First Cruise Aboard Little Mouse

Nasty Headwinds. Thunderstorms, Torrential Rain. I Hurt All Over. What a Great Time!

We just returned from our first cruise aboard MOUSE, trying to sail but mostly motoring into stiff headwinds. The week-long adventure, including meanders, covered 100 nautical miles from Port Townsend south into central Puget Sound, then around Bainbridge Island and back north.

I’m sore all over. My sleeping pad wouldn’t hold air. We got soaked in a ferocious thunderstorm. Sailing was limited due to constant headwinds. As usual, I packed far too many clothes, but boy-oh-boy, did we have an interesting time…and a solid learning experience.

That’s the way it often goes when we’re camp-cruising in small boats…especially open boats: Lots of challenges and discomforts, but when it’s over we desperately focus on the great-if-fleeting moments, when we sailed in perfect conditions, mingled with marine life, or anchored in serene coves. Getting together afterwards, we usually exhibit short-term memory loss about the aching backs, things that broke down, rigs that needed work…or other downsides that smarter folks (often wives or partners) might not put up with.

So, below—to get off on a positive note—is the kind of photo that helps us forget the bad times. (This was taken in Mats Mats Bay, the first morning of our cruise. It was the last time we experienced such a sunrise, but we’ll cling to the memory of this image when we think about our sorta-weird August cruise…and as we blissfully plan future outings.)

Sunrise over the portside stern of MOUSE. Marty Loken photo

Our route went south from Port Townsend into Mats Mats Bay, then around Foulweather Bluff and Point No Point to Kingston, followed by an upwind run south to Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island…and then a circumnavigation of Bainbridge with an overnight anchorage in Port Madison. And then back north via Kingston, Point No Point, Foulweather Bluff and on to Port Townsend. We had brief sailing experiences just outside of Port Townsend, then around the south end of Bainbridge Island, and a short sail across Port Madison Bay. My personal-best sailing was a series of tacks out to the shipping lanes and back toward Kingston on the return leg. Otherwise, it was an upwind slog to the south and all the way back.

And below is a photo of MOUSE you’ve already seen, taken before we set out on the cruise. (Actual sailing was so limited during the cruise that friends were unable to get under-sail shots of our little gunter yawl.) This shot was by Denis Wang, who joined in our cruise for the last two days aboard his nice 20’ Flicka, KOAN.

MOUSE sailing in Oak Bay, south of Port Townsend. The only shots of the boat taken during our actual cruise were when motoring, or sitting at a dock. Sigh. Denis Wang photo

So, to the cruise itself.

We started by making the mistake we’ve always made, which was to fixate on a particular route, departure date and general schedule, vs. allowing actual weather and wind conditions to dictate (or at least strongly suggest) when we’d set out, and in which direction. Fixed routes often lead to trouble, and they did over the past week as we headed south against steady headwinds, which did a 180 in direction the day we needed to head back north toward our home port. So, headwinds everywhere, all the time, except when it was dead calm or when were able to sail on close reaches after getting to destination bays or marinas.

(We talked about our bad habits during a dinner stop, wondering why on earth we friends, fully retired, continue to sabotage ourselves by locking into schedules, fixed routes and destination goals. Why can’t we just go with the literal flow…sailing generally in the direction the wind might take us? We have no good answers, only the recognition that we lack common sense. We’re still hooked on old two-week vacation habits, and maybe afraid to trust that the winds we follow will bring us home anytime soon.)

Every cruise begins with packing, and I always—emphasize always—pack too many clothes, food items and other useless stuff. Here’s a shot of some things that went aboard MOUSE the morning we set out from Port Townsend.

Some items that were packed aboard MOUSE, from left to right: Watertight box of food items, sleeping bag and pillow, PFD (green), safety equipment (orange), toiletries (yellow), phones, chargers, flashlights and such (red), compact dry suit (gray), smaller backup anchor (dark tan canvas), spare clothes (blue bag behind others), and camping pad that leaked air (blue bag on end). I wish I could say this was everything, but there was another black box of cooking gear, coffee kit, etc., and two more duffel bags I’m trying to forget. Marty Loken photo