On Thursday, August 2, we got serious about getting back to Brownsville Marina and Seabeck. We have been gone exactly 3 weeks now. We gathered our resources for the quick run behind Whidbey Island down to Kingston. Then it is a quick hop around the corner to Abby Normal’s home in Brownsville Marina.

On Friday I took a full length video of our transit of Deception Pass. It is “boring.” so you will only get to see clips of it. I really needed to get a video of the North bound trip. There we rushed the timing to pass through the rapids a few minutes early, and the ride was wild. This time we rushed the timing by a full 20 minutes and it was flat water and a light following wind. The difference is due to three factors, the phase of the moon, it was a week after a full moon. We are having “neap tides” and the tide simply doesn’t go up and down very much. Second: we chose the high slack time period to pass through Deception Pass. So the water is full depth and the rocky bottom doesn’t throw up the big standing waves we get on the low ebb. Finally there was little wind outside the pass to throw wind waves at the cliffs. “Boring.” It was a little chilly this morning at 7 am with s threat of
rain. In the afternoon that cleared away and we are set for more idyllic warm weather.

One of the things that Judy, Glen and I found fun to do has been a bird walk each morning. The sun rises early these days we’re not inclined to sleep in. About 5:30 a.m. We gather up the camera and my cell phone and choose a so called “Hot Spot.” Recently Judy has been doing all of the camera work. I keep track of the identified birds in an application called e-birds. The e birds app is a free application for tracking your bird finds and helping you identify birds. It does more than that. You start by identifying where you are going go birding. You then indicate if you’re going to move or stay in one spot. You then pick a spot that other people have birded at, or create one of your own spots, like your own back yard. E-bird sets up a bird list containing birds that would be expected in your area.
While the app is running, it tracks where you go by GPS, and how much time you spend. You add new birds by scrolling to the correct species and tapping the counter. You can search out species by typing a few letters of the name.
If you are unsure of the bird’s identity, you click on the name and a page is opened with access to photos and details about the bird. Things like range and voice help narrow down the possible choices. When you finish your walk you check off a couple of information blanks and submit the report right from your smart phone.
This next part you might want to do first.  Go to ebird.org and sign up for an account. You link your mobile app to this account. When you submit a list it shows up in your account here. You can then edit your check-lists,  add photos, add or delete species etc.
As I write this,  we are on the last leg of “The Grand Adventure.” When we pass through Agate Pass,  we will enters Abby Normal’s home waters. That will be the sign that we are finished. The next task is to pack all the gear up the ramp to the cars and clean up Abby Normal.
I didn’t get this posted on Sunday, but the thought is the same. Here are photos of our motley crew.
On Thursday, August 2, we got serious about getting back to Brownsville Marina and Seabeck. We have been gone exactly 3 weeks now. We gathered our resources for the quick run behind Whidbey Island down to Kingston. Then it is a quick hop around the corner to Abby Normal’s home in Brownsville Marina. On Friday I took a full length video of our transit of Deception Pass. It is “boring.” so you will only get to see clips of it. I really needed to get a video of the North bound trip. There we rushed the timing to pass through the rapids a few minutes early, and the ride was wild. This time we rushed the timing by a full 20 minutes and it was flat water and a light following wind. The difference is due to three factors, the phase of the moon, it was a week after a full moon. We are having “neap tides” and the tide simply doesn’t go up and down very much. Second: we chose the high slack time period to pass through Deception Pass. So the water is full depth and the rocky bottom doesn’t throw up the big standing waves we get on the low ebb. Finally there was little wind outside the pass to throw wind waves at the cliffs. “Boring.” It was a little chilly this morning at 7 am with s threat of
rain. In the afternoon that cleared away and we are set for more idyllic warm weather.

One of the things that Judy, Glen and I found fun to do has been a bird walk each morning. The sun rises early these days we’re not inclined to sleep in. About 5:30 a.m. We gather up the camera and my cell phone and choose a so called “Hot Spot.” Recently Judy has been doing all of the camera work. I keep track of the identified birds in an application called e-birds. The e birds app is a free application for tracking your bird finds and helping you identify birds. It does more than that. You start by identifying where you are going go birding. You then indicate if you’re going to move or stay in one spot. You then pick a spot that other people have birded at, or create one of your own spots, like your own back yard. E-bird sets up a bird list containing birds that would be expected in your area.
While the app is running, it tracks where you go by GPS, and how much time you spend. You add new birds by scrolling to the correct species and tapping the counter. You can search out species by typing a few letters of the name.
If you are unsure of the bird’s identity, you click on the name and a page is opened with access to photos and details about the bird. Things like range and voice help narrow down the possible choices. When you finish your walk you check off a couple of information blanks and submit the report right from your smart phone.
This next part you might want to do first.  Go to ebird.org and sign up for an account. You link your mobile app to this account. When you submit a list it shows up in your account here

. You can then edit your check-lists,  add photos, add or delete species etc.
As I write this,  we are on the last leg of “The Grand Adventure.” When we pass through Agate Pass,  we will enters Abby Normal’s home waters. That will be the sign that we are finished. The next task is to pack all the gear up the ramp to the cars and clean up Abby Normal.
I didn’t get this posted on Sunday, but the thought is the same. Here are photos of our motley crew.

20180803 The Grand Adventure – Part 4 Return: