Sunday, June 30, 2013

Steppenwolf? Back in time...

Debbie and Jim are in town this week to celebrate the 4th with us and to catch up with everyone. They had never been out overnight on Stargazer so we decided to take a quick trip over to Kingston. When I called to reserve a slip, I discovered that Steppenwolf, the band formed in 1967 and known for their song "Magic Carpet Ride", was doing a benefit concert for Seattle Children's Hospital.



Along with the concert, we also had fun reading the signs of the "9-11 Truthers" that were out in force. Bob was very tempted to debate them but decided to pass! 


Kingston is a small place but  has a lot to offer with their farmer's market, concerts, and ferry boats. There aren't many shops but we did walk up the street to get our favorite ice cream at Mora's and then did a little geocaching. As it turned out, the cache was missing but we got a great picture of Debbie and Jim and of the ferry with Mt. Rainier in the background.


We had beautiful weather and the trip was great. On our way home, Debbie and I sat up on the top deck with our lawn chairs and enjoyed the view. As we approached the Everett Marina, I stood up and flipped my lawn chair over in order to fold and store it. My next words were "where is my cell phone". Unfortunately, I had left it in a pocket of the chair "for safe keeping" and as I flipped the chair over it must have flown into the sea. As my grandson, Cohen, and I discussed, it is now with Nemo and all the other little fishies.  Bummer.... But the trip was still awesome and we had a wonderful time with Debbie and Jim.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Kingston Fun

We finally found a day that we, and our kids, were free to go out for a few hours of fun. We didn't have a lot of time so we decided to run over to Kingston for lunch. It was a beautiful day, the water was smooth and the sky was clear. It felt really good to be back out on the water with the family.


 


We had a great trip over then barbecued hot dogs on the boat. The Farmer's Market was going on so we wandered through that and then went and got ice cream cones.






Monday, June 17, 2013

Nordic Tug Rendezvous 2013

This year's Rendezvous was held in Anacortes which was the perfect place for a getaway. They have a beautiful new marina, a small fun town to go antiquing and look for a special art piece. There were also two grocery stores very near by so it is perfect for boaters who often find they need to pick up something.

We arrived on Thursday evening for appetizers on the dock and we had a great time visiting with other Nordic Tug owners. Our slip was in a perfect location - right across from the tent we used for a gathering place and for our continental breakfasts. These pictures are from the top of our boat.



On Friday, we had an opportunity to tour the facility where the Tugs are built. They gave us a tour and then treated us to a hamburger lunch.  Following are a few photos showing different stages of production and how the buildings are laid out. 1) Before any boat is built, a mock-up is created to be sure that all details have been addressed. This shows an Aspen 39, another line that is going to be built using the Nordic Tug factory. 2) This building is where the molds are used to begin the construction of the boats. 3) This is the hull of a 32' Nordic Tug. At this stage, the gel coat will soon be sprayed over the mold. 4) One of the employees demonstrated the process of adding the fiberglass and resin after the gel coat has set. 5) This area is used for creating beautiful Corian countertops. 6) This is the sub-assembly building and woodworking shop where the interior components  such as the wood trim and cabinets are built. 7) This is the final assembly building where all the modules come together. The building is huge. This is a 49' in final assembly.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

On Saturday, we thoroughly enjoyed a talk given by Betty Wright, a woman who, with her husband, took their 16' boat and traveled up to Princess Louisa Inlet in 1957. Since that time she has returned several times and is active in preserving the Princess Louisa and Chatterbox Falls areas so that others can enjoy the beauty for generations to come. We were especially excited about her talking because we will be heading up to the exact location in about 2-1/2 weeks. We will be traveling with two other Nordic Tugs (Al & Sue Smith and Jack & Moon Cannon) and a Californian (Larry & Cheryl Martin).

The afternoon was spent relaxing on the boat and doing some geocaching. We had a great prime rib and salmon dinner followed by a few announcements and raffle. We had a wonderful weekend and learned that next year's Rendezvous will probably be at Roche Harbor - one of our favorite spots!