Discouraged but determined

Day 5 - Port Angeles to Neah Bay

The weather forecast for the Juan de Fuca strait was for a sunny day, with 15 to 25 knot SE winds.  This should make for ideal sailing conditions for the 53 mile passage.  There was some mention of gales and storms out on the west coast, but that probably doesn't mean us.

The morning was dead calm and we were on our way by 7:30 AM, motoring over smooth seas with some sort of ebb current helping us along, making very good time - could be into Neah Bay by 3:30 at this rate.  Sunshine and all was well with the world.  This continued for about the first 1/2 of the trip.

We noticed that the skies ahead looked a little dark, but they seemed to keep well ahead of us as we kept going NW.  Still no wind, but the favourable current had run out and we were soon fighting a full-on flood current, making for very slow progress.  Revised ETA is for closer to 5:00 PM now.  Still OK as it would still be light out by the time we got to the Makah marina in Neah Bay.

At about 2:00 PM, with no warning at all, we were hit with a 25+ knot wind from the south, just as were passing through a fleet of small fishing boats.  We noticed that they all started heading for shore as fast as they could - not an option for us though.

We launched a reefed genoa sail and were able to motor-sail at a somewhat quicker pace, which was good.  What was not so good was the steadily deteriorating conditions.  The seas were actually not too bad but the winds were really gusty, dropping to 6 or 7 knots, suddenly blowing 25 or 30. It started to rain and visibility was becoming a problem.  On with the radar, just in case.

As we approached Neah Bay, around 5:00 PM, visibility was really bad, the winds were howling, and the rain was coming down heavily.  We took a look at the marina (there was no response on either the phone or the VHF) only to find that all the transient dock was full of large fishing boats - no room left at the inn.  Indeed, we saw one of the boats that had left Port Angeles the day before, anchored out in the bay, along with a couple of others we had not seen before.  Not sure what happened to the other boat - maybe they got smart and stayed holed up somewhere else along the way.

So we put down our anchor somewhere in the middle of the bay (took two tries), and are now huddled down in the boat, listening to the storm raging outside.  The boat is swaying from side to side and sailing all over the place, as usual, but now it is dark and we can't see where we are - so I guess there is nothing to worry about. What you can't see can't hurt you, right?

This is probably one of the worst anchorages we have had the pleasure of being in.  Instead of the advertised "fully protected" bay, we find ourselves at the mercy of gale force winds, in a bay that the books warn us are full of uncharted wrecks just waiting to snag our anchor chain.  At least the breakwater here keeps the seas at bay.  We are not likely to get much sleep tonight.

On the plus side, the Makah marina has a free WiFi connection and my spiffy antenna is able to pick it up out here in the bay, so I am able to update this blog in style.

{GMST}48|22.5|N|124|36.5|W|Neah Bay, Washington, USA|Neah Bay, Washington,USA{GEND}