Day 254 You can't get there from here.

There is no way to get from Seattle out of the state by road unless you get really creative.  All the main highways are flooded.  The main road South(I-5) is flooded and closed for about a 20 mile stretch.  The roads east through the mountains are covered with avalanches.  They're are now talking on the news about upcoming food shortages since the trucks can't get through.   The buses and Amtrak can't get through.  Horizon Airlines has added lots of flights and given cut rate fares so people can get between Seattle and Portland.  As far as the local television stations are concerned, nothing else has happened in the world.  They expect to have at least I-5 open later on today.  There are lots of semis lined up along the road just waiting to get back on the road.

Ah, the joys of youth.  As we left Zephyr yesterday morning, there was a group of high school kids putting on life jackets to take a rowing class on one of wooden boats here at the marina.  I guess one of the PE classes at the school is "Rowing".  I saw one girl in a VERY short skirt and a life jacket about to climb on board.  Not a single one was dressed for a day of rowing especially since with in an hour, the winds were blowing at the 20 to 25 knot range.  As of sundown, they were still not back.  I guess they found a place to put in down the coast to wait it out.  I figure they will be back sometime today as the wind has let up.

We headed back to Safeway for some forgotten provisions.  Since we couldn't find every thing we needed, we decided to head down the road to Port Hadlock to another market.  QFC is the only competition in the area as far as groceries go.   The market there had remodeled last year and was a nice bright store with lots of things we couldn't get at Safeway.  We even found B & M Brown Bread to go with our baked beans.  We had looked in lots of markets around here for it with no success until yesterday.  It is one of the meals I grew up with.

Once we were done there, we took off on another road trip to explore Indian Island and Marrowstone Island.  Indian Island is just about entirely taken up by a military base.  Marrowstone Island isn't so we toured there mostly.  We stopped at Mystery Bay as it had been recommended as a great place to anchor for a few days.  It's well protected since it is in the cut between the two islands.  We also toured Fort Flagler.  A long since closed military bast that had been created to protect the Puget Sound from foreign invaders.  It was part of three forts here in the sound that made it pretty much impossible to get past without getting shot up.  From 1907 to 1926, the guns there had only been fired 16 times and never at an enemy.  It got closed shortly after WWII. Now it is primarily a convention sight where you can rent the old houses and building for company or for a nice Summer visit. 

Upon our return, we found that most of Port Townsend was blacked out.  No power through most of the town.  Even McDonalds was closed!!  Point Hudson had had a blackout, but by the time we got there, they had the power back on.  Since the winds were hitting the mid-30 knot range, I figure some tree some where came down and trashed the power lines.  By 3pm, they had the power all back on.

As we came back from pumping out the heads the other day, I came into the dock a bit faster than I should have and one of the fenders(big rubber bumpers that hangs off the side of the boat)along Zephyrs side took it personally and popped.  Blew right out the top around where the line goes through to hold it onto the boat.  I called the manufacturer and they said to send it back to them and they would probably replace it.  Most fenders come with a "lifetime" warranty.  I actually read theirs just for fun.  The fender does have a "lifetime" warranty as long as you have the original receipt(must be the original owner), never expose it to sunlight(UV rays) or harsh chemicals, stress, water or any thing else you can imagine.  If it was an "act of God", you are out of luck.  I sent it back to them yesterday.    I expect to hear back from them some time next week.  Who know, maybe I'll get lucky.  

Most fender manufacturers will replace any fender that ever goes wrong.  I had one on our last boat that collapsed.  Since the boat was sailed at over 8,000 feet up on Lake Granby in Colorado, when it was brought back to Denver(5,280 feet), the fenders tended to collapse.  Fenders are now made to be inflated with a bicycle pump(easier to ship).  These were not that kind of fender.  I sent it back--all collapsed--and they replaced it, no questions asked.  

The winds continued till late last night and are calm now.  We'll see how the day progresses.