Port Madison

Day 1 got me off the dock and out the locks. There’s rarely an early get away with the last minute prep and exiting the canal. This is not a problem though, as I find it nice to get clear of the dock and the city and get settled into the boat at a nearby spot. You wake up the next day and don’t have any of both the mental and physical shore ties to escape from. It’s just go time. Traditionally I have done this in Kingston, but the anchorage in Port Madison has become a favorite over the past couple of years. It’s close, quiet, well protected and since one of my focuses was going to be anchoring on this trip, it was a very appropriate first stop.

I shared the anchorage with the elegant boat pictured below, Irene. Notice how calm the waters are in this anchorage. I didn’t bother inflating the kayak that day and just stayed on the boat. This turned out to be a trend over the next few days on the way to Port Townsend and suited me fine.

Here’s another view from the “front porch” with Irene, straight ahead. I did a few chores and had a nice meal and settled into one of the stack of library books I had checked out for the trip. Most of these were guide books, but a big read for me on this trip was One Island, One Ocean.  It has some great photos in it and was easy to read in small segments before going asleep. It’s geared more for the non-sailor and they were definitely pitching a message, yet I sill found it quite interesting.

Stats: Trip Odometer(TO) – 8.6NM, Maximum Speed(MS) – 5.7kt, Moving Average(MA) – 3.1kt, Total Time(TT) – 4hr, 01min, Anchor Depth(AD)~22ft, 90ft of scope.

Misc.: Lubed the sail tracks, put tell tales on the leech of the main.