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Come join us at Jarrell Cove State Park February 21-23. Typically this month is when our heartiest cruisers anchor out and freeze their toes off. But this year by popular acclaim we choose electricity and heat.
For those who have never been, this park on the north side of Harstine Island has an awesome dock, fire pit, hiking trails, bathrooms and shower facilities, and most importantly, shore power! There is also a pump-out dock nearby.
Potluck under the picnic shelter Saturday at 5 p.m. Bring firewood!
Current flows east out of Dana Passage any time after 10 a.m. Friday, or after noon Saturday, so easy going getting there. Low tide is after dark if you arrive late. Otherwise you shouldn’t have any trouble getting into the park basin. Mind the sandbar as you round the point — it sticks out much further than you think. Best to hold your course and round the mooring ball directly off the end of the dock.
If you can clear the bridge, you can take the shortcut up through Pickering Passage from Hope Island. The charts are labeled: FIXED BRIDGE // HOR CL 95 FT // VERT CL 31 FT. The 31 feet is measured above Mean High Water. If you time the tide wrong or your mast is just too tall you’ll have issues with the bridge (which might make for a good article next month). In that case you will have to transit up the Case Inlet and buttonhook around the NE corner of Harstine Island.
It’s time to start planning for the annual Memorial Day Cruise. As in the past, we will be at Penrose Point State Park, in Carr Inlet on May 23- 26. Set your hook somewhere around 47 deg.,15.8N, 122 deg., 44.8W.
This is one of the best attended Cruises, and there are many reasons why. It’s a three day weekend for people with jobs, and that means you can spend two full nights with a leisurely day, or two, at the Park. There are moorings for people who don’t like anchoring. There is lots to do at Penrose Point State Park: hike the trails, forage for oysters, play Frisbee, walk the dogs, kayak to the store for ice cream, or just hang out on your boat and watch other people work. The weather is going to be much better than it has been this winter!
Navigation to the Park presents an interesting challenge, as you must watch the tides in planning your transit of Pitt Passage. Pitt Passage separates McNeil Island, site of the former Medium and Maximum security prison, from the mainland. Stories abound of inmates who swam or floated across to be fed and helped by a woman who lived on the mainland side.
I don’t advise going through Pitt Passage on a minus tide in anything but a kayak, but fortunately the tide will be +1.2 or greater all day on the 23rd, with up to 1.1 knots of push after 2:30 PM. Coming home on Monday will be a bit of a challenge with low water from 9:30 until 1:30 PM. Check your charts and make sure your depth sounder is working, or else plan to enjoy a third cup of coffee and ride the afternoon flood.
Watch your depth sounder as well as you come around Penrose Point. A sandy spit, dotted with a few boulders, extends farther from the shoreline than you might expect.
Marvin Young, past Cruise Chair, will be your host for the Cruise. More years ago than I care to remember, when I was the Cruise Chair, we executed a star raft up, where boats drop their anchors in a big circle and pull their sterns together. We sent my son. then the smallest person in the crowd, up John Sherman’s mast, the tallest one in the fleet, with several cameras.
Marvin thinks it might be time to try that raft up again. If there is no photo, it didn’t happen, so bring that bosun’s chair! As usual there will be one or more potlucks, so watch the Facebook page, or the web site, for more information.