Charlie Dixon
Deer Harbor Cruise September 3-6, 2004
Well, this was fun, wasn’t it, if somewhat brief. Most of you who were there
know that I made something of an adventure of this cruise, including arriving
very late on Friday and leaving early Sunday morning. Since I was not there for
the entire cruise, I hope someone else will write a more complete story. I’ll
give you my version as seen through my port hole.
My adventure began in downtown Seattle at 3:30 p.m. when I picked up my son,
Paul. We drove I-5 northbound on Friday afternoon of Labor Day weekend and made
it to LaConner by 5:30 p.m.. where my boat was in the water and waiting. We
loaded the boat as quickly as possible, cheated a little bit on the Swinomish
Channel no wake zone, and reached Deer Harbor at 7:40 p.m., a full five minutes
before sunset, without cheating on the Pole Pass no wake zone. The Waggoner
guide says that can be a bad idea.
Upon arrival, we discovered that the Marina staff had no place to put the good
ship Orcastraited, so I agreed to Med tie between Catalanos and Maces. Thanks
to all of you who helped with the backing in and tying up. No gel coat was
harmed in the creating of this tie-up. The spot proved perfectly adequate, and
we never even popped the electrical circuit breaker that we shared with
Catalanos through a splitter provided by the marina. Even better, I got the
second night’s moorage for free as compensation for not having a regular moorage
spot.
After tying up was complete, it was apparent that there had been hors d’hoeuvres
as announced in the agenda provided by Augie and Nancy, our cruise captains for
the weekend. The hors d’hoeuvres must have been good, because they were all
gone. For the time I was there, the Catalanos were great captains, and I’m
willing to bet that they continued to excel after I left. Thank-you.
Saturday was a very pleasant and casual day for most of us. The sun came out,
the wind stayed down, and there was lots of serious relaxing. Except for Paul,
who rode his bicycle to the top of Mount Constitution, on over to Doe Bay and
back, then ran for half an hour. Just an average day for someone training for a
triathlon. Some people rode a shuttle to Eastsound and returned with shopping
bags, but I never saw the contents.
The theme for the Saturday potluck was Surf and Turf, and there were plenty of
both, prepared in a variety of styles and all delicious. Even the youngest Ms.
Brown found something to suit her palette. Paul especially appreciated the
opportunity to replace the calories burned during training with such a variety
of sumptuous dishes. We were all pretty mellow for the rest of the evening,
loaded down with the great food. Thank-you to all the cooks.
My Sunday morning began much earlier than typical for a cruising Sunday when
Paul climbed out of the cabin at 6:45 a.m. for a 45 minute run. When he
returned, we hustled through breakfast and departure preparations and left Deer
Harbor just after 9 a.m. Why? Why? Husky football, that’s why. We had great
success getting to LaConner, into the car, and to Husky Stadium in time for the
2:30 p.m. kickoff. The Huskies had considerably less success on the football
field.
If you’ve been following the saga of my adventures in engine repair, here’s an
update. If you’ve not been following the saga, here’s the update anyway. The
oil leak that I found after leaving Poulsbo was due to a leak in the gasket for
the timing chain cover. I did the damage myself when removing the engine
coolant circulating pump that I had to replace after the Pleasant Harbor
cruise. However, I didn’t find the leak, nor admit to being the culprit, until
Thursday, the day before this cruise began. Under the guidance of Action Marine
in LaConner, who did not have time to do it themselves, I repaired the leak with
sealant. I inspected the repair Sunday morning, and it was holding just fine.
It’s likely that I’ll still be depending on that sealant for the Elliott Bay
Cruise.
What happened Sunday and Monday in Deer Harbor? Ask someone who was there. Or
write a report yourself. Meanwhile, thanks for reading mine.
Charlie Dixon
Cruising with the top down