Sound Sailors

Mike & Margaret & Claire & Ceese
Windworks at Shilshole
S/V Peace – Catalina 28 MkII
Winds: N@15-20

We were in two minds about sailing because the forecast wind was “variable to 10” which would be light and annoying out on the Sound. Then the 9am update came in at 10-15kts, so we decided to sail, and we actually enjoyed 15-20kts all day. It was also colder (49°F) than forecast (54°F), while the “occasional showers” part of the forecast was correct. At times the showers limited visibility to about a mile.

We carefully checked the boat and then left dock at 10:45 and proceeded directly for an overdue pump-out.  We motored out the south entrance, made sail, and tacked steadily up the Sound toward Kingston.

We found that Peace would not point higher than about 60° from the wind, and we therefore made slow progress northward despite sailing around 5kts most of the time.

With hindsight I would try reducing jib area in a good wind like we had today, in order to allow for a tighter jib and less backwinding from the jib onto the main.

A couple of miles short of Kingston we realized that if we continued under sail with two more tacks we’d run out of time to go ashore, so we started the engine and motored in and docked at 14:40.  A half hour ashore provided just enough time for a quick visit to a coffee shop, and then we motored out at 15:10.

We continued motoring down past Pt Jefferson, where Claire took the con and Ceese took over navigation while they alternated at the helm.  They made sail and on a course of 122 magnetic in 2-3 miles visibility brought us to an excellent landfall at Meadow Point buoy.  We motored in and docked at 17:40, tidied the boat, and left her at 18:05.

The GPS ignores periods of slow motion such as when maneuvering near a dock. It logged 5h40m under way, covering 25.24nm at an average speed of 4.41kts.
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Image and video courtesy of csandberg.