Let's Go Boating!

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The best kind of day is the one that is unplanned, spontaneous, and special because it is with friends. Today was a wonderfully sunny day so we invited Jeff and Liisa Wright to join Holly, Jerry and us and go cruising for a few hours.

We cruised to Hat Island and then south to Mukilteo and saw this shipwreck. The boat is on private property that is now home to the remains of 27 boats. Apparently, the owner's grandfather would salvage the metal and anything else he could and the hull would stay on the beach. The one hull that is still somewhat intact was called the Pacific Queen and was brought there in 1929.
 

We were on the water about three hours but didn't see any whales or other marine life. Bob did say he saw one seal but it was gone before he could point it out to any of us. Still, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable day. Holly, Liisa and I found our places on the upper deck with our lawn chairs and had a great visit. The guys hung out in the pilot house eating cookies and talking "guy stuff". It is so good to be back on the water again!

All About Shrimping

Today was our initiation to what shrimping is all about. Shrimp season is only open two (or sometimes three) days per year and then only for about seven hours each day. Tom called and invited us to go out with him on our boat to learn how to catch shrimp. We eagerly agreed and took along Tom's brother, Bill, and Gavin.

We went out to the south end of Hat Island where we idled while Tom explained the ins and outs of dropping our shrimp pots.

 We dropped four pots and then waited about an hour before pulling them up. The limit is 80 per license and since we had four licenses I had high expectations of bringing home enough for several meals for each of us and maybe even some extra to share.  Our grand total was 20! But, oh, did we have fun!

Unfortunately, our pots were on a slope and were drifting and one of them must have gone completely under because we were never able to find it again. We tried going north to Tulare Beach near Tom and Deb's cabin is but when we dropped the three pots there, we came up with nothing. We returned to the Everett Marina where the entire day's catch was sent home with Gavin. Robyn said later that they had a wonderful meal of grilled cajun shrimp. Maybe next time we will have better luck. We do know, now, what we need to do and are ready to venture out on our own. I think bringing Tom along again would be a really good idea, though!

Brownsville Casual Cruise

Yay! EYC is back to cruising and we enjoyed a casual cruise over to Brownsville for the weekend. There were about 15 boats that showed up and we had a wonderfully relaxed time. It was one of the first sunny weekends we have had this year so it was the perfect time for boating. On our way over, we saw a gray whale and stopped to get some pictures. If you catch a gray blowing at the right angle you can see the heart shaped blow from the dual blow holes.

Friday night John and Nina came over to join us for dinner and we had a great time visiting together. Saturday was spent just relaxing on the boat, reading and walking to the little deli and meat market that pretty much make up Brownsville.

That evening, EYC had a potluck at the Brownsville Yacht Club clubhouse. We had great food, a little music and lots of visiting with friends.

 

Barkley enjoyed many walks and a lot of attention. He has learned that when we load certain items and his leash in the car that he is headed to the boat - and he loves it! He is a great passenger and is very calm and relaxed during the cruising and when we are in the marina.

I had to include the following picture of Kittiwake. The kitty up on the deck lives on the boat full-time and is quite at home on the water. He travels to all our cruises and is great company for his master, Vic.

This last picture is of our friends, Al and Susan Smith, on their 37' Nordic Tug. We met them last year at the Nordic Tug Rendezvous and encouraged them to join the Edmonds Yacht Club. They did just that and have become very active members and lot of fun to cruise with.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed back home. It was a wonderful weekend and a terrific way to start our second year of cruising.

Welcoming Another Year of Cruising

We were excited to get back to cruising after a long winter so we called up the kids and went out looking for whales. Last year they were never with us on the days we saw the whales so we were hoping that today would be different. We were only out for a couple of hours but had fun watching a gray whale that was close enough we could see it breaching and blow! Rylie and Cohen are still a little too young to appreciate the view but did have fun playing in the salon and watching a video.

Beautiful Day in the Northwest

Today turned out to be a beautiful winter day so we took Laurie's sister, Debbie, and her husband, Jim, and boys Connor and Jacob out for their first ride on Stargazer. Jim's sister, Amy, was able to join us and we had a great time. Debbie, Jim, and the boys are here for Christmas from Grand Rapids, MI. so we were glad they had some time to go for a short cruise with us. It was good to be back on the water and the weather could not have been more perfect. It was only about 30 degrees outside but with the nice heaters inside we were all very comfortable. There have been a few sightings of Orcas around Edmonds so we cruised south hoping to see some but the only thing we saw was one seal. It was a great cruise, however, and we had a lot of fun just visiting and looking at the beautiful scenery.

 

Winter Fun With The Family

We finally had a chance to take our son, Mark, his wife,Wendy,  and Isaiah, Mariam and Colin out on Stargazer. They have been living in Amman, Jordan for the past two years and just moved back to Fairfield, CA for Mark's next assignment at Travis Air Force Base. They came up to visit for two weeks so we took advantage of what appeared to be a good day to go out on the Sound for a couple of hours. Alley and Rylie joined us, also. We had a lot of fun and the kids got to see what boating is all about. Unfortunately, it got very rough once we got out to Hat Island and we decided we had better go back. Even though it was a short cruise, we had a wonderful time.

Camp EYC - Port Ludlow



We just returned from a very fun weekend of "camp" at Port Ludlow.  The Labor Day cruise for Edmonds Yacht Club had a "camp" theme and it brought back many memories of our days at camp as children. The organizers included everything from team names, crafts, team flags, cheers, skits and a campfire with singing and s'mores.  We even had a Blind Dinghy Race where one person is blindfolded and the other tells them which way to row! It was very funny to watch! Another game was the Flag Race. They rolled the dice to see how far ahead the team flag could move.

They did a great job of coordinating details and organizing six couples as camp counselors. Bob and I were counselors for the green team which soon became known as Team Algae. Our tag line on our flag was "We Grow On You".  When it came time to write a cheer, we elaborated on the theme and it grew to, "Team Algae, watch us grow. We're not real fast but we're not real slow. We stick to your bottom, don't you know!"  I know, a little pathetic but you should have heard the other teams' cheers! In the photo above, Bob is asking our  boot camp director in our skit, "Sir, I have a question. Did you find your socks on the beach or did you actually buy them?"

Port Ludlow was a very nice harbor for a club cruise. There wasn't a lot to do there but it was perfect for the organized club activities. There is a large covered pavilion area that was used for our activities and all our meals. The local community holds a book sale every Labor Day weekend to raise money for high school scholarships and for a women's domestic abuse charity. We came home with a stack of books for 50 cents or $1.00 each. The marina has a great little grocery and souvenir shop. We found that it was pretty breezy in Port Ludlow so even though we had beautiful weather, it was a little cool in the shade or when the sun went down. The bay is a great place for crabbing and would be great if you are looking for an anchorage.