Andrew's Bay Lake Washington

Mostly cloudy with some rain and a high of 62. I’m very happy with my change in choice to come into Lake Washington today rather than spending another day in Poulsbo. After leaving Kingston, I crossed Puget Sound to the east side, and then cruised down the shoreline until turning in to Shilshole Bay and the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Some nice “ocean” homes along the shore in Richmond Beach, but too many other photos to upload those. Captured a Bald Eagle sitting on a buoy (maybe weather related buoy), and a train along the shoreline. I very much enjoy the industrial and mechanical views, so trains, bridges, river industry, etc, were kind of my thing today. The Shilshole Bay marina is filled with sailboats, and you can easily see all their masts behind the breakwater before turning in for the ship canal. I had to wait about an hour before the locks were opened. There was one other boat also waiting. Eventually several boats coming the other direction were locked down and once they left the gate was closed again. One of the larger boats that came out, turned around and waited to go back up. Ended up we were waiting for the “Argosy”, a Seattle sightseeing tour boat. Once he got into the locks, the rest of us were allowed in. They had me raft on the boat that I had originally been waiting with. I guess the locktenders will frequently have boats raft together to keep everybody on the north wall. And since I was single handling, it made my life a lot easier. They have a small and large chamber at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. The small chamber is normally used for small pleasure craft. However it is currently closed for maintenance, so we were in the large lock. It only took about 15 minutes to fill the chamber and complete our lockage up. Once the gates were opened and I departed, it was like entering an entirely different atmosphere. Definitely boat industrial. Small boats, big boats, fishing boats, tug boats, shipyards, sunken boats, expensive boats, rusty boats… I believe this was called Salmon Bay. Many “working” marinas as well. Eventually the waterway of hodgepodge boats and facilities added floating homes and homes along the shore. At one point there was a good view of downtown Seattle and the Space Needle. The canal passes through the north end of Lake Union and then Portage Bay Lake and then into Lake Washington. I turned south to go under the elevated portion of the Evergreen Point Pontoon Bridge, and down the west shore, crossing under the Lacey V. Murrow Bridge (another pontoon or floating bridge with elevated spans at both ends allowing boat passage) to Andrew’s Bay. This Bay is surrounded by very nice homes on the west side, and forest with a park on the east side. Very peaceful in this bay, and it’s the only place on Lake Washington that one is allowed to anchor. I was here by myself most the day. I see another larger boat has come in and anchored a 100 yards or so away.Read more