Anchor Drop #1

Today marked our first anchoring experience after the Great Windlass Rebuild of ’09—and it was a success! We pulled into Blakely Harbor on the south side of Bainbridge Island around noon and found a nice little spot to drop the hook. Since we’re anchoring newbies, we weren’t sure what to expect, but it worked out well—no dragging and no yelling. :)

It was a gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine, so we made lunch and lounged around in the sun until the late afternoon watching an eagle get chased by all manner of other birds (don’t they know it’s a federal offense to mess around with eagles?). Blakely Harbor made a great day trip, and we just may stay overnight next time. It's a pretty quick trip, and the view of the city is amazing--it would be quite a sight at night.

Living Aboard

When someone is choosing adjectives to describe me the words coordinated and graceful don't usually come up. I tried to leave the boat the other day when the companionway hatch wasn't opened all the way and just about knocked myself out.

Both of us find random bruises all over. I'm glad Nicole works from home, otherwise there might be some uncomfortable questions being asked.

All in all living aboard has been going very well! We've got great neighbors who have all been super nice and welcoming.

I'm really looking forward to making some progress on our project list!

Goodbye Condo, Hello Sailboat!

We technically don’t close on the condo sale until the 30th, but despite that minor detail, we’re official liveaboards now! After a long weekend of moving and schlepping and donating tons of stuff to the Goodwill, we are settling in to life on the boat. And although we only have a few days under our belt, we’re loving it (phew).

One of the great things about living aboard is having Puget Sound as your backyard. Last night we had two Mallard ducks come up to the boat, softly quacking, looking for some snacks. We tossed them some pretzels (the natural food of all waterfowl) and watched as their little feet churned the water, creating glittery trails of bright blue phosphorescence—how cool is that? I think the liveaboard lifestyle is going to suit us just fine.

Bell Harbor Marina

We’d been by Bell Harbor Marina on the Seattle waterfront dozens of times and always thought that staying the night there and poking around the shops would make a fun date. The 30th birthday party for our good friends Jen and Harley—held in a downtown bar—proved to be the perfect excuse to head over to Bell Harbor.

The marina wasn’t quite what we were expecting, but I guess if we’d have thought a little more about it we would have come to the conclusion that it’s a noisy, urban marina hidden behind a cruise ship filled with power boaters (not that there’s anything wrong with the power boat crowd, but…). Let's just say it wasn't exactly a quiet, relaxing getaway. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed our tour of the waterfront, our dinner on the patio overlooking the Sound and the birthday festivities.

As I said to Aaron while we were leaving the marina this morning (passing the diesel barge refilling the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship), that was certainly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. :)