Tall Ships

Tacoma had the “Tall Ships” in town for the fourth.  Pretty impressive bunch of boats.  We went over to Foss Waterway on Sunday the third and had a look.  The waterway was packed with little Bayliners having a look and the ships themselves were packed with sunburned folks having a look.  We got out of there pretty quick and had a nice sail in just under 10 knots of wind around Browns Point.

We went over to Ruston (Old Town) on Monday the fourth and anchored in 130 feet (!) of water.  The new Guardian (low-end Fortress) anchor works well.  Probably has a lot to do with the 50’ of chain too. 

I retired the too-small Bruce last week and picked up a Guardian G23.  I’ve drug Bruce anchors across every bay within 500 miles of Tacoma.  The catboat I had came with a Danforth Hi-Tensile that never let me down so I thought I’d give that style a try.  The Guardian is nice and light which makes sense for a “performance” cruiser.  It’s also a joy to handle on the foredeck.

Old Town was crowded.  Dinghies zipping all around, little speedboats dragging anchor, great big motor cruisers trying to thread their way through the densely anchored boats.  The airshow was okay but by far the most exciting part of the day was the giant Crowley tugboat gently threading it’s way through the anchorage.   The very definition of powerful elegance.

The fireworks were nice, the kids loved it, and the crow was appreciative with cheering and horn-blowing.  The trip back across Commencement Bay to Crow’s Nest took a lot of attention in the dark with little speedboats, at speed, zipping here and there in the very dark night.

We got the boat put away just before midnight and the kids fell asleep on the 15 minute drive home.