Red Right Returning part two

RED RIGHT RETURNING, PART TWO

We made it through The Hole In The Wall and slowed to trolling speed into Neah bay where after getting permission from the dockmaster, took on 210 gallons of fuel at the Makah Indian Reservation's marine docks. Topped off and relaxed, swinging on the anchor after completing day two of our 4 day expedition. Now it's time to drop our crab pots over the side to harvest a few Dungeness Crab to have with the Chinook Salmon we caught coming into the fuel docks.
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Early the next morning with a fresh cup of coffee and a mind full of the latest weather reports we pull anchor and motored quietly out of Neah Bay and into the Straights of Juan de Fuca. The visibility was clear, you could see all the way into the blue horizon of the west coast of Canada's British Columbia.
…...We cruised north for about two miles then turned right with our next check point of Port Angeles on our starboard. WE picked 6 A M as our departure because that would put low tide at the mouth of the Straights right on 5:30 AM. We also had a following sea with winds out of the south-west at 10 gusting to 20 mph. This combination of the push from the incoming tide and wind off our starboard stern added close to 3 knots to our over the bottom speed of 14 knots. Not bad. We predicted Port Angeles by 0930 and Point-no-Point by noon.
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We had an uneventful voyage to Point-no-Point and turned right into Kingston for fuel and lunch. After an unscheduled trip to an auto parts store for a couple of fuel filters (All that slow twisting roller coaster trip east on the Straights stirred up some years old sediment from the 1965 Chris Craft's fuel tanks.) ....Filters and a couple of cold beer's installed we decided to spend the night at the guest docks and do the final run into Gig Harbor in the morning.
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Well, once again we timed it just right and caught the turn of the tide after breakfast and with Bainbridge Island on our right headed south to Gig Harbor. Once past Winslow's busy harbor and playing “Dodge-the-Ferry” game we entered Colvos Passage for our final run to the Light at the entrance to Gig Harbor.
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Sue was waiting at our reserved slip on the end-tie at Harborview Marina, our home port for the next 7 years. “What took you so long, sailor?” she shouted while taking the bow line and securing it so I could swing the stern in against the same south-westerly wind that had helped us down the straights.
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On April 25th, 1992, Sue and I were married on the aft deck of “TERIFIC” Our priest was Captain Pete Darrah, skipper of the sailing schooner “Christine” and owner, at the time of Captain Pete's Nautical Antiques, just up the dock from our moorage.
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The marriage ceremony's guests included many of our boating friends from the Gig Harbor and Port Orchard Yacht Clubs' as well as a few of our commercial fishing buddies. They arrived in their own yachts and salmon trawlers and moored in a “Wagon-Wheel” raft up. The reception lasted 21 hours, the memories are still with me 26 years later.
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Remind me to tell you the stories of our boat cat, “Harry” and his buddy, Captain Kirk of the yacht “Enterprise” perhaps another time.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK BY THE AUTHOR
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