Just because the potable water hose you just installed looks the same as what’s already installed on your boat, it doesn’t mean it is.

I recently modified our water system to allow us to hook up to the dock water supply. What a wonderful idea, right?

Well, almost.

Everything seemed wonderful as I filled a glass at the sink to take a sip and then passed it to my wife. Wow, that was plastic flavored water at its worst. My wife grimaced and asked “Is it always going to taste like that?”

The offending hose was only three feet long so it should clear up after a day or two, right? Not a chance. We were not willing to live with that taste so I found the RIGHT hose and quickly swapped it out.

If it smells like a garden hose it will taste like a garden hose. Get the right stuff.
Happy water, happy boat, lesson learned.

We pulled into Oak Harbor with 25 knot winds and shallow water, making things very interesting. Luckily the wind was on our nose as we approached the slip so we were able to dock with little drama. The marina’s transient moorage is out on their floating breakwater, where its massive structure protects you from all sorts of nasty waves and windblown debris. That night, despite the gusty winds, we slept well.

As predicted, the winds calmed overnight and we woke to a peaceful day, perfect for our last passage of the trip south. It would also be our longest at nearly 37 nm. I plan our passages based on an average boat speed of 5 knots, and in most cases this is pretty accurate. So, with a 7+ hour trip ahead of us we pushed off the dock at 9am with coffee in hand and a following current to help us along.

The next five or so hours were uneventful. Not boring, but the busy boat traffic I had expected just wasn’t there. I realize that Possession Sound holds little interest for large commercial traffic, but we traveled for hours and encountered only three or four small boats. For such a large waterway, that’s practically deserted.

The south end of Possession Sound opens onto Puget Sound, the largest body of water we would be crossing. It would take 1.5 hours to travel over to Kitsap Peninsula, where our winter berth in Kingston was waiting.
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With our AIS busily hunting for ferries and cargo ships plying the shipping lanes, we rounded Possession Point and started across. Off in the distance I could just make out the Kingston-Edmonds ferries, and closer, one tug and barge were slowly headed south. Other than that, we were alone, and we stayed that way for the trip across. I wasn’t exactly disappointed. After all, dodging freighters isn’t on my fun-things-todo list. But none? All the way across? After all the anticipation it felt a little strange.

After an hour and a half we quietly ducked around a ferry being loaded at the Kingston dock and into Apple Tree cove. We called the marina on 66A, but no one answered, so we just as quietly found our slip and tied up. Our weeks long trip from Canada was over. Now it was time to take a look at our new home.