Tour de Dung 2, the gals

Here are some of the women who raced in the Tour de Dung on Saturday. And it bears repeating: It’s not off-roading through barnyards. It’s “Dung” as in “Dungeness.”

There aren’t as many women racers as men, but there’s a good enough turnout that it looks competitive. Bikers will race again this coming Saturday. If you’re local, do watch out for bicyclists and give them wide berth.

This competition is billed as a good warm-up competition for early season racing. I’ll post some final Tour photos tomorrow.

Tour de Dung 1, the guys

The bicyclists rolled into town yesterday for the annual “Tour de Dung.” “Dung,” as in “Dungeness,” the location. The Sequim Daily Photo roadside experts (moi) concluded that there were a lot of them. Today the guys pedal by. I’ll post shots of some of the gals tomorrow.

We had March “rainshadow” weather, everything but sleet and snow. Light mist turned to rain and then the wind picked up. And there was sun by the time it was all over. For the casual viewer standing idly by it was cold.

Bicycles are quiet vehicles and there’s not a lot of conversation. But there’s a palpable rush of wind and energy as the tide of racers passes.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you of the Irish persuasion!

Spring break for the birds

This is Protection Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Discovery and Sequim Bays. It’s just far enough from shore that it doesn’t lend itself to a good, clear shot. But it’s an interesting place. This is Puget Sound’s location for the avian version of spring break.

Protection Island is a 364-acre national wildlife refuge closed humans but it’s a hotspot for Washington state birds. An estimated 70% of the nesting seabird populations of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca come here. It’s home to one of the largest nesting colonies of rhinocerous auklets in the world and one of the last two nesting colonies of tufted puffins in the Puget Sound area.

There is a 200 yard buffer zone around the island so taking closeups of the feathered visitors is off the table.

Builders at work

It takes a village to build a boat. Last Friday they discovered a hitch with a piece of the precut lumber and there was some focused problem-solving on the shop floor. Once solved, each builder was walked through the work-around and everyone moved forward.

The shop is a beehive of activity. Here’s a view of the goings on from the second floor which has a glassed in view of the large, bright shop. There are six new boats being built here. A seventh is substantially completed but still undergoing the perennial tinkering that’s a passion of some boaters.