We just got back last night from a weekend trip to Gray's harbor (on the Washington coast). Both days (saturday and sunday) were great sailing days, with the wind an almost constant NW @ ~15 knots and morning clouds burning off by around noon. On saturday we put our M17 in at Westport marina and sailed out over the bar into the Pacific ocean proper. We had double checked the conditions since sailing out into the ocean from here can be quite dangerous at times (the coast guard will even close the bar at times and issue fines to boats attempting to cross the bar under bad conditions). But we only had swells of about 5 to 7 feet, with the 15 knot wind. It was quite fun and we made very swift progress with the constant dependable wind. A big change from the light and variable winds that always seem to plague the sound.
On Sunday we sailed over to Hoquiam from Westport, really cruising at an average of 5.5 knots the whole way! Gray's harbor is an excellent place to practice your navigation skills. We had just completed the US Sailing coastal nav course at Windworks sailing and it was nice to be able to recognize all of the navigation aids, correctly read the charts, and not get stuck in the mud! :-) Rick M17 635 Eidolon _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
