From the Archives
Hood Canal Cruise
Nine classic yachts, six days on one of Washington's prettiest waterways and a giant CYA burgee on the Alderbrook flagpole: the Pacific Northwest Fleet's 2022 summer cruise.
After the 2021 Bell Harbor event, I headed out with my sister and brother-in-law, Becky and Alex Endzell, to Hood Canal. Alex is our new CYA webmaster. We had a fabulous cruise, despite the 100+ degree temperatures. I decided right then that the CYA Summer Cruise for 2022 should be down Hood Canal. I organized a fabulous cruise for CYA boats which left on Monday, June 20, 2022, the day after Bell Harbor concluded.
Joining the Marian II were Patamar, Faun, Gladsong II from Canada, Thelonius, Aloha, Blue Peter, Riptide and Maranee. Williwaw joined us for the first hour of the cruise only, suffering an overheated engine in Elliott Bay and having to turn back.
Our first stop was Port Ludlow. We enjoyed a wonderful cocktail party event aboard the Blue Peter and appreciated the gracious hospitality of owners Chuck and Linda Barbo and Captain Scott Gienow. Unfortunately, Blue Peter had to leave the cruise right after Port Ludlow but we loved having her splendor and elegance on our first night out. After being aboard Blue Peter, we headed for the huge barbecue tent at Port Ludlow and enjoyed burgers and hotdogs and other items including some scrumptious sides and desserts. Thank you, Larry and Tina of Thelonius, for organizing this barbecue event!
Tuesday morning, we were underway for Pleasant Harbor. Another lovely marina and a barbecue around the pool and hot tub with our left-over items from the night before.
Wednesday morning off for Alderbrook. It was a lovely and scenic cruise. On arrival for our two-night stay, we pulled out our large 4x6 foot CYA burgee courtesy of Seaborn Flags and posed for a photo and hoisted it on the Alderbrook Flagpole to announce our arrival. That evening we had a lovely barbecue dinner under the tent on the lawn. Delicious food and wonderful company. Thursday was a day to enjoy everything Alderbrook has to offer. My Marian II crew, Beth Featherstone, is an avid hiker and she went hiking on one of the many trails nearby. I had made a reservation for a massage at the spa months before, imagine my delight and surprise to hear that PNW Commodore Tina Stotz had taken up a collection at Bell Harbor to pay for this service; and I enjoyed 90 minutes on the massage table courtesy of CYA Bell Harbor Attendees. Thank you SO much! Thursday night many of us enjoyed dinner in the recently remodeled dining room at Alderbrook with delicious cuisine and surprisingly reasonable prices. All of us highly recommend Alderbrook!
Friday morning, we were underway northbound again for Pleasant Harbor. Upon arrival at Pleasant Harbor, we enjoyed the sun and later went up to their restaurant where a dinner had been arranged for us of lasagna, salad, garlic bread and cheesecake. We were joined by members of the Pleasant Harbor Yacht Club. Some of us closed out the evening with a dip in the hot tub at Pleasant Harbor.
On Saturday morning cruise attendees went their own ways, some headed back to Seattle, some went to Port Madison on Bainbridge for a few days, etc.
Special thanks to Captain Peter Reiss for serving as dockmaster for our cruise and for calculating tides and currents and determining the best departure and arrival times.
Cruising with other classics is so much fun. We were quite a sight everywhere we went, and people enjoyed seeing our boats.
