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Old 06-17-2013, 11:14 PM   #29
GFC
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City: Tri Cities, WA
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,406
Well we FINALLY made it to Ilwaco, WA. This has been a heck of a day. We started out about 0730 from Neah Bay under sunny skies, flat seas with no winds and just a beautiful day. We passed inside of Tatoosh Island rather than go around the outside and we headed down the coast of WA. This is an area where there are almost no roads so the only ways to see it are by boat or by air.

It stayed calm for a couple of hours but then the seas started to build. By lunch time it was getting REAL nasty with the marine weather saying 4’-7’ seas and I believe every bit of that. We were running about 9-10 kts as we headed south but after awhile we stepped that up so we were doing about 12-13kts. The seas continued to build so we had to slow back down a bit.

To make a long story short, this day seemed like it would never end. The seas were on our stbd bow so we were rolling a bit and at times it seemed like we were going to drop into a hole between the waves. Spray going everywhere, the wind blowing the spray over the boat, and nobody on board could stand up without leaning against something or hanging tight to something.

But all good things must come to an end and finally it did. As we came down the coast and got into the channel to cross the infamous Columbia River Bar, we were taking the seas on our stern. They calmed down a lot and as we crossed the bar we were in about a 2’-3’ swell with a light chop on top. We crossed the bar in the calmest seas we’d seen for hours.

So here we are, tied to the dock and it’s time for a toddy. For dinner we’re having the halibut filet that the Indians gave us last night and as soon as my head and stomach settle down a bit I’ll get to the cooking duties.

I have some photos but the internet service here is pretty spotty and it will take some time to upload them. I’ll post them as soon as I can.

Bruised and battered GFC
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