The winds were calm but the weather was very interesting.  All day we had thunder and lightening in the Puget Sound area.  It was never near us but we watched the lightening and heard the thunder as we made our way north to Port Townsend.

Across from Port Townsend there is a Navy supply depot that’s usually empty, but this time there was a huge submarine at the dock, protected by several big and small coast guard escort boats.  The submarine appeared to Jim to be an Ohio Class submarine similar to the one he toured years ago at the Bangor Submarine Base ten miles south.

Keeping the submarine and its escorts at a respectful distance, we made our way around the supply depot and entered Kilisut Habor around 8 PM.  This little harbor includes Fort Flagler, an old coastal defense battery that is now a state park that has several mooring buoys for recreational boaters.

As we entered the bay we saw 3 pelicans which is very unusual.

We were also surprised to discover that there were no boats on the buoys and although our boat is too big to tie up directly to one of the buoys, we used one as a stern tie and anchored right there.  Just as we finished anchored, the skies opened up and a deluge of rain poured down.  Perfect timing!

While it rained, we all enjoyed a tasty meal and good conversation. After dinner, we were treated to a beautiful sunset through a hole in the storm clouds to the west, and a lightning show to the southwest of us that lasted well into the evening.

We woke up Saturday morning to some fog. We mixed some yummy “Julie elixers” to balance the nutritional value of our bear claws and coffee and headed over to Port Townsend to drop off Emma and Alan. We were immediately treated to a large beautiful bald eagle wishing us well on our journey.

As if perfectly timed for our benefit the big submarine (referred to as “Navy Unit 51” on the radio) departed with its escorts at the same time so we stopped to watch it head out to sea.

Port Townsend was charming as usual.  We took an hour’s stroll with Emma and Alan and they then took a cab to the Kingston Ferry.  We stopped at the bakery in town and bought some yummy stuff for the trip (because I clearly did not have enough other food on board) and headed out to cross the fabled Strait of Juan De Fuca.  The fog cleared, the sun was out and the winds were calm.

Exhausted from provisioning and our last big work out with Jean Anne, I collapsed on the perch to sun while the Captain got us safely and easily to Friday Harbor for our final fueling before crossing into Canadian waters and their extremely high fuel prices.

Last night we stayed in Blind Bay on the north end of Shaw Island.  We were both pretty exhausted and ate a simple dinner, read and fell asleep.  Today we head for Canada.  The forecast calls for more scattered thunderstorms.  We shall see.

Yours Very Truly,

The Captain and First Mate of the True Love