Memorial Day EYC Cruise

We joined Edmonds Yacht Club for their Memorial Day cruise to Bremerton. We arrived just in time for the potluck appetizer dinner (which is always good)! There was a lot of visiting and watching people arrive throughout the evening.

On Saturday, Alley called and since Mihai was hiking with a friend all weekend, she and Rylie decided to come stay with us for the night. While we waited for them to arrive, we walked up to the car show that runs for a few blocks through town. There were a couple of ladies dressed in 40s and 50s clothing and the music and cars were great. After eating foot-long corndogs dripping in grease, we returned to the boat and waited for Alley and Rylie to arrive.

That afternoon, EYC held a memorial service out on the dock. After a short reading about the meaning of Memorial Day, I dropped two flowers in the water - one in memory of my dad (who was in the Coast Guard) and the other to honor my son who is in the Air Force and a C-17 pilot. The men who had served in the military lined up and saluted the fallen. It was short and simple but so very moving.

We had three boats that were christened this weekend. It is always such a nice ceremony and the captain and first mate are given a lovely certificate after breaking the champagne over the bow of the boat.

We had a lot of fun with Rylie but it can be a little difficult when it comes to nap and bedtime. It worked out well with a little quiet time with Mommy. We had so much fun with her, though, and she was so good. She loved playing on the stairs of the boat and wearing her "boat coat". She learned very quickly that when on the dock or outside on the boat, the "boat coat" goes on.

Alley and Rylie left Sunday morning and we spent the rest of the day visiting with friends and taking the foot ferry over to Port Orchard. They have a little Farmer's Market going on but today was also their Seagull Calling Contest!  Yes, that is what I said! It was quite funny and apparently it has become quite a tradition for the locals. Two children who took part (we left after #46), were the children of a woman who won the contest years ago and actually ended up on Jay Leno. The contestants would make their seagull sound and then throw their favorite seagull food out on the beach to attract the seagulls. The highlight were the judges who were wore robes and white wigs. They were not above being bribed, either. They went home with dollar bills, chocolates, etc.

It was a great weekend and very relaxing. We are really enjoying the time boating and are looking forward to our two week cruise up into Canada in July.

Opening Day Getaway

We decided that the busyness of Opening Day in Seattle is not what we were wanting so we took a trip by ourselves. along with Barkley, of course, up to LaConner. When we arrived we were told that the Swinomish Yacht Club needed the guest dock for staging for their Opening Day parade. We were moved to the north guest dock and found our spot on the inside. It was a little further into town but the walk didn't hurt either one of us. The docks never did fill up, though!

On Saturday, a few boats from the yacht club showed up for their parade. The theme was the Big Dig in honor of the long-awaited dredging that has been done on the Swinomish Channel. It has been known for its shallow depth and boaters have needed to be very careful if the tide was low. More than one captain has had to swallow his pride and sit aground waiting for the tide to come back in.

That evening we met up with Terry and Jeanine Low and they took us to their golf club for dinner. It was pub night and the food was great! It was a fun evening of visiting and we even got a tour of the Skagit Valley. We were just past tulip season but we enjoyed the tour and the beauty of Skagit Valley.