks—is the Old City Hall. We’d love to insert some cool historical facts about it, but there really isn’t much of interest. Mostly it’s just a building.
For us, the most noteworthy building in Bellingham is the Birch Door Cafe. We had five opportunities for breakfast and spent 60% of them at the Birch Door. Possibly the best breakfast place either of us have been. Ever. In our lives. Woooo!
Squalicum Harbor is a great marina, with many amenities. For example, there’s a pay phone by the docks in case someone with a pocket full of quarters needs to call 1980.
Dave finished up the bottom paint, the crane didn’t drop the boat, and the next morning we headed out for Anacortes. No, the mountain photos aren’t fake.
One might see the following photo and think “Meh, it’s just another one of scores of open water cruising photos with burgees that these clowns have posted on their blog.” Wrong! Those were photos of east coast waters. This is our first such photo in Pacific Ocean waters. Woooo! And that’s our new PHYC burgee snapping snappily in the wind. Woooo!
Another awesome day on the water, and we popped in to Anacortes. Anacortes is located on beautiful Fidalgo Island. Which we know, because there’s a sign.
Here’s a monument to one Annie Curtis, whose husband Amos told her to find a suitable homestead and she picked the land that now bears her name. Sort of. Lest this historical tidbit cause confusion, however, Amos and Annie did not entertain folk with black-faced racial tropes. That was Amos ‘n’ Andy.
One might see the following photo and think “Meh, it’s just another one of scores of Tumbleweed photos that these clowns have posted on their blog.” Wrong! Tumbleweed indeed is the boat on the right, but this in fact is a photo of Feisty Lady, the beautiful Nordhavn on the left.
Along with Charlie and Robin and the bizarre Santa Claus couple, Mike and Mary—then Looping on American Tug Forever Friday—greeted us with champagne that Christmas Day in 2018 when we pulled in to Everglades City. Big times in Marathon followed, and we last saw them at Shady Harbor when we were heading up to Quebec in 2019. And here they are with a gorgeous new boat! It was awesome to catch up in Bellingham, where Mary produced amazing homemade enchiladas and margaritas. Woooo! Then we all went to their favorite Italian joint in Anacortes. Great fun. Hopefully we’ll find them again this summer.
Anyone who has read this blog knows how much we like lighthouses. We’ve photographed more than a few of them, and kind of feared we’d be leaving them behind. Woooo! We were wrong! Here’s the Burrows Island Light—dating to 1906–which rivals any of those back east.
Then past the colorful townhouses and into Port Ludlow.
We’ll have more on Port Ludlow in future posts, but the point here is that Port Ludlow has the dude with the duck. It’s a dude. Who walks his duck. The duck’s name is Lulu. The duck comes when he calls her. Absurd. Yet awesome.
This morning brought the last leg of the trip to Pleasant Harbor. We’ll also have much more about Pleasant Harbor down the road, because it’s our new permanent home when we’re not off cruising. Some cool stuff, however, along the way. Like Mt. Rainier. Not a great day for a photo, but try squinting. Mt. Rainier is back there.
Around the corner from that photo, we reached the William A. Bugge Bridge, which crosses the Hood Canal. Washington has four of the world’s five longest floating bridges, and this is one of them. Way more comforting to go under it rather than over it.
Then through the submarine base. That’s right, another submarine base! Woooo! This is Navel Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport. Been here since 1914, which dang near was when subs first became useful as war machines. Ten of the Navy’s Ohio Class behemoths are based here, loaded with enough nukes to take out the entire Nakashima clan. We saw a sub, but not one of the big boys.
Of course, when military maneuvers are afoot, we’re gonna get yelled at. And the sign says “USE OF FORCE IS AUTHORIZED.” After two navy boats sped by, the small boat pulling a secret underwater something or other told us to go slow and get over. Then a Cape Flattery Class torpedo recovery ship named Battle Point reiterated the, um, request. Just in case torpedoes were in the offing, we got over.
The rest was just awesome scenery. Like the Olympic Mountains along the peninsula and up behind our marina.
We spent all of about two hours at Pleasant Harbor, mostly organizing the boat and loading for the trip back to Scottsdale.
Views from the flybridge.
And the view from the truck as we pulled away a few hours ago. If Tumbleweed sinks in the four or five weeks before we get back, this’ll be the last photo of her afloat.
So we’re off the boat. Back sometime in May, with big plans for the summer. Since we’re not really traveling in a straight line with a destination in mind, we’ve added a new feature: a short animation of our route for that post. Woooo!
On a final note, Sammy isn’t yet quite sure what to make of all this traveling, but he’s making the best of it so far. Hedgehog, on the other hand, didn’t stand a chance.
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*Despite a legally-preposterous premise, Double Jeopardy is remarkably underrated for a movie with Tommy Lee Jones in it.