For Labor Day weekend we plan a cruise to the South Sound. Lots to see, a place many of us don’t often get to, and usually uncrowded anchorages. It may be a bit of a haul down there against the current, but it should be an easy day back on Monday. Although the official website schedule shows the cruise starting Friday, Sept 2, Outlaw plans to head down on Saturday, Sept 3. We encourage anyone who wants to get an early start to suggest a destination for Friday, and we can put this out on the cruisers’ listserve for discussion. One suggestion would be to go to Tacoma, moor near the Glass museum and visit there on Friday or Saturday morning.

Tides

The roadblock to the South Sound is the Tacoma Narrows. Here is the daytime current schedule at the Narrows (Times PDT) for the weekend:

• Sat slack 0741 Max ebb 1057 -3.4K slack 1410 Max flood 1657 3.9k
• Sun slack 0824 Max ebb 1131 -3.1K slack 1449 Max flood 1722 3.6K
• Mon slack 0908 Max ebb 1205 -2.7K slack 1528 Max flood 1810 3.2K

Saturday

Our plan is to go on Saturday to Wollochet Bay, which is right past the Narrows to the west. The total distance from Shilshole, via Colvos Passage is 30 miles. The tide is ebbing at the narrows until 1410. It is a strong ebb, so Colvos would be slow until around 1400. But the nice thing is we would blow thru the narrows. We figure leaving Shilshole at 10am, you could go 5 Kt to the Narrows (23 Mi), arriving at about 1430. The rest of the way would be faster, so you would arrive around 1530. If you left later, the trip would be shorter.
Incidentally, we have found that if you try to go South through the Narrows on the ebb, if you stick near the shore you can miss a lot of the adverse current. Sometimes we get lucky and find back eddies.

Sunday

If we go to Wollochet Bay Sat, on Sunday we could go to a variety of south sound places, like nearby Fox Island, Eagle Island, Penrose Point, Cutts Bay or Oro Bay. People who don’t want to go to Wollochet, but want to join the cruise on Sunday, should leave contact information with us and we will let them know the plan after it is made. We will make this plan Saturday evening or Sunday morning, considering the weather and people’s desires.

For people who travel with creatures that need shore access, there is supposedly a Wollochet Bay Estuary Park at the N end of the bay.
Penrose, Eagle and Cutts are state parks, Oro bay has somebody’s YC outstation, but I am not aware of public access on Fox. I have never tried to crash the outstation on at Oro Bay either. We can consider animal based constraints when deciding on Sunday’s destination.

Monday

Return Monday would be straightforward from wherever, as the ebb at the Narrows goes from 9am to 1527. So you could leave anytime in the morning and have favorable tide the whole way.

Food

We should plan on potluck for both Sat and Sun dinners. The usual humoungous appetizer concept should work. But if anybody wants to bake a pie, make ice cream, or make souflees, they are welcome to do so.