SPECIAL DELIVERY

tation 46087 of NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center floats north of Washington’s Cape Flattery at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 85 nautical miles from Port Townsend’s Blue Moose Café, the hippie-meets-shipwright breakfast and lunch joint hard by the town’s working quays. We had just enjoyed their fine breakfast and as we lingered a bit over coffee, Capt. Jackson Willett spied the latest report from the buoy and nonchalantly read aloud the detailed summary: “Southwest wind 15 to 20 knots. Wind waves 8 to 10 feet, with a wind-driven swell of 8 feet at 8 seconds.” He took a last sip of his joe, stood up and declared, “Gonna be sporty!” With that, we exited the establishment, made our way to the Beneteau Swift Trawler 47 and prepped for the run to Neah Bay just off Flattery where we planned to top off on diesel before heading offshore into the