A Wet Wiener Dog and Plenty of Sunshine

The two days we spent out at Blake Island (yes, we love Blake Island) this week were fabulous! My company gave everyone a half-day on the 2nd to get a jump on the holiday weekend, and since Aaron was already off that day, we decided to get out early and head to Blake for a couple days of sunshine, hikes, beach jaunts and relaxing. We managed to get over there around 12:30, which allowed us to snag one of only two remaining mooring buoys--and it was in one of the best spots, too. Score. We got to try out our new mooring buoy hook thingy (which hooks the loop on the buoy and automatically secures itself--and the line you've attached--without the need to use all your muscles to hold onto the buoy while the current is trying to rip the boat hook from your hands so you can pull the buoy close enough to attach the line), and it worked like a charm!


After lunch, we popped on our hiking boots, dinghyed to shore (can you use "dinghy" as a verb? Why not.) and hiked around the trails. The smell of the woods in the summer is one of my favorite aromas--warm cedar and earth mixed with a touch of sweetness, like blackberries in the sun. Walking under the trees in the dappled shade (with a wiener dog leading the way) was just what we needed to put a stressful workweek behind us.




When we weren't exploring the trails, we were playing on the beach. Greta can't get enough of chasing sticks into the water--the cold, salty water. Now keep in mind that she won't swim. She wades until she almost floats off the bottom and then gently snaps up the stick and returns to the safety of the shore, ever mindful of the potentially treacherous waves. She would do it all day long if we'd keep throwing sticks! Or rocks. She's just as happy chasing the splash of a rock. And when we weren't playing on the beach, we were lounging in the cockpit reading. What a great sensation to feel like you're on vacation when you're only an hour or so away from home. Well, I suppose we technically were home (liveaboards that we are), but you know what I mean.

Semi-adventurous, stick-chasing wiener dog

Getting a towel off from mommy post "swim"

Hangin' in the cockpit (love the grin on Greta)
Being on vacation is hard work

The last mooring buoy was snatched up soon after we arrived, and it turns out that we weren't the only ones to think a few days at Blake were necessary. People were anchored all over the place! I've never seen so many boats there. Fortunately, though, folks seemed to flock to the north shore where the beach is wide and sandy, leaving us in relative peace farther down the west side and on the trails.

Despite the fact that we "vacation" here all the time, Blake Island never fails to reinvigorate us. The trails, the beach, the forest... it just never gets old. What a great way to spend a long weekend.