July, 2025
I arrived here yesterday late afternoon, got the trailer settled, chatted with the marina staff, talked with a few neighbor campers, then sat and watched the birds and the tide and the sky for a bit before dinner time. Oh it was lovely.
Today I thought I would head out on an adventure in the big white truck, but no I didn’t do that. I just walked around this small campground and the buildings in the area, walked on the beach (when the tide was out), watched boats come and go, talked with camper folk and others in the area, and just hung out around my trailer and my truck and did lots of nothing. It was wonderful. Let me share a few photos from the day.
Photo below … the big white truck and Towhee the Trailer in their spot, with the marina behind the trailer (and the north end of the town of Port Townsend on the other side of the marina).
The tide was in. The reflections of those small boats along the marina dock were quite nice. 🙂
I especially liked this row of small, wooden sailboats and row boats below … especially that boat in the foreground in the photo below. I liked that little covered area at the bow … not enough to be a cabin but it would store your lunch or other valuable things and protect them from water spray if you were passing through the wake of a larger ship.
Here she is below, from the side. Although the boat could be rowed, I suspect the owner sometimes brought a small outboard motor and afixed it to the stern when heading out on the water.
The photos above were taken while I was standing up on land behind my trailer. I loved those boats … what could I do but head down the ramp and onto the dock and check them out?
In the photo below, you’ll see the white hull at the very top of the photo … that’s the boat in the photos above. But NOW my favorite has changed (how fickle we humans are). Now my favorite is the small rowboat below … Wynken. What a sweet clinker built boat, so well-kept, and just perfect for one or two or three or four people to go out for row on a lovely calm day here.
With that name, Wynken, I figured there must be another boat hereabouts named Blynken, and another named Nod … but I couldn’t find them. sigh. “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night sailed off in a wooden shoe, sailed on a river of crystal light, into a sea of dew…..“
Not finding those other two boats, I turned and took a photo of my two friends, Towhee the Trailer and the big white truck. 🙂
Having walked up and down the docks for 45 minutes or so, I was worn out! (ha, not!) So I walked back up to the campsite and then hauled my chair over to the edge of the rocks, just above the beach, and sat and read and watched the world of boats go by.
Ah, the ferry below had just left Port Townsend (on the right), heading for Whidbey (way on the left). The ferry was the “Kennewick” which has run on this route for many years. Maybe that’s the ferry that reader FG and his wife took when they were here? I like to think that.
The ferry kept heading east and I kept watching to make sure it was heading in the correct direction. What a peaceful day.
Photo below … the ferry is almost over at the Keystone ferry landing on Whidbey. How tiny it looks in the photo below … it’s a huge boat, but it’s a long ways away.
A bit more reading and a little bit later (ok, maybe I had a nap in my chair), I was awakened by the sound of REDHEAD approaching the entrance to the Point Hudson marina. Some of you may remember that my first boat was named REDHEAD. There were numerous times when I was cruising up in this area, the San Juan islands, etc, when my REDHEAD and this REDHEAD would cross paths (ok, maybe just cruise past each other would be more accurate) … and the skipper of that boat and I would honk our horns and wave to each other. It was really cool. I loved seeing this REDHEAD once again and hoped that my REDHEAD was doing well, too.
A bit later I looked up from my chair and saw this boat (below), coming up from Seattle, heading north. Take a look at the photo above of the ferry boat over in that area, that huge ferry boat. This boat/ship below is MANY times larger! I even got out of my chair and walked to the edge of the water.
Oh my word, that boat was HUGE! It’s one of the Princess Cruise liners … “Discovery Princess”. It was built in 2022. It is 1,083 feet long … 126 feet wide! It has 1,346 crew on board. It has four swimming pools, a small golf course, it has 11 bars (that’s not dining rooms, just the bars), and it has a basketball court … and of course dining rooms and movie theaters, and exercise rooms, and card rooms, and medical facilities. Maximum “guest” capacity is 3,660 in 1,830 staterooms. Add those 1,346 crew members and you get 5,006 people on board. Oh my word! I don’t know why the whole thing doesn’t just tip over.
But it didn’t tip over. It just cruised on by … might have been heading up into Canada and then Alaska, or out through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and then onto the Pacific Ocean.
And then the afternoon waned and the gentle evening light calmed everything down. I was talking with a neighbor camper when I heard the outboard motor of the inflatable boat in the photo below. That inflatable boat had just left that sailboat. Hmmm, what’s that about?
Well, the inflatable boat zipped over and into Point Hudson marina. And then the sailboat turned and appeared to be heading into the marina, too.
So of course, since I was curious, I walked to the rear end of my trailer where I was in a good position to see what was happening just inside the marina entrance, and get a good video of it. Here they come (below) … first the inflatable … she gets on the dock so she can catch the lines of the sailboat as it comes in … and then the sailboat comes in. It’s all handled very professionally and very perfectly.
And then I had my supper inside my trailer … and then this very lovely sunset happened.
Such a nice day. Such a lovely evening. I’ll sleep well tonight! May all you readers do the same. 🙂
This was so sweet and so fun! 🙂
Thanks Eileen. 🙂
Wow, spectacular scenery, and I had no idea Puget Sound was so quiet and so many small boats were out on it. Gorgeous photos and fun personal stories of chats and naps. 🙂 Naps are great aren’t they?
Puget Sound is a super cruising ground for small boats, or large boats too for that matter. Yes, naps are great. 🙂
This was precious. 🙂 Maybe we’re getting used to your blogs and your writings. But it seems you really are so good at sharing just personal stuff and stories. Ha, yes the nap comment! But everything, how much you talk with people you’ve never met before, camping neighbors, the marina staff. You are teaching both of us to talk more with people too, and we’re surprised actually about how great that feels. You’re a gem. 🙂 Thank you.
Dear M&M, both of you. Thank you. I learn and grow from your comments too, when you say what matters to you, what means something for you. It does feel good doesn’t it? Thank you. 🙂
Nothing could be better than boats. Wow, I’ve never seen a cruise ship that large. I’ve seen them before up and down Puget Sound but nothing that large. Thank you for all of this, really takes me back.
You said it … nothing could be better than boats. 🙂 Thanks Rob.
Your view of life is wonderful. I’ve been a counselor all my life and I’m still learning, thank you. I really liked that “nap” comment, made me laugh out loud. And how you talk with so many people you’ve never met before, that’s in most of your blog posts. Aren’t we all in life together? Let’s be done with the divisions and just care for each other.
Oh my yes, I sure like that last sentence of yours, Tina. Well said!
That all sounded like a perfect day, especially for a boat lover!
Dawn, you’ve had time in boats too, if I remember correctly. So you know what it feels like on a peaceful day on the water. Yes, a perfect day. 🙂
That was undoubtedly the ferry we were on.. We had never been to that part of the U.S. so we were just finding our way, but we started in Victoria, took the ferry south, and our ultimate destination was the tulip farms of the Skagit Valley, so we thought the easiest route was across Whidbey Island. Everything worked like a charm for us.
Oh cool! I hoped that would be the ferry that you two took. Your route sounded like the perfect route, one that I would have advised people to take to see so many wonderful things here. One of these days I might do that trip in the opposite direction in order to stay awhile in Victoria, BC, for a visit there.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. My mom used to read it to me. What a great memory. I loved that poem. Oh gosh thank you!
My mom read it to me too, Tim. Great memories.
More water, more boats, more please! GAds I miss being on a boat, thanks for such great photos and your memories. I’ve seen that boat Redhead too. I’ve not seen your Redhead though I’ve seen your Pied Piper at one or two wood boat shows. 🙂 I like your boat better. Nice detail of those small wood boats, I keep thinking about getting something like that, just to get out on the water again.
Nice comment, Mark. My Redhead was smaller (25-feet) and maybe not as noticeable at that larger REDHEAD is. If my PIED PIPER could talk I’d bet she could tell me when you walked past her on the dock. 🙂
I have an inflatable kayak I can use to get back out on the water … go get yourself a boat to help fill your soul.
Boats, harbours, campgrounds – you make everything interesting. Photos also take us along for the ride. There’s nothing like dreaming of being out and about, when it’s December and I’m cozied up by the fire! Great blog, what you post is meaningful and much needed these days. Thank you.
Oh, you are so welcome! Such a nice comment, thank you. 🙂
What fun. Showing that sailboat coming in and mooring was great, I never knew how boats did that. Your photos are terrific.
Thank you, Lisa, for the nice compliment. Around here with hundreds of marinas and moorages in Puget Sound, boats are always needing to come into a dock or tidy up to a mooring buoy or some such as that. So we all need to learn how to do that. This sailboat sent in that inflatable to scope out the place because maybe who knows but maybe the space was already occupied. They did everything perfectly. I’ve seen boat owners who didn’t have a clue and really messed up … wish these folks could teach!
Raised in Wisconsin on LOTS of lakes with LOTS of boats, but where you are on Puget Sound is a whole different story. It’s fresh water here for one thing, and saltwater where you are, and whole different boating stuff it seems, and birds, and mammals, etc. I loved “Wynken” too, also from my childhood. And that sweet sunset. And the flag on that sailboat, just sayin’. 🙂
Ah the flag. Yes indeed. 🙂 Thanks Pat. Here’s to childhood poems … and the love of all people.