Saturday, January 5, 2019

Fun day on the water!

We unexpectedly went boating today...just not on our boat. We were invited to take a ride on Stay Awhile, our neighbor's new RT 23. We'd been aboard a couple of times to take a look and welcome her to the Foss, but we hadn't actually been out on the water.

What fun! For those of you who may not know, this boat has a 200hp outboard, where Europa has a diesel inboard. We cruised at a comfortable 25 mph, getting up to about 35 at times. Our boat can do a bit over 20, but we typically cruise at 7. So...just a different experience.

Added attraction: We knew Caleb and Leslie were fishing off Point Defiance in Caleb's Starcraft, so we cruised by to say hello. No fish on but they looked like they were quite content...Caleb was mooching and Leslie was reading a book. Seems like a good way to spend a Saturday to me!

We headed to the Narrows Marina for lunch at Boathouse 19. We had no other plans so the next thing we know....we're in Oro Bay! (Usually a couple hour cruise for us.) It was fun to show the Dockwassers one of our favorite places. Can't wait to go back...with both boats...in summer weather.

Another wonderful day on the water.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

2019 Day One...Boating!

And the 6 month countdown begins...retirement is just around the corner!

The weather for this winter cruise did not disappoint. Absolutely glorious.

We left Liberty Bay this morning on glassy water. Stay Awhile caught up to us and proceeded to run a circle around us. I believe I heard some words from the captain that sounded like, "rat bastard showoff" or something like that...I may have misheard.

We did get some great running shots of her.

The awesome little Scandinavian store in Poulsbo had some canned Haggis. I'm pretty excited about it. Not so my companions. We'll see...

Again, happy new year to all.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday got away from me, so firstly: Happy birthday mom!

On Saturday evening, over dinner with the Docwassers (blended name used for our new-boat-owning neighbors) we all decided to hit the water on Sunday for a new year's trip.

Europa headed to Bainbridge, while Stay Awhile took another family member for a ride. We met up in Eagle Harbor later that afternoon. Typical winter boating...beautiful and relatively boat-less.

We woke to frosty surfaces. Steve went for a 4am walk with the dog and snapped a couple of early morning shots of the boat at the Waterfront Park dock.

Speaking of the dog. Chelsea is a 14-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel. She's adorable and took to the boating life immediately, Sunday being her first time on Stay Awhile. (I'm thinking the 4am trip on a frozen dock wasn't about her.)

We left Eagle Harbor yesterday morning, with a beautiful backdrop of snowy Olympic mountains.

We motored through Agate Pass and entered Liberty Bay to spend our second night at the Poulsbo Marina.

As we were preparing for a shared dinner of homemade tamales, we noticed some activity on the dock...several men in beautiful blue tartan kilts. Of course we had to investigate. We learned that one was getting married that evening. He welcomed us to join the bonfire later.

As we were finishing dinner we saw a procession on the dock, complete with torches and bagpipes! We followed them up to the bonfire, where the short (and cold!) ceremony  took place. The bonfire was huge and the whole thing was quite splendid. We noticed some "vikings" in the crowd and after talking with a few people learned that it was a blended Scottish and Scandinavian wedding.

The wedding party retired to a nearby hall and the four of us were left to mind the fire and welcome in the new year. We hung out for a while, enjoying the warmth...but didn't make it until midnight. (More like 8:40pm.)

Here's to a 2019 of many more fun boating adventures!