Grays Harbor Historical Seaport — Local services in Aberdeen

We took the 14 hour transit Anacortes to Seattle. Overall a great experience. We boarded at 5:30 am for a 6:00 sail away. We docked in Seattle at 8 pm. It was a very long day and surprisingly exhausting. Who knew being out in the elements would make us feel like that! It didn’t rain but it was cloudy and pretty cold until about 3. I had on a tank top, tshirt, sweatshirt, headband ear warmer and a gortex windbreaker jacket. I could have used one more layer and a pair of warmer gloves and a full on hat.

We saw sea lions, eagles and a humpback whale on this sail.

We got to where we would go under the draw bridges in Seattle about 3:30 and had to hang back until they started opening the bridges up again at 6. So we set sails (we’d motored all the way up so far) and sailed around the sound for a few hours. There were only a dozen passengers on the ship so we were able to stay out of the way reasonably well. I do think it would have been more challenging if there were more of us as there is not a lot of deck space to get out of the way. It was interesting watching the crew climb the ropes & set sails.

We then motored thru the locks and under 3 bridges (2 were drawn bridges that opened up for us 1 was not and it was a tight fit!). We went thru the Ballard locks which was very cool.

We were served coffee, breakfast (pancakes & bacon) and lunch (veggie soup & bread) and chocolate cupcakes towards the end of the sail. It was all delicious. I also packed some apples, cheese, crackers, nuts & bottled water. We definitely needed this as well. There was a limit of 2 pancakes, 1 piece of bacon and 1 piece of bread. So if you go I’d definitely pack food.

The Captain was extremely personable and engaging. She was very experienced and definitely handled the Lady confidently. The mascot Marlon the cat was very friendly and a really nice hand warmer lol. The crew was made up of 9 professional sailors and 7 volunteers on a 2 week program. The “real” sailors were mostly very friendly and very interested in talking about life at sea and serving on the Lady. One of them played music and sang which was quite unexpected and a very nice touch. I really enjoyed that.

If you are offended by the Pride flag she flies then this is not the experience for you. Keep your stereotypes and judgement on shore.

A few suggestions for the Lady Washington if you’re listening.

Do not advertise that we will be assigned a bunk on these transits as we definitely are not. We cannot even use the bunks. The bunks are filled with the personal belongings of the crew. This is where they live and these are their beds. Do not advertise that we will help work the sails or on the ship as we were not allowed to. They invited us to pull on a rope for one brief moment but the crew picked up the rope before we had a chance to participate. Serve better bread and don’t limit it to one slice. Your cook made an excellent veggie soup but that Wonderbread fake white bread was a real turn off. Real crusty bread is easy and cheap to bake or cheap enough to buy. The crew should have eaten their dinner below decks as we were not being served this meal. It was the end of the a long day and that veggie soup had long ago worn off. To watch someone eat when you’re hungry is unpleasant. I know the cook did their best by baking the cupcakes but sugar is not a good substitute and not what I was wanting at all. Dinner should have been included for the passengers. For goodness sake please introduce your crew by name! I guess I could have asked but I didn’t and now I can’t commend those that feel went above and beyond. Plus it makes for a much more social experience if you can use someone’s name while...

This was by far the most boring “adventure” I have ever been on. False advertising all around. We paid for the brunch tour. So it was extra. They said the cook would be up to take our orders soon and we had Mimosas while you wait. What happened was someone came up and asked if you wanted mimosa or orange juice. You got half a party cup of a beverage. Then they gave you a tiny muffin with orange, cranberry and chocolate in it. No other options. You take it or you don’t. Everyone thought that was an appetizer or something. Nope. That was brunch. Everyone was disappointed and hungry thinking there would be food. Kids were fussy and hungry. It was crowded. They dropped the sails which took quite a while but it was the only movement on the ship. They Used the engine to park in the middle of the harbor and stayed there for two hours not moving. It advertised as sailing around the harbor. Nope. You just sit there. Doing nothing. No music or entertainment. We all just played on our phones. No one hardly spoke. It was quiet and weird. No laughter or fun. The only redeeming fact was there was a cat on board we discovered and got to pet. The staff was very nice but it was just uneventful. Everyone wanted off after it was half over but you had to just sit there. You don’t go below the deck. That’s for the crew. So you take a few photos and wait to get off hiding under the canopy where not everyone fits. Thank goodness it wasn’t raining but it did get pretty hot without any wind. There was a quick history of the ship maybe mid way through that was a fast delivery and if you don’t care about history, it wasn’t interesting. Then it was back to complete silence. They asked for tips as you get off and everyone rushed to eat near by cause we were all so hungry. We were so disappointed after spending the money and driving so far for this. Even if they had just kept the engine going and drove around with the sails down it would have been better. Played some music. Something! Anything! Not an adventure. Just sitting on the water doing nothing and being hungry with a bunch of strangers that don’t want to talk. Don’t book unless you want that experience. The staff does what they can to open and close the sails but beyond that you’re just kind of in their way. I got to help pull a rope for a sail with 6 other people. So,...

I am sorry to say but this might be one of the worst experiences I have had in recent memory. The captain literally tells us that the seven hour journey will be fun and exciting for the first hour then be pretty boring after". We were told to hold off on going below deck until the crew cleaned up there stuff from sleeping there versus their quarters due to "an issue" the night before. After we departed the port we then found out the "issue" was bed bugs. Understandably we could not use the sails due to weather however the crew proceeded to lay on the upper deck reading, playing games below deck or sleeping. There was no communication about anything on the ship, history of the ship, or any of the area we were traveling through. Our family spent the day explaining the ship, its components and the landmarks to the kids during the ride. At lunch the crew ate first (multiple helpings) then fed the passengers which at that time there was not enough utensils for people to utilize so paying passengers literally were waiting for other passengers to wash their bowls so they could eat. One passenger who had a very small bowl went to get a second helping towards the end and I watched them turn him away saying it wasn't allowed (even after volunteering our portions). As the lunch was completed the crew informed us how to wash our dishes while some were literally playing patty cake right next to the kitchen. There was a water jug (sports cooler) for the passengers that had green moss inside the spout rendering it unusable. The captain while knowledgeable clearly was not enthused to be there and the crew portrayed the same attitude including hearing grumblings about the passengers. This vessel is amazing and has great opportunities but without question the 6 plus hour trip of just standing on the boat with no interaction was horrific. At the end there was a verbal request for gratuity with little to nothing being done for the passengers. At nearly $900 for our family we definitely could have found...