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Melissa & Dave - Adventures at Sea

Day 15 - What to do? What to do?

We can only get out of Fisherman's Bay today at 3:00pm or tomorrow morning at 5:00am.  We have to be in Anacortes no later than 11am tomorrow.  But today the winds forecasted today are supposed to be heavy (20 to 30 knots) and it is pouring down rain and foggy.  Not the best conditions to sail either back to Anacortes, or anchor part way at Spencer Spit.  But on the other hand, if we wait till morning, the fog might be so bad that we can't get out.  Debate, debate...
We went with Dianne and Bob for lunch in the town here.  Took the dingy over for burgers.  Yum.
Finally we decide to head out of Fisherman's Bay about 2:15pm.  A little earlier than planned, but the inbound boats reported the tide was high enough for us to make it.  So we secured everything on the boat, gave the last of our fresh supplies to Bob and Dianne and headed off to see how ugly the crossing was to be.  As usual, Melissa was nervous, but willing to do whatever was needed to get us across the open water back to Anacortes.

And after all that worrying and preparation... the sun came out and the winds were calm.  Even Melissa was out on deck without her usual blanket.  Even took off her coat for a while!  Right before we entered the harbor at Anacortes, the wind finally picked up to about 20 knots.  But we beat the storm!  Whew!
When we came into the harbor (which is tricky because it is very shallow) Dave put the boat very neatly on the gas dock.  We fueled up and then headed for the dock where we were to return the boat.  Melissa was worried about the way the wind was blowing, but Dave said, "Piece-O-Cake".  Uh, huh.  Right.  Never say those words.  Melissa leapt off the boat with the spring line (mid-line) and stopped the boat on the middle cleat on the dock.  Alas, the wind was blowing, and eek!  The fender had jumped up on the dock and the boat was about to ram the side of the dock unprotected!  Melissa bent over and put her shoulder to the boat and pushed.  A 28,000 pound boat doesn't move easy!  But Melissa managed to shove the boat back enough to get the fender down.  Then Dave jumped ashore and helped get the boat tied down.  Whew!


We are home again!

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