A week after getting our boat, we joined Derek and Diane for an overnight sailing trip to Poulsbo. We packed everything up and headed down to the boat on Saturday morning - We are still working out what we need on the boat and what can stay on the boat and the outcome of which was a slight overpacking for a weekend trip…
We planned on leaving around 8a (ended up actually leaving 9:30a). We got some great wind and just the right angle on the first day - spending the first couple of hours on a close reach with 10-15 knot winds, hitting 4-6 knots the whole way and far enough from the wind to maintain only a slight lean. It really was the best of both worlds - fast but comfortable. Sara slept in a bit and opted to start the day in pajamas (which she ended up spending most of the day in - comfy!).
We saw a lot of boats out having fun, but this little orange sailed boat was spotted right off the south end of Bainbridge - Sara was enthralled, her little Sara sided boat! It was the first ketch rigged sailboat that I’ve seen that was in the small/kid sized daysailer.
After rounding the southern end of Bainbridge, we started north at a broad reach (bordering on a run) in a much lighter winds - likely blocked by Bainbridge island. We took a small diversion to go further South and let Derek and Diane catch up - and the coolest part of this strech was that we sailed 50-100 ft apart the whole way up to Poulsbo. We got some great photos of Derek and Diane’s boat from our’s and vice versa. It’s like something out of a sailing magazine!
I forgot to start my tracker until after we rounded Bainbridge going north - I did get the second half of the day though.
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Poulsbo has a very strong anchorage (shallow enough and strong holding mud bottom) - when we got to the anchorage there were at least 50 boats of different sizes anchored up. Derek proposed that we raft up - what a great idea… Derek & Diane dropped anchor and we pulled up along side and tied up. This meant we could hop over to each other’s boats without using a dinghy - which was awesome for making dinner. We could also hop back and forth for drinks/etc.
We made it back together again! As is standard for any trip together, we did our bracelet check and commemorative photo.
We didn’t have a dinghy on this trip and 3 dogs and 5 people on one dinghy seemed like a bit much - especially with us not knowing how well the dogs would get along. So instead, we brought out kayak and Oakley/I went in the kayak with everyone else going in D&Ds dinghy. Oakley was a bit nervous, but she was well behaved in the front seat… :)
Our first time into shore, we tried having the dinghy tow the kayak in - it worked well enough, aside from initially fouling the prop on the tow line (easy to fix). After this first trip, we decided it was easier and probably faster for me to just paddle myself - it turned out to not be that far from shore…
Right at the entrance to the marina, there was a log float that the seals seemed to love. They seemed un-interested in the dinghy’s or larger boats, but a kayak with a dog onboard spiked their curiousity. Two of them came up within a couple of feet of our kayak to catch a peek. I was a bit worried about Oakely, but she seemed to do just fine with it.
After getting ashore, we did some window shopping and got pastries as a pre-dinner snack. Poulsbo is a great little sailing town - lots of fun boat themed stores and restraunts. Definitely a place we will need to come back to!
We headed back to the boat after our excursion to shore and Sara got a chance to cool off - which means dipping her hands in the water while we ride the dinghy back out to the boat. :)
D&D hopped over to our boat for dinner and we had a delicious jointly prepared dinner before some cocktails and bed.
The next day, a coupe of us headed ashore to get breakfast and let the dogs use the grass. We had breakfast on the boat followed by some water toys - Angela and Sara got out the paddleboard and did a quick tour of the anchorage.
Sara has a hankering to play unicorn monopoly and convinced D&D to come over for a game - board games are super fun on the boat and, while unicorn monopoly was fun, I’m excited to try some more complex games as Sara gets older.
We headed ashore after games for one last excursion - which included a walk through the “art in the park” market and a walk up the water front to the beach. Our origional intention was a playground, but the playground was too small to hold Sara’s attention so we opted for collecting shells on the beach. Sara had a blast on the beach and didn’t want to leave, but all good things must come to an end… We were aiming to leave around 2p to catch the favorable tide currents and we just about made it.
After getting back to the boats, we unrafted and headed out of Poulsbo to pass through Agate pass and across the sound to home. The wind was intermittent and we got a little sailing at the begining but a couple of hours in we opted to motor given the changing wind conditions. It was a quick trip and we were back to the marina by 4ish.
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After cleaning/putting the boat away, we said farewell to the boat and headed back home. What a great trip! Look at all those happy faces…
