Thursday, 28July2016: Dockton to Des Moines

Weather:  Sunny and warm.  Winds:  Light.  Seas:  Flat.

We needed to get to Des Moine and headed out around 1000 after walking the dogs and a pleasant breakfast.  With so little wind, we motored the distance.  The flood tide was against us, but we found a back eddy along the beach on the SE side of Maury Island.  The nice thing about motoring close to shore is being able to take in the wildlife along the beach and see the houses up close and personal.  Definitely helps to break up the monotony.

Much to our surprise, we came across the annual tribal canoe journey as they rounded Maury Island's east and south side, as they rounded Robinson Point.  Quite a parade of canoes.  See here and here for photos and story.

From Robinson Point, it is a short, 2nm jaunt across the Puget Sound to Des Moines.  The marina seemed a little tight, probably because of all the time tied to Freestyle in Gig Harbor and the openness of Dockton.  I'd talked with the marina staff and they were not expecting a crowd and they gave us the go ahead to leave Strider spread.  This may also have contributed!

Des Moines advertises the least expensive fuel in the area and there was a short line for the fuel dock. So, instead of jockeying around in the fairway and generally clogging up the place, we found an open slip a the head of the nearest dock and rested there on a spring line.  There was a little confusion when it was our turn for the fuel dock and the other boat backed off...turns out, they were Sparties!  Once fueled, we backed off the fuel dock and almost directly into our chosen slip.  Quite painless!