May 29 to June 1, 1999 - Birthday Cruise to Mats Mats Bay
Saturday, 5/29/99, 1210: After what seems like days of preparations -- buying groceries, doing laundry, filling our new fenders with air, rewiring the refrigeration system -- we finally start Jenny P's engine for our trip to Mats Mats bay near Port Ludlow. It was going to be a beautiful day; not a cloud in the sky and 70 degrees already, but unfortunately almost zero wind.
We pull out of the marina at 1215 and soon put up our sails. After a half hour of traveling only 3 knots, we decide to motorsail. After six hours of hearing the rumbling engine, we find ourselves at the mouth of Mats Mats Bay. Even at high tide, the channel is very shallow and we sweat as we s-l-o-w-l-y motor into the bay. At last, at 1915 we are anchored in what is indeed a beautiful, (almost) secluded bay.
We really feel like cruisers now as we fire up our barbecue and roast our hot dogs. We sleep cozily in our cabin with our diesel furnace churning out warmth. The next morning we are awakened by beautiful rays of sunshine. We leisurely sip our percolated coffee in the cockpit. Sara even gets to do some anxiously-awaited reading.
Later that morning, we get in the dinghy to row around the peaceful bay. We row past an abandoned quarry and ponder at all the activity that must have gone on here many years ago. As Michael is rowing along the canal, a small power boat roars past us and a woman yells out, "There [undecipherable] at the entrance!" Although we couldn't understand what she said, we had to find whatever it was she was talking about. As we rounded the last bend of the canal to where it opens into the sound, we see the spout of a whale! We watch in amazement only a hundred yards away as it surfaces, the majestic whale's strong back gliding out of and into the sea, its tail following. We watch the whale surface several times, in awe of its beauty.
Monday, 5/31/99, 0700 (Sara's birthday!): We pull anchor at Mats Mats with plans to head approximately 3 nautical miles south to Port Ludlow. Although it is now cloudy, cold and raining, we can hardly believe our luck as we see another (or perhaps the same) whale spout and surface again! We tried to take a photo, but the apparently camera-shy whale refused to surface for a snapshot. At 0830 we are at anchor at Port Ludlow. It is a beautiful area, but is being rapidly overtaken by residential property. We rowed the dinghy around the peaceful inner harbor, wishing we had been able to do it 50 years earlier, as it is now surrounded by monstrous houses and we felt as if we were boating in someone's back yard. Nevertheless, it was still much more peaceful than Seattle and our horror of a commute.
To celebrate Sara's birthday, Michael baked a delicious brownie and gave her a beautiful platinum and diamond ring -- and a very sweet proposal. We topped it all off with a nice bottle of champagne at 11 am. Our engagement is now official! It couldn't have been a more romantic experience. Stay tuned for the big date....
Tuesday, 06/01/99 1200: After three days of reading, eating, napping and enjoying the water, we definitely were not ready to go home. But, due at work the next day, we were forced to pull anchor at noon. Just as our trip the previous Saturday, we were once again greeted with only a few knots of wind. Crossing the shipping lanes in
the middle of Puget Sound, we watched in the not-so-far distance as black clouds boiled in the sky. Suddenly the wind picked up a good deal and we found ourselves in the first of several squalls. Immediately we decide to take advantage of the gift of wind, put up our sails and finally turn off the motor. We scream along at 7.5 knots for about a half hour (our fastest we've gotten Jenny P to go yet) when Michael sights lightening several miles directly in front of us. Being the only sailboat on the water, we decide to tack and head north, away from the storms and the menacing lightening. Several miles later, we see that the ominous clouds had dissipated over Seattle and traveled farther west and it appeared safe to turn around and head towards home once again. Not soon after, the wind completely died down once again and we motored the rest of the way back to the marina.
All in all, it wasn't much a weekend for sailing, but nevertheless, we had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed our weekend of leisure.
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