29 January 2023: The Maiden Voyage of Beagle Spirit Last night, Jan 28, 2023 the Beagle Spirits was made official. We completed a de-naming ceremony for Freezing Rain followed by a naming ceremony for Beagle Spirit. A green sprig was affixed to our bow for the ceremony and first sail. We gifted Neptune a splash of some fine Talisker Scotch and humbly asked for his blessing upon our new boat. We finished with a toast to safety, adventure, speed and smooth sailing upon Beagle Spirit.
On Sunday, we headed out of Elliott Bay Marina for an inaugural sail. It was cold and brisk, but crystal-clear sunshine with 10 kts of wind. We tacked up the Sound toward Shilshole Marina, enjoyed our auto furling main and genoa. We had amazing views in all directions: Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount Olympus, and the Seattle skyline. Despite the mid-winter day, there were several other sailboats out enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoon. Brett successfully got us back into our slip stern in—not a simple maneuver.
31 January 2023: Though the day was cloudy and temperatures were in the high 30’s, we decided to venture out on a short expedition for lunch and a hike. We departed Elliott Bay Marina around at half past noon, headed to Blakely Bay on the recommendation of the Salish Sea Guide. Blakely Bay is a small bay lined by beautiful houses with a grand view of the Seattle skyline only 5 miles distant. We anchored for the first time, in about 25 feet of water. Since we hadn’t used the anchor before, we were unfamiliar with the chain marking system, so we erred on the side of caution and put down about 150 feet of chain with the Bruce anchor. There was no wind. Lunch in the cockpit was warm enough. We also tried the dinghy for the first time, enjoying the experience of lowering it to the water with our new, smooth lines. Then we lowered the 15HP Yamaha 2 stroke outboard and connected the fuel. When it didn’t start, we realized it was missing the kill switch key, so I held it up manually and the motor roared to life. We powered to full plane and skimmed around the bay for a couple minutes (we were the only ones out on the water). The dinghy planed quite easily and tracked well.
Once we felt comfortable with the starting and running of the outboard, we headed in and beached the dinghy. It was nice to discover that with just the two of us we could drag it up on the beach. We explored the trails around the old mill pond, and made our way to a small but beautifully kept cemetery about a half mile to the north. After admiring a few stones, we headed back to the boat and motored back to the marina, where we decided to try going bow in for the first time. It wasn’t perfect, but we managed to get tied up on the second try. All in all a great day!
Then we headed to Jazz Alley for dinner and show by the Highway 99 All stars.
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