FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY

We left Olympia after the military appreciation procession.  We were at the southern most harbor in Puget Sound and headed north towards home.  I suppose you could make it from Olympia to Seattle in one long day, but it's a better 2 day trip.

Headed out of Budd Inlet there was a freighter coming in to pick up a load of logs.

Mt Rainier through the rigging

Mount Rainier is everywhere in the South Sound.

One thing we saw quite a bit in the south sound was small boats poorly handled.  Running out of gas, miserable landings, etc.  It was like having access to water and having a boat were instant qualifications to boat.  I don't like boating licenses (they are in place and nothing we witnessed would suggest they do any good), but there was a general disregard for good practices.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge from the south

We pulled into Gig Harbor and kayaked to the tides tavern for dinner.  Good dinner, better than the last time we were there.

Saturday morning we left relatively early and threaded our way out of Gig Harbor, up Colvos passage to Blake Island.  We nearly hit 10 knots over ground as the Ebb was in full swing.

At Blake we had to tie between the pilings as the docks were full.  Jodi suggested we take a hike, and we circumnavigated the  island for the first of two times for the day.  We decided the walk around the island qualified as a hike owing to the more than expected elevation gain and the 4 mile length.  Done quickly, it provides a reasonable workout.

I just don't understand how a starfish can be tasty

Blake Islands western shore

Raccoon at Blake

The longhouse at Blake Island

Once back on the boat it was roughly 2:00pm and we decided to Kayak.  The water was a little rough around the north end of the island, but peaceful along the western side.  So we decided to push on and kayak around the island -- our 2nd circumnavigation of Blake Island for the day.

We were fairly tired at the end of the kayak trip and Jodi's appetizers (Thai lettuce wraps) and concurrent refreshments were much appreciated.  Dinner was Thai noodles with peanut sauce.

The space needle through the breakwater at Blake

Mount Baker in the distance

Receding view of Mount Rainier

Spending the night between the pilings wasn't as restful as we would have liked.  The lines squeaked and I was worried about the lines hanging on the pilings as there was a considerable tidal exchange.   With the night finally over we headed back to the home moorage, roughly 9 nautical miles away.

Navy tug headed south in Puget Sound

All and all a good trip.