November 1999 - Our Trip Down the Ship Canal
We currently have Jenny P moored in the salt water of Puget Sound. Living on the edge of Seattle has its price, though; we also have to drive about an hour to work everyday. We've been seriously considering trying to find moorage in Lake Union or Lake Washington, both of which are fresh water and would cut our commute in half. The lakes are connected to Puget Sound by a ship canal at the end of which are the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.
In order to navigate up the ship canal into Lake Washington, one must pass under a total of seven bridges, five of which must open if your mast is over approximately 40 feet tall. We knew it wouldn't be a quick trip, but we decided we'd better try the journey to see just how long it would take. It would be quite a challenge to go out for a day of sailing on Puget Sound if it took us eight hours just to get to the sound.
Since no bridges open during rush hour (apparently that's between 7-9 am and 3-6 pm, although we could swear it was from 7am to 9 pm in Seattle...) we left Shilshole shortly after 9 am. The first bridge is just outside of the marina, the Burlington Northern train bridge. We blasted them with our air horn -- one long blast and one short blast -- and were thrilled when the bridge started to open and we motored right under it.
The entrance to the locks lay just ahead. After waiting for about 20 minutes, the green light signaled us and the two other sailboats waiting with us to enter the small lock. Any nervousness we had felt quickly dissapated as we smoothly pulled in the the front of the lock and secured ourselves to the floating wall. As water poured into the lock, we rose to see the Ship Canal ahead of us. The lock gates opened, water rushed in and we steered Jenny P into fresh water!
It was great fun to be slowing cruising through the canal, which we usually see while flying by in the car on our way to work. We reach the Ballard Bridge, give our blast and simply bask in the sight of all the cars being forced to stop and wait as the bridge raises for us. While Ballard is mainly industrial with many shipping businesses, the Fremont canal is beautifully lined with trees. We pass under the Fremont Bridge, and are now in Lake Union gazing at Seattle's skyline.
Continuing to Lake Washington, we pass under the University Bridge, through beautiful Portage Bay (such wonderful houseboats!), the Montlake Cut, under the Montlake Bridge and are in Lake Washington at last. We cruise for a while with the motor (the wind continues its trend of not appearing at all for us), check out some of the gigantic houses along the shore (such as Bill G's house - crazy!). Then we begin the trek back out to salt water again.
All in all, it was a great trip, even though the wind didn't show up at all (although that was probably a good thing since we ended up drifting quite a few times in the tight canals waiting for the bridges to go up). When we got back to Shilshole, however, we were glad to be home. The city is a nice place to visit, but there's just no place quite as peaceful as the Puget Sound. Far from the roar of traffic, with sea lions barking and sea birds calling, we decide that salt water's not so bad after all.
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