Duwamish Head Race-The Race That Wasn't ...Again!

The Duwamish Head Race is the second race of the four race South Sound Series. This race is sponsored by Three Tree Point Yacht Club and starts at the Des Moines Marina breakwater.The course this year was to be raced in the opposite direction from previous years.  After the start, the course then heads north around Blakely Rocks east across Puget Sound into Elliott Bay, around the Duwamish Head light (leaving them to starboard). After rounding Duwamish Head light, the course continues south to the finish off the Des Moines Marina breakwater. The total length is 30.8 NM. Even though this race is run in the middle of the winter, the winds are often light and the course has been shortened at the Duwamish Head mark several times since I started racing it.

I was underway at 0745 for the delivery to Des Moines. The wind was very calm and there were some patches of fog. The fog was especially thick between Manchester and Blake Island. I arrived at the Des Moines Marina at about 1110. And tied up in my usual spot. The sun came out and I opted to walk uptown and explore. I especially wanted to find a used book/DVD store as I have been looking for a specific DVD. I found the store location, but it was gone and the building red flagged. I checked on my smart phone and found another location for the store. But after I retraced my steps several blocks, I found the strip mall was almost entirely vacant and no used book/DVD store. Poor Des Moines seems to be withering away.

Saturday morning Jim, Tim and Tom arrived at 0645 to pick me up for breakfast. We could only find two places in Des Moines that offered breakfast, so we went to a small cafe where I had eaten breakfast before only to find that it did not open until 0800, too late for us. We then chose the alternate location: Jack In The Box.

After breakfast, the rest of the crew arrived, we rigged the boat and headed out to the starting area. There was no wind. We idled around for about an hour and a half when the race committee canceled the race at about 1100. It is funny that a year ago, this race was cancelled for exactly the opposite conditions, too much wind: Duwamish Head Race-The Race That Wasn't I don't think anyone was upset about the decision to cancel the race. There was another sporting event later that day and many wanted to get home to their television sets.

After unrigging the boat and dropping the crew off on the dock, I "raced" another boat back to Brownsville. The other boat is much larger than mine and motors much faster. But practiced my current evasion techniques and course selection and arrived back at Brownsville by 1420 ahead of the faster boat by a few minutes. I was home in plenty of time to watch the Seahawks game on TV.

Thanks to my crew of Jim, Tom, Tim, Rainer, Walter and Kathleen for showing up and drifting around for a while.

 Moored in Des Moines in my usual location.

 Race morning. There was no wind. Surprisingly, it was warm.

No wind. we did not even try to put the sails up.