On July 30th, we left Victoria at 9:45 a.m. to make our way to Port Angeles. It had been foggy the last couple of days. When we got half way to Port Angeles, we could still see Victoria; however, it was slightly foggy towards Port Angeles. We could see the mountaintops of the Olympic Peninsula but unfortunately, the fog got thicker and did not dissipate as it was forecasted to do. We navigated by GPS and blew our horn when needed. We listened to the Coast Guard traffic station for freighters. We could hear them, and even smell them, from a distance and navigated outside the shipping lanes as best we could. We sailed most of the way until we arrived at the bay into Port Angeles, as the fog was much thicker. At one point, Marty thought a large black spot ahead was an island but it was actually an oil tanker 100 metres away, so we navigated around it (which was a good thing).
Harder to navigate around were the thousands of crab pots that were put down everywhere in the bay - even in the entrance to the marina. We are amazed there is a crab left down there.
We finally arrived at the marina, checked in with U.S. customs. During our sail, we were in contact with Karen & Jim from Sockdolager. They left Sooke after being socked in with the fog for a few days. They left in the fog that day and went straight across Juan Fuca Strait, then motor sailed along the coast to Port Angeles. We greeted them when they arrived and had a spot for them booked on the dock beside us. It was fantastic to see them again.
We went out for dinner at a pub called “Bar Nine.” They had a live band there. We had so-so pizzas but great local beer. We also had a few dances. There was a great family next to us. We commented on their interesting jello shooters in oversized hypodermic needles. Within a few minutes, they came over with another set of needles for us. So, needless to say, we had jello shooters!
