Four intrepid boats and crews made the epic voyage to Beautiful Langley-By-The-Sea this past weekend (May 6-7) for a delightful cruise.  Boats and sailors were Charlotte (Jane & Al), Outlaw (Cindy & Derek), Pacifica (relatively new CYC members Alya & Vasilii), and Wind Dancer (Jennifer & Chris). Saturday was mostly an exercise in motoring.  We did see the STYC RTS fleet dead in the water on the west side of the sound, and felt that motoring to Langley was the better choice.

It wasn't exactly summer, but it was quite pleasant.  We had pre-dinner snacks on the dock, then headed uptown to find a place for dinner.  Langley is a lovely little town, somewhat frozen in time from the 1920s.  We had a delicious meal at Prima Bistro, then post dinner beverages and dessert on Wind Dancer.  Many sea stories of epic voyages past and other lies were exchanged.

For 25 participants, CYC had a great cruise to Kingston the last weekend in April. We had nothing but sunshine with a moderate breeze all day Saturday. Then on Sunday the breeze was perfect for sailing, we had plenty of sun in the morning and afternoon, but around 1:00 pm it rained for perhaps 20 minutes before clearing again. Just long enough for this writer to put his foulies on, and then catch the rainbow. 

We had nine boats make the rendezvous including Scott and Linda Seefeldt’s brand new Targa 37 motor vessel Apex. Ron and Peggy Watt on Solstice, and David and Gyung Huntsman on Lolo arrived a day early, and Friday evening at the Kingston Cove Yacht Club house we enjoyed meeting members of the Emerald Rose Yacht Club that was also having their April rendezvous at the Kingston marina.

Saturday, the marina staff grilled hot dogs, onions, and buns for us as their way of saying thanks to the visiting two yacht clubs. Many of our boats got in early Saturday, and all commented on their nice sail. We had Karen Arndt and Erik Noonberg arrive by Washington State Ferry, plus Hans Reinhardt on Eté was able to get outside crew support both Saturday and Sunday by taking advantage of the alternative transportation available via the Kingston ferry. By midafternoon Saturday all our boats had arrived, and we had pre-dinner snacks and drinks on the dock in the gazebo adjacent to our slips. We were inspired by the neighboring Rose Yacht Club’s Annual Margarita Challenge.  A tradition I think we may adopt during a future CYC cruise.

Our club’s Saturday dinner was at the Kingston Ale House where 19 of us met. Later that evening, most of the adults met on the dock’s gazebo where we enjoyed drinks, more snacks, and witty conversation until at least 10:00 pm. Sunday morning many enjoyed having breakfast in the gazebo, and probably an equal number also visited the local creperie for breakfast.

The boats not already mentioned in attendance with crews include Altair, Sea Elegans, Whale Shadow, Wind Dancer, and Outlaw. On their return cruise, crew on at least three of the boats were blessed with orca sightings. With beautiful weather, a star-filled evening, lots of social interaction, and orca sightings, this April Kingston cruise proved to be a wonderful event for many. 

- David & Gyung Huntsman
S/V Lolo

If you were on the water in Puget Sound on Saturday, you may remember it being a light wind day. It certainly was when six boats “sailed” over to Port Blakely. There was an amazing view of downtown Seattle back lit by the Cascade mountains while the resident J-pod swam east from near Blakely rocks. Later that day a transient pod swam north out of Colvos Passage. While the sailing may not have been great, the whale watching was classic.

Six CYC member boats rafted up for the night: S/Vs Monte Solaro, Altair, Gusto, Sola, Caza Viento, and Whale Shadow. We were also joined by M/V Call Back, possible future CYC members. 

In standard cruising style, the afternoon and evening was spent relaxing and socializing. Gusto provided their sailing dinghy, Little Wing, for enjoyment and many people sailed around the bay in her. Everyone that sailed the dinghy seemed to return as their younger and perhaps best self. It's almost magical, what a small boat can do for a person.

All of the anchors held firm for the night. In the late morning, many people took a walk along the forested trails in Fort Ward park. The raft up started to split up around three with four boats returning to Shilshole after five.

(Only six boats obviously pictured … but if you zoom in through the shrouds of the blue hulled boat — Whale Shadow — you’ll see one more coming in to join the raft up. William Bonner took this photo with his drone. He also filmed this video — https://youtu.be/OYKI-3FckoY. I believe he said this was his favorite photo.)

The January Land Cruise was a success with 25 cruisers, including 6 kids and 3 prospective CYC members. We met at Woodland Park Zoo to see the Zoo Lanterns. This year the temperature was 56 degrees, and dry other than a welcoming sprinkle and a departing rain shower. We enjoyed wandering the trails together to see all the lantern animals, birds, and insects. This time one of our favorites was the interactive, talking, giant-sized parrots. It was fun to connect with each other after the holidays. Following the lantern tour, we moved on to dessert at nearby Al La Mode Pies!

CYC’s annual Commodore Gibson race/cruise to Port Ludlow took place on August 6, with the follow on Gibson race back to Shilshole the next day.  Seven CYC boats (Those Guys, Charlotte, Gratitude, Wind Dancer, Altair, Comet, and Second Sun) sailed in the best conditions we’ve seen in years.  There was a nice north breeze both days, with high temperatures in the 80s – it just doesn’t get better.

CG is a pursuit race with the slowest handicap boat starting first, and subsequent boats starting behind by the amount of time they owe the first starter.  Since you get your entire handicap time on the front end, the faster boats are catching up to the early starters through the entire race.  So in theory, every boat would arrive at the finish line at the same time. 

Saturday featured zero breeze at Meadow Point at the appointed 9:00am start time, so the fleet motored to Apple Tree Point (just north of Kingston) to a backup start line.  A light northerly had filled in, so we were off and sailing.   As the breeze built to 10 plus, it quickly became apparent that the J35 Those Guys (Jenny Heins and Tim Huse plus friends) was the boat to beat, which no one did.  They were first to finish, followed by Charlotte (Quest 30 – Jane and Al Johnson), Altair (Sceptre 41 – Suzette Connolly and Paul Baker plus friends), Gratitude (Hanse 415 – Karen and David Barnes), Wind Dancer (Tartan 3800 – Chris McMuldroch and friends), Comet (Jeanneau SO36 – Monica Howell and friends), and Second Sun (Young Sun 43 – Kate and Andy Bereson and kids).

After finishing at Foulweather Bluff, the boats sailed / motored to Port Ludlow, and were able to appreciate what a gorgeous day it was, take in Mt Rainier and Mt Baker in their snow-capped glory, and see how bare the Olympics are now after a string of ninety-degree days melted most of their snow.

Even though it was a lovely day and evening, Karen and David Barnes treated the fleet to Dark and Stormies on Gratitude and the adjoining dock area.  That was followed by a bring-your-own dinner under the marina tent, a shared dessert table, and finally some fiddle, mandolin, and guitar tunes.

Sunday’s return race to Shilshole (the Gibson race) had excellent breeze to start, and it carried the boats all the way to the finish at Meadow Point.  A favorable tide assisted the entire way, and most boats sailed the 17.75 miles in 2.5 to 3.5 hours.  As the highest handicapped boat, Second Sun was first to start, and led most of the way until Altair and then Charlotte caught them between Edmonds and the Highlands.  The finish was remarkably tight with Charlotte finishing first, Altair 2 minutes behind, then Second Sun a few minutes further back.  They were followed in close order by Those Guys, Gratitude, Wind Dancer, and Comet.  And if there was an award for coolest new spinnaker, Altair would win hands down for their bright red asym with a very cool horse graphic on it.

This year’s Commodore Gibson was one for the ages.  You need to get a piece of the fun at next year’s event. 

Jenny (the trip leader) organized the weekend for us CYC cruisers, as she has for previous years, but then, concerned about possible COVID symptoms, she had to bow out at the last minute. What was originally expected to be an 8 boat, 30 person joint CYC/STYC raft-up was whittled down by a variety of challenges (not just COVID) to 3 boats/6 people and another 7 or so people driving in. Since this was a joint cruise, Kristina Southard from STYC was able to keep the cat herd together in Mystery Bay!  Thank you to Kristina for all the organizing work and for driving up and keeping all together for our activities!

What follows is joint report from Derek (Outlaw) and Chris (Wind Dancer). Thanks for sending your notes fellas!

SATURDAY: Wind Dancer (Chris and Jennifer) and Outlaw (Cindy and Derek) left their home moorage Saturday morning and Pert (Scott) was in Port Ludlow already. There was little wind in the morning and soon the tide turned against us, so we motored all the way in the occasional drizzle. Wind Dancer crew were a little perplexed that the Kilisut Harbor channel markers seemed to out of sync. on the chart plotter compared to when they arrived at them visually on both entering and leaving the “S” curves.  Also, they were comparing Navionics on our phone compared to Navionics on their chart plotter, and the depths did not agree, so wonder if there is setting on the phone that made some tide adjustment???

Wind Dancer got to Mystery Bay first and set the anchor, joined an hour or so later by Outlaw. Scott was sailing Pert in the breeze that came up in the afternoon, and joined us making a 3 boat raft swinging on a single anchor. Around 6 the Westerly piped up to a "moderate breeze", which subsided around midnight. We enjoyed a potluck on board Wind Dancer. 

SUNDAY: In the morning we went ashore where we discovered that the State Parks now consider dinghies to be "vessels" and hence eligible for the mooring fee at the dock.  To add insult to injury, the fee is by boat length, but has a minimum of $15 even if your boat is only 8 feet.

On shore we were met by Kristina from the Sloop Tavern YC and a number of Sloop Tavern people who came in cars, as well as by John and Susan from CYC driving in from Port Townsend. The organized activities for the day started with a visit to the Goat Farm. The girl who usually gives the tour was visiting Leavenworth so her dad gave the tour. It turns out running a goat dairy is more complicated than you might think. Others have done this tour before, but it was my first time and I found it pretty interesting. The tour ended with tasting (and purchasing) some of the cheese and yogurt hand made by owner Rachael.

Next up was the tractor parade, which is always fun, and this year had about 7 tractors of all sorts and sizes. Then we got in the cars and went to the Marrowstone Island Winery, where we all bought bottles of wine and took them out to the big firepit where Kristina broke out appetizers for everyone. The owner James came out and gave a personal description of each of the wines. It was cool at the winery, but the fire kept us warm and it was quite lovely.

Later in the day it started to rain, so we cancelled the dinghy race and evening potluck cookout at the park, and the mariners returned to the shelter of their boats while the car people dispersed to the 4 winds. Another potluck on Wind Dancer, and another late day Westerly, not as strong as the previous evening, and calming by midnight.

MONDAY: Because of the falling tide (heading to -1.6 at 1130) the boats left Mystery Bay early. Wind Dancer was pleased to note that the 44 lb Vulcan anchor with 90 feet of chain held our three boat raft for 2 nights with a couple of 180 swing changes, and two evenings of 14 knot winds.  It came up with a lot of mud.  I think about 6 feet of chain was also buried, as it also had a ton of mud on it!

Wind Dancer followed a trimaran sailboat out from Fort Flagler on Monday. They were bicycle pedaling from the trampolines doing 3 knots. Wind Dancer headed to Port Townsend, Outlaw took the Admiralty Inlet route to Seattle, and Pert went through the canal on the way back to Everett. Another no-wind day, but it was possible to find current relief some of the time along the shores.  It was pretty cool still, but at least no more rain.

Wind Dancer anchored between the ferry landing and the wooden boat center at Port Townsend for the morning on Monday – it was very calm.  So, we had a chance to try out our new dinghy.  This is our first RIB, and it rode like a Cadillac, but took lots more throttle to plane than our 1990 Avon Sport boat with wood floors! We had a nice lunch in the Marina Café at Point Hudson.  In the afternoon we brought the boat into the Point Hudson marina.  We walked through town, and also up on top of the bluffs.  Our friend Leroy has his Grand Banks in the Co-op boat yard at the other end of town, so he came by, and we all had take-out fish and chips in the cockpit with some nice late afternoon sunshine warming us.

During the afternoon Monday some of the Swiftsure boats came through, including the winner “Korina Korina”, as well as “Cherokee”, and “Beltane”(Sydney’s ride).

TUESDAY: Tuesday morning Jennifer walked the beach out to Point Wilson. Then about 10:30 we left the marina with Jennifer conning the channel that was only 8 feet deep with the coming -1.7 foot tide!  The channel bottom sand was dry against the West breakwater pilings! After that we motor sailed in the sunshine against a strong ebb, and with a 15 knot Northerly pushing us South down Admiralty Inlet. We got back to Shilshole about 4 PM.

 

OTHER NOTES: Wind Dancer discovered that with the fridge, chart plotter, and now the furnace running all night the decade old AGM batteries get run down in just 24 hours at anchor!  Time to start rationing battery power, and think about new batteries for the future.  The diesel furnace was really nice to warm us up, but it does take power for the various fans, and ignition and water pump.  Scott has a Firefly battery on “Pert”, but these innovative high energy density carbon – foam batteries are no longer available, as the company went bankrupt when they did not get any more government startup funding.  Too bad!

 

Jennifer has been scheming additional new CYC weekend cruise destinations to have a 2 year rotation, instead of the same ones each year.

It was warm and sunny, with just the right amount of breeze, and downwind both days.  Dinner was delightful.  This probably happened on some Langley cruises in years past.  And we will probably have those conditions on a future Langley cruise, maybe even next year, so you should save the date and plan to attend next year’s edition.

However, that wasn’t exactly what happened this year.  Three CYC yachts (Mistral, Outlaw, and Wind Dancer), crewed by intrepid CYC yachts persons, completed the epic journey from Shilshole to Langley (inside of Whidbey Island) this year.  Saturday started out as a downwind romp in a very brisk southerly.  Some of us were even treated to a view of the US aircraft carrier Nimitz heading out to sea. 

Reality checked in at Edmonds where we encountered the convergent zone, featuring (initially) strong north breeze, followed by serious rain and colder air.  At this point, the crew of Charlotte made the decision to go home, watch the final episode of Ozark, and snuggle with the cat.  Wind Dancer and Outlaw continued on to Langley.  Wind Dancer proved the value of having an autopilot and a very large dodger that everyone could sit under, while steering with the autopilot.  Mistral had come up on Friday, so the crews of the three boats took a short walking tour of beautiful Langley, (the rain had stopped by this point), then all had a marvelous dinner at Primo Bistro, staying there and talking until closing. 

Sunday came with lots of sunshine in Langley as various crews went up into town for coffee or lunch.  Wind Dancer had the luxury of pancakes and blackberries for breakfast on board.  Breeze was minimal, so Sunday finished out with a pleasant motor back to Shilshole.  All’s well that ends well.

Be sure to check out the Cruising tab on the CYC website and sign up for some cruising fun this summer and fall.

It certainly seemed like a drizzly cold day for the Kingston Tree Lighting, dinghy parade, and dinner at the Ale House.  But is there anything else you’d rather be doing other than say, sailing to a beach in the tropics?

Some of the group crossed over on the 3:15 ferry to Kingston.   We first saw the Kingston Cove Yacht Club sing with the assistance of Elvis Pressley.  Then Elvis performed.  He has improved since last time!  He has grown a bit older, and actually made some jokes in his own voice – like being too old for some of the antics.  He also sang a couple of non-Elvis songs which was refreshing to hear – he is a good singer. Following hot drinks from vendors in the park, and free shortbread cookies,  Santa arrived by flashing lights fire truck, and helped count down to the illumination of the garden lights.  I heard something about a month or two to set them all up, including a Star Wars spaceship, sea serpent, light house, seagulls, and lots of other creatures and flowers.  Soon after there was another count down for the KCYC boats to turn on their holiday lights at the guest dock.  Then 8 decorated and illuminated dinghies escorted Santa around the harbor.  By the time Santa arrived, a crowd had developed in the park to await the tree lighting.  With a last cruiser arriving by ferry, and others leaving back for Edmonds, we headed off to dinner at the Ale House, where we enjoyed a really nice dinner.  Afterwards,  Jerry - CYC cruiser, and also Vice Commodore of KCYC with Ronda joined us to say hello and chat.  There were no puzzles on the ferry, still a victim of the pandemic, maybe next year?

Put the Kingston Tree Lighting Ferry Cruise on your list for next year, just make a note to wear your thermals, and rain gear for the outside events, and then enjoy dinner together in town.

Happy Holidays!

Chris McMuldroch

_

By: Jack Connick, trip leader

Four CYC boats braved the weather forecasts on October 9 and 10th to gather in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island at the Waterfront Park public dock.

Maggie May decided to leave on Friday while the sun was out and enjoyed a quiet anchorage in Blakely Harbor for the night. Wind Dancer, Outlaw and Comet came over during the day on Saturday and had rollicking sails with winds gusting close to 20 knots. Comet had a large crew of five women with three from the MIT sailing club enjoying their first ride on a large boat.

The dock and town were busy for a cool October weekend, but spots were found for all the boats directly on the dock. Early in the evening we gathered for a quick drink on Wind Dancer before gathering the 11 (fully vaccinated) group together to repair to the San Carlos restaurant for a Mexican dinner. We were given a room to ourselves and everyone enjoyed the food, company and conversation with their fellow sailors.

After a blustery, wet night, the front passed through and the boats left by mid-day in near zero winds. Timing is everything this time of year on Puget Sound, and most got back to Shilshole just before the next rain front came through.

The July 3-4 CYC cruise traveled to Poulsbo where Outlaw and Wind Dancer anchored and rafted in the late afternoon on Saturday.  While the official CYC raft up was small, there were many CYC boats, including Tula, Mara, Altair, Raven, and others in the harbor enjoying the warm summer evening.  Derek Storm and Cindy Gossett on Outlaw enjoyed happy hour and lovely conversation with Chris McMuldroch and Jennifer Lathrop on Wind Dancer.   We were visited by David Barnes from Gratitude and Joyce and Bret Phillips from Joyride.   After dinner, we relaxed and watched private fireworks displays. We were treated to a beautiful 360 degree show with some homes shooting fireworks that were just about as good as the usual big barge display, but just maybe not as high.  This was the first time we can remember watching fireworks in shorts and T-shirts.  The weather was just perfect. 

Sunday morning Outlaw set sail planning to sail around Bainbridge Island.  Wind Dancer left soon afterwards headed to Langley on their way north for a two week cruise in the San Juan Islands.  Outlaw enjoyed a lovely beat through Port Orchard (the passage west of BI) toward Rich Passage in a nice southerly.  After we passed Point Glover we saw an eastbound ferry approaching.  As the eastbound ferry was passing us, we saw the west bound ferry entering the passage.  So we circled around outside the channel in the NE corner, watching the two ferries pass each other.  Something we never expected to see!

Once the coast was clear we resumed our beat to the south anticipating a nice reach along the south shore of Bainbridge Island and then a run up to Port Madison.  However as we got to Bainbridge Reef, the wind shifted to the east and then back to the southeast and decreased in intensity.  So we dropped the sails and entered Blakely Harbor.

The harbor was quite full of anchored boats but there was room for one more.  After a quiet night in Blakely Harbor we weighed anchor heading to Shilshole with a light south wind.  On the way out of the harbor we saw a deer swimming from the south shore across the harbor toward the north shore.  The second sight on the cruise we have never expected to see! By the time we got to Wing Point the wind came up so Outlaw set sail and returned to Shilshole.