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.

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.

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!

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.

Celebrating at Seattle Yacht Club

Laurie's uncle and aunt, Don and Doris MacRae, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary with a party at Seattle Yacht Club on Saturday night. We had planned to drive to the party but then realized it was a perfect opportunity to take our boat over to Portage Bay, cruise around Lake Washington, and have a fun weekend of boating. We left Friday morning and were not even out of Everett before we had something that was photo-worthy. Apparently, a guy decided to go boating at midnight with his dog, managed to get his boat stuck on the jetty and then had to be rescued. Not a really smart move. I would love to know the full story but I have my guess!

The weather was very bad and we found ourselves in some pretty rough water. It was rainy and very windy but the boat rides so nice that it wasn't a problem. It just made for a little excitement and something to talk about later. These pictures show a little of the water that was splashing over the bow and along side us.



One thing we discovered about going through the Seattle waterways is that there is so much to see! We normally go north toward the San Juans or west to the Bremerton area. There is a lot to see when you get there but we thoroughly enjoyed the sights along the way. We have lived here our entire lives but unfortunately, it is easy to take things for granted. We cruised past the Ballard area where Bob grew up and saw his parents' former home up on the bluff. It is the gray house just above the red tree. We also went past Ray's Boathouse which has been a staple in Ballard for a long time. Years ago it was converted to a restaurant and is one of our favorite places to go for dinner.

A popular city park is Gas Works Park where the 4th of July fireworks were located for many years. Also, for tourists who want to travel the waterways, Ride The Duck, is always a fun way to go.

We arrived at Seattle Yacht Club and tied up in the reciprocal moorage. Normally, a yacht club member's home yacht club must be a significant distance from Seattle Yacht Club to be allowed to use their moorage. Because we were going to be attending Don and Doris's anniversary party (they are members of SYC), the club graciously allowed us to use the reciprocal moorage. They have a beautiful facility and we enjoyed walking around the grounds, watching the U of W invitational crew races, and spending Saturday relaxing.



 

 

 

Saturday evening was Don and Doris's anniversary party and what a party it was! They had nearly 150 guests and it was so fun to see cousins and aunts and uncles who I have not seen in a long time. With any MacRae gathering you can be sure there will be bagpipes and dancing and we were not disappointed. The bagpiper could really play and treated us not only to songs for the dancers but to an additional song that left us in awe of his talent. The dancers included my cousin's son, Steven, and three other young ladies. They are all incredible dancers who have won numerous United States championships as well as international competitions.



It was a wonderful party and we left knowing how blessed we are to have a large and loving family. A very special photo we were able to get is this one of my mom, Avis; her sister, Anna Rose; and two brothers, Colin and Don.

We left Sunday morning around 8:30 because our granddaughter, Rylie, is celebrating her 2nd birthday today and there was no way we were going to miss that! The weather report was for wind and rain but we actually had a very smooth ride back to Everett. You can see from this next picture everything that Seattle is known for - the Space Needle, rain, misty and gray! But what a beautiful part of the country it is - beautiful lakes and Puget Sound, mountains and trees. There is no place I would rather be.

The next three pictures show us as we went through the locks on our return home. We were in the smaller of the two locks and you can see from the first picture that the water just ahead is at a lower level than we are. The second picture shows us as the water is being let out and we are lowered down to the lower level of water. Then the gate is opened and we are headed out toward the Sound. 



 

It was a wonderful weekend and the perfect way to attend Don and Doris's party. We had plenty of time to do nothing and it sure beat the traffic jams if we had driven!

Playing Tour Guide For Mom

After two years of having our boat, we had never been able to coordinate a time to take my mom out. When she came up to visit this weekend, we knew this would be the perfect chance. Since the gray whales are fairly plentiful now, we decided to head up to their usual place near Hat and Whidbey Islands. We planned our departure to be just ahead of the whale tour boat. It was a very nice day so it was a very smooth ride and as soon as we arrived we noticed a spout in the distance. We idled for about an hour and saw several whales logging on the service. I was really hoping for some spy-hopping or tail slapping but they were pretty quiet today. It was still fun and a novelty for mom to see.

There had been a huge mud slide on the west side of Whidbey Island just a few days ago that destroyed several homes and threatens many others.  We really wanted to see but it would have taken another two or three hours to go around to that side so we will have to save that for another time.

We had a great time!  Thanks for joining us, Mom!