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Thursday, June 29...A morning launch from Port Orchard let us ride the ebbing tide through Rich Passage.  With no wind we cranked up the outboard and puttered along, enjoying the scenery.  Even though the hot weather had left a haze on the horizon, we could still see Mt. Rainier rise above Blake Island as we exited Rich Passage.

We had an easy ride to Blake Island where there was plenty of dock space available.  With the entire afternoon available and a low tide, we explored the beach along the northeast corner of the island.  The most pressing question of the day was: what are those things in the intertidal zone that resemble toilet plungers made of sand?  (We learned the answer on Friday!)

A Tillicum Village salmon dinner, an evening walk with racoons, deer in velvet and kingfishers fishing, some ice cream from the concession window and a few hours of quiet reading capped the day.

Friday, June 30

A lazy morning and a slow motor-sail toward the Alki Point lighthouse started a long day.  As we turned toward Duwamish Head, we began dodging boats heading for Bell Harbor Marina and boats leaving the harbor, including ferries accompanied by a pair of US Coast Guard patrol boats.

Lunch was late but great at Ivar's, then we spent a few hours at the Seattle Aquarium.  Although the aquarium is undergoing a major reconstruction, the displays remain open.  It was so hot the sea otters (my favorite display) were just lazing around, much like we had been doing since launching on Thursday!  One of the aquarium staff told us our Blake Island "toilet plungers" were really the eggs of moon snails.

We had an eagle-eye view of the Mariners vs. Rockies game from seating section 315 waaaaayyyyy above right field.  Unfortunately, the Mariners seemed to be as worn out by the hot weather as we were.  Later, I enjoyed just sitting in the cockpit, watching and listening to the city at night.

Saturday, July 1

Check-out time at Bell Harbor was noon.  After motoring clear of the marina and past View it on the webseveral of the docks, we hoisted all sail and tacked toward Elliott Bay Marina.

From there, we broad reached across to just off Blakely Rock, then pulled out the gin pole and cruised wing-on-wing south past Restoration Point.  Turning west we entered the passage between the south end of Bainbridge Island and Blake Island, then entered Rich Passage.

We sailed between three and five knots throughout most of Rich Passage, and at one point wind picked up so much we had all three of us on the weather side and leaning back.

After exiting Rich Passage into Port Orchard, we again sailed wing-on-wing past the Bremerton ferry terminal and the naval base, then motored to the Port Orchard dock.  Look for the white clock tower to find the ramps.