Sunday, October 15, 2006 — Bruce showed up around 5:45 a.m., just as my alarm was going off. I only half-slept that night because I was edgy with anticipation of the 20-mile run across the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the kids aboard.
We left the dock at around 6:20 a.m. on Sunday with 10 hours and 40 minutes until the start of the opening. The plan was to meet Fawn John, my friend and fishing companion, in West Seattle so he could join us for the night’s fishing and learn the peculiarities of the Satisfaction, since he was going to run it one night a week throughout the fall season.
The weather, with a gentle but steady southerly of 10 to 15 knots, was by no means anything to complain about, but it wasn’t anything to brag about either. I had to slow the boat down a couple of times to avoid items on the dashboard taking flight, but that is mostly because the Satisfaction is not that great a sea boat, especially when it is missing the extra weight of full fuel tanks in the stern.
My biggest concern was my cargo — Madeline and Yuki. I didn’t want them to get sick and have the hates for the whole trip. They were signed on for the run down, and a full night of fishing all the way through to the next morning. I didn’t want them slathered all over their bunks, green and puking, hating every minute of the trip.
A tide rip just past Smith Island took its toll on Yuki. She hucked up the bowl of Top Ramen Madeline had prepared for her, but then felt much better. The weather came down temporarily, but the swell stood up again at Point Wilson. Yuki held tight, and both girls were quite happy to set foot on a solid fuel dock in Port Townsend. The boat took 200 gallons of fuel at just under $3 per gallon, and after filling up the water tank, we were outta there.
We opted to take the hole-in-the-wall, the narrow channel between Marrowstone Island and Hadlock, in effort to avoid lousy weather outside in the greater Puget Sound. Unfortunately, the wind vortexed through the pass so we had to buck a stiff head wind, plus we were bucking the tide.
This was really disappointing to me because I knew we would be going 9 knots had we headed outside around Marrowstone Point, but instead here we were struggling to make 6 knots, and we still had an uncomfortable ride.
The girls had a brief reprieve from the weather as we approached Point No Point, tucked in tight to the beach. But as soon as we rounded No Point, it was shitty as ever. I had to slow the boat way down to avoid an all out mutiny. It was 2 p.m. and we were barely making 5 knots with 20+ miles to go to our destination in West Seattle. These numbers weren’t panning out for a 5 p.m. opening time, but all I could do was press on and hope for the best.
It was the approach to Kingston that brought the first plea for land from the girls. “Dad, we want to go to land — ANYWHERE, ANYWAY! Just PLEASE take us to LAND!” I made a few calls to our friends and relatives in the Seattle area, but there was no way to arrange an escape for the girls. They were trapped aboard the Satisfaction, bucking their way toward West Seattle.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Comments