Commodore's Cruise to South Sound - Day 1 at Longbranch

We headed out of Everett today to join up with the Edmonds Yacht Club at Longbranch. They left on Friday and headed to Gig Harbor but we decided to keep our eBay business open until this morning. Bob shipped our items last night so we could get an early start. We left the marina at 7:30am and had a beautiful trip to Longbranch.

Along the way, we passed Tillicum Village on Blake Island which is a well known tourist attraction with salmon dinner and Native American dancing and cultural displays.

As we cruised south we were welcomed to the South Sound by the Narrows Bridge near Tacoma.

We have never cruised south of Seattle except the morning we picked up our boat in Olympia. There is so much to see and it is really a beautiful area. On our left we passed the Chambers  Bay Golf Course where the U.S. Open was held this summer. I was relieved to see their brown grass and to discover I'm not the only one that can't keep my grass green in this unusually dry summer.

Another interesting site was the former state penitentiary on McNeil Island. The McNeil Island Corrections Center closed is doors in 2011. The small island also contains 52 homes and a K-12 elementary school.

We made great time getting to Longbranch and arrived about 3:00pm. We gathered for a salad potluck on the dock and enjoyed the company of the other EYC cruisers. Longbranch is a nice, quiet little place to go but there is nowhere to go once you are there. However, we did have a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier from the bow.