Before I Leave Westport, More Random Photos...

A fun little fishing town, for sure, with lots of different personalities and sights!

 "Westport's Finest," always on duty.

It's a mannequin!
His lips are stained from lipstick!

 "The Blue Buoy's" awesome blueberry pancakes!

Chock-full of blueberries!  No scrimping here!

A brown pelican came up to Coni and I aboard s/v Rage.

"That's MR. Pelican, to you, miss..."

Is this the Bill Gates-mobile???

The "Lady Washington" tied up behind Trimming, dwarfing us.

The Coasties came in low above us, carrying a data collecting unit, probably from a buoy offshore.

What's this??? 

 It's our new 12v Deep Freezer for the boat!

Gunna fill it with fish!

"Blue Eyes," a commercial fishing boat, being prepared to be "shrinkwrapped" for the winter.

Seriously. 

One side almost completed.

More National Geographic and Another Awesome Fresnel Lens!

Paul was busy with "boat duties" today so Barry, Coni and I did a bit of exploring.  We went to the Westport Maritime Museum, and amongst assorted Coast Guard artifacts there was a special building that housed another amazing Fresnel lens from the Destruction Island lighthouse, which has not been active since 2008 with the inception of GPS.

This complete lens and mechanism is housed in a building that was built specially for it.  Even though it has a bulb inside, it still refracts a lot of natural lighting. 

The specs are:  

1st Order Fresnel Lens, installed during 1891 on Destruction island Lighthouse, 40 nm North of Westport.

Manufactured in 1888 in Paris, France.  In service from 1892 until 1995 (103 years).

1176 prisms and 24 lenses (bullseyes) in 24 vertical segments, each giving a 10-second flash.

Weight:  6-8 tons, glass alone is 2 tons.

Lens height:  7'10", diameter is 6'3", total height is 18 ft.

Illumination:  First 50 years with oil lantern, since 1942 with 1,000 watt bulb.

Light visible for 25 miles (horizon).

Before electrification, lens turned by weight on chain, cranked up every two hours.

The handiwork in this is mind-boggling!

The entire fixture was rotating like it used to in the lighthouse.

After the Maritime Museum, we drove to the look-out area to get the scope of how big Grays Harbor is.  The entrance is 2 miles wide and the "bar" is tricky/dangerous due to the Chehalis River trying to flow out to the Pacific.  

You can see the river trying to flow out, causing very strong rip currents.

VERY low tide, you do not want to try to exit the bar at this time.

Oh yes, National Geographic...

Big male with his harem. 

We were told to stay clear of him, he's very aggressive.

More raccoons! 

Whatchu lookin' at?

Tonight's sunset, looking towards the Pacific...

Oh yeah, did I mention there's pixies at Westport Marina??

BIG Waves and National Geographic

Wow, the high gale force winds we had yesterday took its toll on the ocean.  The water is still so out-of-control even today.  The Coast Guard radio says 22 ft. seas every 14 seconds, and are not allowing certain vessels to come into the harbor, the waves are 3-deep across the bar.  No one is crossing today.

The Lookout area, with the waves washing over the breakwater. 

More wild water coming over the breakwater.

 The roadway was flooded, over a foot of sea water to drive through.

Yikes.

The beach by our condo, Paul taking a stroll. 

Wild waves here too, we actually had to run from a couple of them.

As far as we could see, there was whitewater and huge waves all the way out.  It sounded like Waimea at 30 feet.

And now, back to National Geographic...

 Two deer from our lanai.

 Our condo, we are the third window from the left, downstairs.

The pathway thru the tall grass.  Very East coast!

 Paul walking towards the beach through the Christmas trees!

Ewww.
Sea Foam Face.

Mr. and Mrs. Raccoon, cruising for scraps.  They got soaked when the waves broke over the seawall.

They weren't happy... 

"Honey, I told you we should go to the crab pots across the street, but NOOOOOO..."

Pelican.

Stay tuned, the day ain't over yet!

A VERY Windy, Rainy Day

The www.sailflow.com forecast for today is spot ON!  I saw gusts of up to 33 knots on Trimming's anemometer, and it's been raining since very early this morning.  Just standing on the dock, my jeans were soaked, and I, SURPRISE!, got cold.

Coming into the dock area. 

View from "Trimming," socked-in and cold.
Even the seagulls weren't flying and were just sitting on the dock.

The local Coast Guard radio said 22-25 ft. seas, 14-seconds with visibility at 1000 ft.  SCARY to be out there!

Earlier in the day, we drove into Aberdeen town to do a little exploring and with me being a shopper,  we drove to the mall and walked around in it.  

It was kind of depressing, there was virtually no one in the mall except the employees in the stores, which was few and far between.  From what we saw of the mall, we estimated that 60-70% of the storefronts were vacant.

Logging and fishing used to be big here, but its not what it used to be, so people moved away.

 No one to the left...

...no one to the right.

So, we left.

The drive back to Westport was crazy windy and rainy!

View from the car. 

 Whitecaps all over the place.

This photo is NOT out-of-focus, it's RAIN! 

Not fog either...RAIN!

So now we are sitting at Half Moon Bay Restaurant, getting warm and dry, awaiting the Cowboys/Redskins game.

GO COWBOYS!

Monday, the First Day of the Big Winds

The wind speed indicator on the boat, already blowing 30 knots just inside the harbor!  Imagine what 60 miles out would be like at gale force.

Trimming's American and Hawaiian flags flapping straight out in the strong winds. 

"The Blue Buoy," our daily hang-out for wi-fi, the BEST blueberry pancakes and service!

Stay tuned for more updates, the day's not over yet!

Cabela's Sportman's Outfitters Store

NEVER...have I seen so many dead, stuffed animals in one place in my entire life!

Cabela's, a huge (178,000 square feet!) "sportsman's outfitter's" store.  You can find everything (except the 12v cooler we wanted to buy) and guns, guns, guns GALORE...if you're into guns and killing animals.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hold it against anyone if you want to hunt, it's just something I couldn't see myself doing:  I'd go vegetarian first.

Hmmmm...

Getting "camouflage," in my opinion, is NOT hunting, nor is "baiting and waiting" high up in a tree.  The Native Americans were "true" hunters and they didn't rely on all this stuff.

Anyway, there was a huge display of all these animals, and I have to admit that it was very tastefully done...all the animals on display were real, with the exception of the African bull elephant, the rhino and the bald eagle (gee, how nice of them).

Polar bear and musk ox. 

Lynx. 

"Hey, I think it's a male..." 

Goofy (dead) prairie dog stuffed in a holde.
Sad.

Bull sea lion, on loan from the Smithsonian (thanks, Sarah!), they weigh between 1200-2500 lbs. 

A spectacular animal, shot in Alaska.

A real Piper Cub flying thru the store.
Paul said it's a favorite of animal killers...
see the moose rack on the wing?

Cabela's also had two displays of bear traps, but I won't get into talking about those...