Eagle Island, 20-SEP-2025 – We’re continuing our travels around South Puget Sound. We traveled nine miles yesterday, four the day before, and twenty-something the day before that.
Not much traveling and no extra fuel tanks, something I can’t remember if I thought I would then get while we were in PT or not. I didn’t, so that is that.
Jennifer has had impeccable instincts on when to arrive to get the mooring bay or dock space we want. Yesterday, I suggested a departure time, and when we arrived both mooring balls were in use. We asked the people on the forty-something-foot ChrisCraft if they’d be staying the night. They said no, give them half an hour and they’d be gone, heading back to Olympia, where we will be, starting Wednesday. Two hours later, they left, explaining they wanted to wait for the current to settle down – an excellent choice. It was traveling at three knots from the direction they were headed.
They left, we tied up and spent the evening.
Shortly before dusk a 34-foot day-sailer named Selkie came by. I’ve admired these boats for their beauty speed, craftsmanship and folly. At about $300K for a boat not designed for any appreciable water, they are beautiful. Half an hour later, a very good-looking couple came rowing towards us and worked hard to get to the island shore. A few minutes later, along came Selkie. The couple pushed off and were captured and rescued.
When I knew they were in trouble, I asked Jennifer whether we should ask them aboard. She said no, Selkie had rescued them.
It was a nice evening with a similarly rescued dinner: I made a very bitter gazpacho with too much onion and celery leaves. Rather than dump it, Jennifer asked if there wasn’t something I could do with it: It had a can of tomatoes, a red pepper, half a large onion, two cloves of garlic, and some celery stalks. The answer was to cook it into a sauce. That would tame the onions and cook out the bitterness. I added a half pound of jarred ground beef and a couple of slices of salami. Cooked the sauce for 30 minutes and then the sauce with the meat for 15 more. It was delicious.
The night was quite quiet. The lights of Tacoma and south lit the sky northeast and east of us.
The next morning, we put the outboard on the dinghy (we weren’t going to try to row in that current) and went for a tour of the island. As we came by Selkie, the crew of three was sitting in the cockpit. I asked Jennifer if we would visit them. She was ambivalent, I said we would, and we did.
Two men in their fifties and a very good-looking, possibly trophy-wife. We spoke for a few minutes with Jay, the owner, and then Chris about their lives and how Jay happened to own the boat. It’s not his first. Both men are from Massachusetts and have been friends for many years. Jay referenced Chris‘ kids and indicated Meg, the young woman. That she was his daughter is something I heard, but it didn’t register.
Chris is an architect, commercial buildings, and now military buildings – research possibly. He and the kids – no wife was mentioned – live in Utah.
Jay and Jennifer diverged into a separate conversation.
I asked Meg what she did. She works for a sporting goods company that makes outdoor and safety equipment – Swedish – that gives a lot time off. She’ll be traveling to Thailand next. For business? No, just for fun. Entry-level I presume, but who knows.
The five of us spoke a few minutes more, and then I said it was time for us to leave. We exchanged names and the name of our boat and blog and Jennifer and I scooted off around the island to approach the seals from the other direction.
Jennifer counted 200 seals. We went on past our boat and beached the dinghy, then found the path into the island and the rumored poison oak, which was quite red. (When I was a Cub Scout in Toronto, I remember being told that poison ivy was red, and then was surprised when it was green but never red. Did I have it mixed up? Did the person who told me have it mixed up, or is it just the season that turns both plants’ color to red?)
At the entrance to the island was a Washington Parks Dept sign asking us to call in to register, which we did. A man answered the phone, and Jennifer gave our information. As we walked into the parkland, the trails had been tended and there were new(ish) signs.
Eventually, the path forked. We took the right fork, which led to a bluff above the sunning seals. We looked at them with binoculars. We were close enough to see lots of details. Then dust of something overtook me, and I sneezed. The fifty seals nearest to us tumbled into the water. I tried not to sneeze again, but I did and the rest rumbled, tumbled, and ran headlong in, then turned around and looked at us.
We walked back to the start of the path and continued around the island.
As we came parallel with Selkie we called out to Meg and spoke about the path, the poison oak, and the seals. Jennifer scanned the beach for interesting rocks, and I walked on ahead.
When I turned back I saw someone wearing what looked like a light brown wetsuit standing in the cockpit. I picked up my binoculars and saw Meg in a small bikini. Being from Utah, 60-degrees must be sunning weather. I walked back to Jennifer. We discussed the erratics (rocks) that were on the beach. One particular sharp-edged black rock, three feet by three feet by two feet, that looked volcanic but with sharp edges and flat faces.
When I looked back at Selkie, Jay was climbing into the boat: all three had gone swimming. I’m a wimp, I admit it, though I have gone into 40ºF water to get a piece of kelp off our prop – just once.
We got back to our dinghy and back to Caro Babbo. After a while, Selkie came by to say goodbye, we invited them to Port Townsend; they looped the island one more time and then sailed slowly by, heading, what seemed to be south, rather than north and Seattle.
We left Port Townsend on the 12th, eight days ago. We did one stop per night and two nights in Burton to see John Riley again and work on his boat. John has steadily been introducing us into his life. We went to the senior center for lunch, John paid. He introduced us to everyone and we got to see him flirt with the women, who really like him and the flirting. The men like him as well. It is very good to see.
We visited the places he visits for ice cream, and shopping and walked by the way too expensive restaurants he has tried. Vashon still has a very country/farm-like feel. Everything is very clean and very ordered. If you’ve lived in those communities you know that’s not the way it is. Vashon is transitioning from a summer-home to a commuter community. Entry fee is probably north of $1mm. That money gets cleanliness and order and really nice people working in the stores, and lots of fondness and tolerance for John and his friends (Jennifer and me).
We’ll stay here tonight and probably leave tomorrow, but who knows. We could be in Olympia tomorrow (Sunday) night, but don’t plan to arrive until Wednesday. I’ll clean parts of the boat tomorrow, and who knows what else. Jennifer and I will listen to a book and perhaps watch a movie.
And I’ll write. The mood is upon me, and I will, I think.
Best.
