Puget Sound Loop Choices

D

Dene

New member
I love planning next summer's adventures. One of them involves a 250 mile, 7 day loop around the central and southern parts of Puget Sound. The trip starts at Belfair on the Hood Canal and ends at Allyn on the north end of Case Inlet, just a 15 mile bicycle ride away. We're planning this the last week of June, coinciding with my 50th birthday. :cake

But.....there are choices to be made and I would appreciate advice about places to stop and moor. Just realize, our priorities are marina amenities (clean showers, shorepower) and a nice waterfront...places for my wife to shop while I tinker on our 22 footer. :smiled

1st night....... Pleasant Harbor, Seabeck, or Quilcene

2nd night...... Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock, or Port Townsend

3rd night....... Langley, Everett, or Edmonds

4th night....... Shilshole Bay or Kirkland

5th night....... Des Moines, Tacoma, or Gig Harbor

6th night....... Penrose, Steilacoom, or Jarrell Cove

Merry Christmas to all in this fabulous forum. :xtongue

-Greg
 
Gary,
We really enjoy Poulsbo (the marina is downtown so only about a block from a great bakery!). Additionally, don't forget Bell Harbor Marina, (located in the Seattle waterfront next to the Seattle Aquarium, near Pikes Place Market, etc. etc. etc.!) Both have your requested shorepower and clean facilities with nearby activities/browsing to entertain you.
 
DaveS":2o10290r said:
Gary,
We really enjoy Poulsbo (the marina is downtown so only about a block from a great bakery!). Additionally, don't forget Bell Harbor Marina, (located in the Seattle waterfront next to the Seattle Aquarium, near Pikes Place Market, etc. etc. etc.!) Both have your requested shorepower and clean facilities with nearby activities/browsing to entertain you.
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Your choices are two of our favorites....and I know that bakery!! We have a 30 foot Carver that we charter out in the summer. In the winter, we moor it at Brownsville and winter cruise to Bell Harbor and Poulsbo...two of our favorites. In fact, we beat a storm out of Bell Harbor yesterday morning.

This summer, we want to hit other places with our summer boat...our trailerable, economical 22 footer.

-Greg
 
I moor my boat in Everett and in my opinion I would skip Everett. The marina is ok, but the waterfront and shopping is not so good.
 
Greg, You are not the first C-Brat to think of this great loop trip, but I am not sure where the first thread is located, and I am not sure if anyone has actually made the trip.

If it were me, I would do Pleasant Harbor, Pt Townsend, then Langley for the first three nights. Then I would do either Poulsbo, Bell Harbor, or Blake Island for the forth night. (Sorry that I diverted from your choices here)The fifth night, Tacoma or Gig Harbor. And the last night I would eliminate Steilacoom as there is no marina or a good anchorage in the area. Many of your choices are going to depend on what you enjoy doing while cruising.

This is a trip that could be made a dozen times without staying at the same place twice!

This will be a great trip. Robbi
 
Greg -- Just a few observatons. I agree with everybody so far. Love Poulsbo (I used to live there), but you've been there. Ludlow only if you like a quiet anchorage in the back bay. For that I prefer Mats Mats, a real adventure, don't think thats what you are looking for. Nothing at Hadlock. Definately go to Pt Townsend. Two good overnight marinas . I have always prefered Point Hudson, puts you right in the middle of good shopping and great restaurants. Great town also for walking, downtown and uptown. Langley is a good stop. Tight little marina but the town is worth it. A fun adventure would be going through the Chittendon Locks to Kirkland. There is a public dock there but not my favorite. If the weather is good it can be noisy, if the weather is bad it can be very uncomfortable. Your judgement here. I also agree about Blake Island, might be worth considering on your way back. All in all, sounds like a great trip. --- Cary
 
Ludlow has a great marina, a new hotel, two decent restaurants, a small gift shop and a good golf course. I love it as a fairly quiet place to stay and often stop in when fishing Pt. No Point in the winter (fish in the AM, good lunch with a brew or drink at Port Ludlow to warm up).

I'd second the Blake Island recommendation. Kirkland has a lot of shopping and many good restaurants nearby. The Foghorn is particularly good and you can arrive by dock. I don't know if any of the marina's in Lake Union have guest moorage but Lake Union would be another fun place to visit - the Center for Wooden boats, many restaurants and easy access to the downtown malls (Westlake Center and Pacific Place) via the newly opened South Lake Union Street Car. Pleasant Harbor is one of my favorites. We first stayed there on our 15th anniversary (WAY before we had the dory - going on 27 this year). We did two nights at a houseboat from houseboats4two. We've since been back a few times on the C-Dory.

I haven't been to the Tacoma waterfront yet but that's on my list. You can walk to the glass museum from the marina and that sounds like fun.
 
OK, I can't really help, given your priorities. When you are ready to foresake the amenities and anchor up, here is the drill, reflecting our priorities - peace and quiet and good protection from the prevailing winds!


Dene":9havxdod said:
Just realize, our priorities are marina amenities (clean showers, shorepower) and a nice waterfront...places for my wife to shop while I tinker on our 22 footer. :smiled

1st night....... Pleasant Harbor, Seabeck, or Quilcene

Pleasant Harbor

2nd night...... Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock, or Port Townsend

Port Ludlow, Inner Harbor

3rd night....... Langley, Everett, or Edmonds

Langley

4th night....... Shilshole Bay or Kirkland

Neither - if you are going through the locks anyway, head for Andrews Bay

5th night....... Des Moines, Tacoma, or Gig Harbor

None of the above - Blakely Harbor

6th night....... Penrose, Steilacoom, or Jarrell Cove

Jarrell Cove

Merry Christmas to all in this fabulous forum. :xtongue

-Greg
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We had a delightful time right in downtown Seattle at Bell Harbor...

http://www.portseattle.org/seaport/marinas/bellharbor/

It was a treat to be an "urban" boater for a few days, walking to Pike's Market and all around downtown Seattle; a completely different experience from exploring the area by car. Sometimes there are great treasures to be had right in your backyard when explored by water instead of land. And then for a night away from it all, I have to second Pat's suggestion of Blakely Harbor, across the Sound from Seattle - peaceful and scenic.

It sounds like a great time, however you decide to do it! :D

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Great suggestions so far....thanks.

Sounds like it's a toss up between Portl Ludlow and Port Townsend. We'll definitely stop at Port Ludlow. We've been to Townsend, catching the ferry out of there. Nice town.

Pat.... Andrews Bay. Is that a state park? Is there guest moorage available? Blakely Harbor. That's on Bainbridge...correct? We haven't visited it yet this winter but we intend to. We did poke into Blake Island in Oct. but it was sardine city in there. We'll give it another try this winter.

I'm sure open to other sites. My boat cruises comfortably at 25 mph so we don't intend to trawler speed anywhere, like we do in our Carver. We prefer to spend the day, stopping/exploring many places, so all points of interest between moorages are of interest to us.

-Greg
 
Andrews Bay is not a park itself, it is a little bit south of the I-90 floating bridge, one side of the bay is Seward Park. No facilities I know of, you have to anchor, but of course you can dinghy to shore in Seward Park. There might be a restroom ashore, I don't know (Peter or Caryn?). It is one of the very few places where you can legally anchor in Lake Washington. Blakely Harbor is just THE most scenic view of downtown Seattle, peaceful and well protected, a great spot to anchor up. There is a little park there, don't know if it is a City or County Park, you can go ashore but there are no facilities. If you can tolerate a night without a dock, shore amenities or shopping, these are both great spots!

Dene":3s98twpz said:
Great suggestions so far....thanks.

Pat.... Andrews Bay. Is that a state park? Is there guest moorage available? Blakely Harbor. That's on Bainbridge...correct? We haven't visited it yet this winter but we intend to. We did poke into Blake Island in Oct. but it was sardine city in there. We'll give it another try this winter.


-Greg
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Greg -- Save the guesswork, get yourself a copy of "The Burgee" from Pierside Publishing Co. Has everything you need to travel the Salish Sea (Puget Sound, etc.). We have traveled these waters for many years and wouldn't be without it. There are other books but this one is the most practical and up to date. -- Cary
 
Yes Pat, there are public bathrooms that you can use in the park. Just dinghy ashore as you suggested.
Pat":2npwqvdy said:
No facilities I know of, you have to anchor, but of course you can dinghy to shore in Seward Park. There might be a restroom ashore, I don't know (Peter or Caryn?)
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This does seem to be a cruising style enjoyed by many, but posting and discussing it on this forum is taking the idea of a Grand Adventure to a whole nother level.

I have a feeling my Bayliner and Renell boat owning friends who feel they have been insulted more than once by the C-Dory Community and who I know read and overall enjoy this site are getting quite a chuckle out of the planning priorities set in this adventure.

Oh, I do realize that all of us have different ideas of what constitute an adventure and I'm fine with it being described as such especially with the planned exploration and shore stops during the day along the way. But under Grand, when no anchoring and a night spot with shopping is a must. :smileo

This is not in anyway meant to be a criticism of the planned cruise only it being a wonderful example of a boat cruising oxymoron

Jay
 
I'm really enjoying this thread, it has me thinking I want to do this trip or at least a segment or two of it. It would be nice if we had some way to share experiences and pictures with actual GPS data from the water. I have been putting my plotter output into Google Earth along with pictures and it has been a great way to share experiences. Maybe we should consider a space to share these Google Earth files.

Thanks for the information and the ideas, this spring I will certainly be doing a south sound trip.
 
There are probably very few here who have traversed water that no one else has seen before. When I first started our cruising thread, it wasn't on the Grand Adventures forum (Mike moved it there)... I don't think you have to travel far or remote to have a "grand" time; and adventure is a perception - what some think of as rough conditions may be mundane for others. Certainly we all have different perceptions of what is "roughing it." :wink:

A person could spend years cruising Puget Sound, discovering new things each day. The time we've spent around the Sound has always been an adventure... even the time spent in marinas. What you call it is less important than taking the first step out and going. Living in a small town, boating into the "big city" is a real adventure for us. 8)

It's all in the point of view, eh? I enjoy reading about the Alaska trips and the river travels in Florida, the lake gatherings and the Gulf Stream crossings to the Bahamas... it's all good! :D
 
Jim

I've never thought of the Wild Blue's adventures as any thing other than grand especially with retiring early and all the other risks associated with the variation of your travels on land and water, but I don't agree that a Grand Adventure is about having a "grand" time or that adventure is entirely a personal perception and most certainly not being about whether you are "roughing it" or not. What I feel it must contain to be described as an "adventure is some element of excitement due to a degree of danger or risk and "grand" is the stated elevation in time or degree of this risk or danger. Of course this doesn't mean that the adventure has to be a continuation of on going risk and danger, but somewhere these elements must exist. I believe my analyzes is backed up by this accepted difinition of the word.

"adventure >noun 1 an unusual, exciting, and daring experience. 2 excitement arising from or associated with danger or risk.."

I agree completely one does not have to cruise in the areas or the manner in which we prefer to qualify a cruise as being a Grand Adventure. We have met many couples on sailboats and even huge luxuries yachts who were cruising in high style, but all the risk and dangerous were obviously still there and though we were from totally opposite social-economic back grounds we thoroughly enjoyed our time spent together due to our recognition of being similar in soul. The following is how I described it in our cruise log this year while in Alaska.

"We were invited aboard the yacht, Rhapsody out of Seattle for coffee and cinnamon rolls. The owner’s Ron and Dianne were an enjoyable host and we spent 5 hours in pleasant interesting conversation sharing experience’s etc. He had retired from Boeing a few years before where he had worked as an engineer, high in there testing division. She a retired school teacher. They actually lived on this yacht 6 months out of the year and it was a beautiful second home. They gave us a complete tour of there vessel. Anyone who knows us would absolutely not believe the social gad abouts we have become on this trip. It’s amazing how a smile, wave and sharing similar experiences can cut through the social barriers of normal living. Out here whether the boats are tiny like ours or 50' plus we all are on our own and pushing our individual and equipment limits. This makes the sharing of our different back grounds, which has led us to these remote settings even more enjoyable"

While as I agree that what you call it is not as important as taking the first step toward doing it the difinition of a word describing the type of experience being undertaken and a place to share an exceptional experience or experiences is still important in how its perceived in sharing with others. There is a difference between a days outing, a weeks social cruise or a couple days gathering of C-Dory owner friends to a Gulf Stream crossing to the Bahamas, doing the Grand Loop or taking an Alaska or Canadian Inland Passage cruise and I believe the latter types are best defined and most deserving of inclusion in the forum Grand Adventures. These kind of exceptional out of the ordinary "grand" adventures were the reason I believe for starting this separate forum, so they could be easily accessed and read for present and future sharing. If there isn't some separation and recognition of the difference than the truly grand adventures will be lost in the clutter for future readers that don't want to bother doing a search. Again this doesn't mean I don't think the Wild Blue's adventures arn't in anyway grand enough to qualify. You go in style, are always having fun and seek excitement with willingness to accept the danger and risk of traveling in the many places you have shared with us all.

I too enjoy all the reading about the different adventures of our fellow C-Brats "grand" or not.

Jay
 
Jay, my friend, I agree with you regarding Grand Adventures vs a "grand" time. I just hope that anyone considering any adventure in their boat won't think their experience isn't enough of an adventure to share it with us here (somewhere on this site). If it's someone's first time out overnight on a boat, that could certainly be considered a risk for that experience level.

Shucks, if we could ever get our daughter to overnight on a boat, it wouldn't be an adventure, it would be a miracle! :mrgreen: I've included some posts on our thread about having her onboard, because it is those little moments that build a foundation. I don't understand her fear of anything that moves in the air or on the water, but I appreciate her willingness to give it a try because she knows it's a big part of our lives.

I think the same reasoning applies to a lot of folks who have a spouse that doesn't appreciate the need some of us have to do new things and see new stuff... guys who singlehand because the wife won't go out on "that little thing." We've done "boat tours" with couples where you see "the look" in his eyes, and the utter horror in hers. Maybe if they started with something that feels more like a well-planned tour (with a bit of luxury tossed in) they could bring the reluctant one around? And, as you know, planning is part of the fun on any trip... especially if you can't be out there right now. You and I are fortunate that we have willing partners who are right there beside us when we say, "Hey, what do you think about this?" :wink:

I sure didn't mean to turn this into a discussion of semantics. I really admire what you two do. If someone is inspired by something they read here, it may encourage them to plan for their own boat travels. Some will know the fun we experience, some aren't going to enjoy it... but you gotta start somewhere. :D

Best wishes for lots of adventures in the new year,
Jim
 
Jay - not many are willing to run their C-Dory over an unknown rapids and perhaps end up stuck bow down at Ford's Terror forever! So you get the Grand Prize for Grand Adventure, defined by degree of risk! I too would not think of a trip around Puget Sound from marina to marina as a Grand Adventure - a heck of a lot of fun perhaps but not a Grand Adventure, since the biggest risk would be not finding a slip at the next marina! But risk can just be overcoming a personal challenge, it does not have to be something that everyone acknowledges as downright dangerous. Just my $0.02 worth...
 
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