Weekend Update

Good weekend.  While Jodi was on east coast, I managed to squeak in a day at the boat show.  I saw some old friends and then learned a bit about hydraulic leaks.  Which was good, because I have one.

Sunday was an interesting day owing to an email I had received on Friday. A yacht club member had been tasked to show a visitor the Seattle Waterfront, and had sent out a general email to his distribution list.  Fortunately I was on the list owing to a committee I had served on.

The plan was to board a 47 foot powerboat and take a cocktail cruise around Seattle's waterfront.  Tough duty, but after much deliberation (about 3 seconds), I volunteered.

The visitor was from the "Clipper around the world race", so I forwarded the email to Andy and Jill as I knew they'd be interested (John, the club member with the boat, was trying to get as many people as he could given the short notice.

The clipper round the world race is chaired by one of my childhood heroes, Sir Robin Knox Johnson, winner of the first single handed round the world race in the 60's.  The current race is funded by corporate sponsors as well as the participants themselves.  There's a paid skipper, but the rest pay to be on specific legs of the race and spend between $5 and $10K per leg.

The participants undergo intense training as these racing boats are 75 foot sleds that can achieve speeds up to 30 knots

Michael was with the clipper organization and was scouting potential locations for the 2015 race.  We showed him the waterfront from the water and went into Bell Harbor, which would nicely showcase the racing yachts.

It was a great day cruise and learning about the mechanics of the race was interesting.  Michael was very much the British sailor having sailed 'the wrong way' around the world with Chay Blythe.  He was also a part time magistrate in England focusing on domestic violence disputes.  In particular same sex domestic violence cases.  Interesting fellow.

The cruise drew to a close at sunset.  I had walked the nearly 5 miles from shilshole (what a great walk!) and Any and Jill had sailed over from Port Madison, so the plan was for me to sail back with them to Shilshole.

We packed up our gear and thanked our host and then fired up Andy's boat and headed back.  

Andy and Jill are relative newcomers to Seattle but have fallen in love with the Northwest.  They are also raising their son 'Porter', now 8 months old, on their 39 foot sailboat.  Which led to some fun shots.

Andy is an accomplished sailor, having instructed sailing in the Virgin Islands.

The twilight faded and we continued to sail in the pitch dark back to shilshole, easily picking up the west point buoy and the channel markers leading back to the Marina.  That brought back pleasant childhood memories of racing with Dad under similar conditions.  

A great day.  And here's a 3 minute video of the event....

The above video is from you tube.  Somewhat as an experiment the one below is imbedded in blogger from my pc (same video)

Did we repower the boat?

Turn the sound up when you play this.  It's only 20 seconds long....

January Long Weekend

We escaped the dock on the long MLK day weekend.

Earlier in the week there had been pea soup fog, but the forecast was for the fog to be replaced by low clouds and the weather was on the upper end of you could expect for January in the Northwest.  So under misty skies we headed over to Poulsbo.

We shot a video of the weekend - it's 5 minutes long and the first tune is 'Fly Fishers Dream' by BJ Maclean.  Better known to me growing up as Bonnie Fresn.

Simply getting away from the dock is a joy.   Going across the sound takes about an hour and the favorable current in Agate pass swept us through at about 9 knots.

The trip over was uneventful and Andy and Jill arrived shortly after we did.  After assisting Andy with a 50 amp power cord problem (we both learned there are 2 different types of 50 amp adapters. Who knew?) we all jumped in the bullfrog for a quick trip into town.

Later that night we headed back to Cambria and Jodi and Jill whipped up an impromptu potluck.

Sunday was the game and it was on to Bainbridge to watch the game.  Again under misty skies we headed out of Liberty Bay and down around the south end of Bainbridge.  The water was bathwater flat calm.

Tom and Tessa had just purchased a house and are in the process of a remodel, but we watched the game and did the usual jumping for joy followed by some tense moments as the Seahawks battled the 49er's.   Close game but Hawks pulled it out.  Onto the super bowl.

Monday turned out to be the best weather day and we soaked up the sun over at Bainbridge then made our way back to Shilshole for a splendid sunset.

A great little mini cruise and a great start to 2014.

This morning’s walk down the dock was perfect for quiet observation. Still, crisp, cold. The dock was frosty and the winter sunrise was far south. The water was flat and formed a mirror for the sky.

It was a little difficult to leave the toasty warm boat, but Rex needed his morning walk. As I walked down the dock, I reflected on our neighbors. It’s a wonderfully eclectic mix. Liveaboards are an independent lot and the only commonality is they are more rugged, self reliant and friendlier than your average set of neighbors. ‘Uptight’ would not be an adjective for any of them. But there are vast differences between them.

Towards the end of the dock is a couple who have sailed their boat extensively in the south seas. A little closer is a fellow whose boat hasn’t left the dock in years. Very likely it couldn’t leave the dock under its own power. Near him is a storied captain who has a fleet of boutique cruise ships that ply the inside passage with adventure cruises.

Further down the dock is a younger couple with long range cruising plans, but their short range plans are best typified by the fact that on this beautiful morning, their slip is empty. They saw a good weather forecast and took advantage of it.

A few crunchy steps later and there are 3 liveaboards on sailboats that more or less box the compass on the liveaboard lifestyle. Friends all, one is the sparkplug for parties. He certainly uses his own boat, but spends a fair amount of time racing, crewing on other boats. Next door, is a couple that cruise quite a bit and have grander plans to take the ‘big left turn’ in a couple of years. Across the dock is the third liveaboard who hasn’t taken his boat north of Edmonds.

Closer in are more liveaboards. A pilot. Another couple with ‘big left turn’ plans.

Further down an entrepreneur who can often be found making sales deals while out on his aft deck.

The ‘big left turn’ is topic never far from the surface. It refers to going out the straits of Juan de Fuca and then turning left. Towards Mexico. Towards the South Pacific. Towards the Panama Canal. Towards warmth and the South Seas. Quite a few of the liveaboards have big left turn plans.

One has only to go up to the local business that supports the needs of liveaboards which include mail forwarding for those on long journeys to see just how many sailors have used Shilshole as a spring board for their own ‘big left turn’ plans. The owner has a world map of all the cruisers she supports – and there are thumb tacks tracking their progress. The South Pacific and Mexico are well represented. A few in the Caribbean. A couple in the Mediterranean. All starting from the coast of Ballard.

All these thoughts occurred on the walk down the dock early this morning. A great way to start the day.

Late December pictures

These are late, but before going to Sun Valley I walked down the marina and found a few birds.

sun valley pictures