I thought it might be good to have a common place to post for those who do winter cruises. I know there are those who do crui9se year around and there are some who post about such. But when I went looking for where they were they turn out to be scattered through the site. So, please, feel free to add to this thread as trips and time allow.
SleepyC took advantage of the nice weather offered up over the MLK weekend. I launched out of Port Townsend, WA on Sunday for a short trip. The tides were high and only a foot or two of variation from high to low so I thought it might be a good time to peek into Matts Matts Bay. It is a very enclosed, protected bay about 20 acres in size with a very narrow and shallow entry that uses a set of range marks on the entry leg.
The temp in the cabin was 65 after I finished washing down the trailer and parking the truck, so I didn’t even turn on the Wallas. I did, peel off a fleece shirt layer though and was comfortable in a long sleeved tee. The yami’s started on the first click, without any extra choke, and purred. Seemed to be glad to be into the cold clear water. I had thought I may need to run the Wallas before turning on the electronics, but with it that warm in the cabin I cranked everything up, and had all the screens lit up before leaving the cock.
The Matts Matts Bay entrance is about 12 miles south from Port Townsend Boat Haven when you go through the “PT Cut” under the bridge to Indian Island. As I left PT, the fog was think enough to hide the big Navy crane at the Indian Island navy dock. By the time I was across the PT Bay and even with the big crane, the fog had lifted so that I could see the western shoreline, and as I cruised slowly towards the cut and bridge, the fog lifted and thinned enough to allow the sun to poke through and show the forest of masts below the tree line, and then eventually to be able to see the bridge at the cut. There was hardly enough current flow to leave wakes at the abutments, and a seal was drifting along with me for a couple of hundred feet.
The AIS screen was not showing any targets, but the plotter had a couple, so after I cleared the “Cut” channel, I drifted for a while, checking connections and running through the diagnostics. It came on line with the plotter on completion so off I went, happy in my little world.
Entering the channel to Matts Matts, I called “Secur a tay” announcing my intent (as there is a near 90 port turn right at the end of the range and no visibility of the complete channel), and with no concerned traffic, continued the entrance. The bay was quiet, and only about half the boats there since the last time I had been in. There was a fellow in a new, “Merry Fisher 795”, (a power boat by Jeanneau), who was working with a training captain doing float approaches, and docking. Good thing he had power steering as he was cranking those twins back and forth a bunch. We chatted a bit about the “underwater piles” on the plotter, and the advantages of twin OB’s then they left to go back to Des Moines. With his twin 200’s I’m guessing he used more fuel getting out of Matts Matts than I do for the whole trip.
The return to PT went a bit unusual as I watched a couple in a low freeboard, windshieldless (ex) ski boat take a tow line from a local crabber. As he started the tow, he snapped the line, which looked like binder twine, between the two boats. They were so low in the water that they took water over the side in the process. In my concern for whether they would be able to maintain above the surface, followed them back to Port Hadlock and then merrily went on my way back to the dock at PT, thankful for the beautiful day, the fun outing and the security and seaworthiness of my little C-Dory.
Harvey
SleepyC:moon
SleepyC took advantage of the nice weather offered up over the MLK weekend. I launched out of Port Townsend, WA on Sunday for a short trip. The tides were high and only a foot or two of variation from high to low so I thought it might be a good time to peek into Matts Matts Bay. It is a very enclosed, protected bay about 20 acres in size with a very narrow and shallow entry that uses a set of range marks on the entry leg.
The temp in the cabin was 65 after I finished washing down the trailer and parking the truck, so I didn’t even turn on the Wallas. I did, peel off a fleece shirt layer though and was comfortable in a long sleeved tee. The yami’s started on the first click, without any extra choke, and purred. Seemed to be glad to be into the cold clear water. I had thought I may need to run the Wallas before turning on the electronics, but with it that warm in the cabin I cranked everything up, and had all the screens lit up before leaving the cock.
The Matts Matts Bay entrance is about 12 miles south from Port Townsend Boat Haven when you go through the “PT Cut” under the bridge to Indian Island. As I left PT, the fog was think enough to hide the big Navy crane at the Indian Island navy dock. By the time I was across the PT Bay and even with the big crane, the fog had lifted so that I could see the western shoreline, and as I cruised slowly towards the cut and bridge, the fog lifted and thinned enough to allow the sun to poke through and show the forest of masts below the tree line, and then eventually to be able to see the bridge at the cut. There was hardly enough current flow to leave wakes at the abutments, and a seal was drifting along with me for a couple of hundred feet.
The AIS screen was not showing any targets, but the plotter had a couple, so after I cleared the “Cut” channel, I drifted for a while, checking connections and running through the diagnostics. It came on line with the plotter on completion so off I went, happy in my little world.
Entering the channel to Matts Matts, I called “Secur a tay” announcing my intent (as there is a near 90 port turn right at the end of the range and no visibility of the complete channel), and with no concerned traffic, continued the entrance. The bay was quiet, and only about half the boats there since the last time I had been in. There was a fellow in a new, “Merry Fisher 795”, (a power boat by Jeanneau), who was working with a training captain doing float approaches, and docking. Good thing he had power steering as he was cranking those twins back and forth a bunch. We chatted a bit about the “underwater piles” on the plotter, and the advantages of twin OB’s then they left to go back to Des Moines. With his twin 200’s I’m guessing he used more fuel getting out of Matts Matts than I do for the whole trip.
The return to PT went a bit unusual as I watched a couple in a low freeboard, windshieldless (ex) ski boat take a tow line from a local crabber. As he started the tow, he snapped the line, which looked like binder twine, between the two boats. They were so low in the water that they took water over the side in the process. In my concern for whether they would be able to maintain above the surface, followed them back to Port Hadlock and then merrily went on my way back to the dock at PT, thankful for the beautiful day, the fun outing and the security and seaworthiness of my little C-Dory.
Harvey
SleepyC:moon
is an interesting spot. I don't think I would anchor in there, but you can sit and drift for almost ever. Anchoring might just keep you there forever. Likely an awful bunch of cable, and foul stuff on that bottom. But, it always has interesting vessels. 
