I forgot to mention another thing we’ve seen while at Blake Island, in the “interesting ships” category: a submarine!

After my last post regarding the webcam at Blake, I learned a couple of things from another boater, and someone who hosts at the island: if no “regular” space is available, the yellow loading dock area can be used (as posted) as well as the site designated for the host, if no host is in residence. Good to know.

Wednesday morning, I paddled around the entire island! I figure that’s about six miles and it took me around 90 minutes. The more east facing parts just outside of the breakwater in both directions weren’t all that pleasant, especially northward – lots of rocks and eelgrass, and a little wavy. The west side of the island was great. A really nice paddle.

I looked up the Blake Island improvement plan and it looks like planning is due to wrap up sometime in 2026. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

We set off from Blake yesterday morning with a couple of options. Our first choice was to visit the Quartermaster Harbor Yacht Club reciprocal dock. We anchored in that harbor a few years ago but found there was no easy access to shore. We were looking forward to a different experience but the contact person I spoke to did not advise us coming in at low tide, which it was. Note to selves, if we call him before we enter the channel, he’ll put out a “reserved” sign. That is helpful and hopefully we can take advantage of that in the future.

Our second choice was Corinthian Yacht Club reciprocity at the Dock Street Marina in Tacoma’s Foss Waterway – our old stomping grounds. There was plenty of space and that’s where we ended up. Very nice facility.

I took a short paddle and then we dinghied over to the newly reopened (with an Indian theme) Johnny’s Dock. We enjoyed our food – love those flavors and we don’t eat Indian food as much as I’d like. Frankly though, it wasn’t anything special. (May have ordered poorly!)

Great views of Tacoma’s waterfront from Johnny’s Dock:

On our way through Commencement Bay the water dramatically changed color:

We got an early start this morning to get to Gig Harbor, pump out, and stake our claim. Plenty of room in the anchorage. It’s going to get hot and Nick was proactive with getting us some shade in the cockpit. The umbrella blew into the water before he could get it secured. Easily retrieved:

Fun to watch the kids:

And the gondolas:

Just a few days ago, friends Jean and Dave aboard Salish Mariner sent me this photo of the Mary Island Light as they cruise home from their annual Sitka Alaska trip. This light station near Ketchikan is where my parents spent their first year of marriage 75 years ago!