Kent Ranger Sailing
AssociationKent Ranger Sailing
Association
As you have probably noticed the sun has gone in hiding after a gorgeous summer and fall, and we are back in our typical Northwest pattern of clouds, fog and rain. Sally and I enjoyed the great weather we had this summer and fall but regret that we did not get out enough on our Ranger 20 Someday, especially to all the events that were scheduled for this year. We plan to do better next year. To increase our chance of doing so and increase our comfort we have traded our Ranger 20 Someday for a Ranger 26 Spontaneity. We have also moved our moorage from Elliot Bay to Ballard Mill Marina so we can be in fresh water and have the added fun of going through the Ballard locks.
To reminisce over last season I asked our Ranger hosts to tell us a little about the event(s) they sponsored.
Hosts: Henry and Jamie Schaup, and Lisa and Jeronemo (our daughter and grandson who also enjoy Adagio our R20). Jeronemo provided the piano entertainment at dinner.
Participants: Joe and Pat Masters; Sue and Gene Beauchemin; Phil and Ann Rousseau; Mark and Cindy Kelsey
A small number of the R20 gang ventured to the central Oregon coast last April hoping for fair weather and an interesting little wooden boat show. The boat show is an annual event in Depoe Bay, which is purportedly the worlds smallest harbor. At this time of year the Dungeness crab season is in full swing so its not surprising to find that a crab feed is also part of the event. As you might expect the worlds smallest harbor would not accommodate the worlds largest wooden boats. Nevertheless, small can be fascinating. Old classic speedboats, handmade replicas of rowing skiffs, and a beautifully carved northwest Indian dugout vessel were featured. The quality of the workmanship displayed was excellent. The crab also went down pretty well, too. There were about two dozen boats on display, none larger than 20 feet. Small harbor, small place to display the boats.
Everyone arrived on Friday afternoon so we were able to get together that evening for dinner at Mos in Taft which is about 5 miles north of Depoe Bay. Mos is a local favorite and well known for the excellent chowders that they serve. Seating is at large picnic tables providing a comfortable way for all of us to visit together. We were not disappointed with the food or the terrific view the restaurant offers of Siletz Bay. The bar for this bay was once navigable and the bay at one time was an important commercial center for the logging and fishing industry. With the addition of jetties protecting the entrance to Yaquina Bay, 15 miles to the south at Newport, the commercial ventures have migrated south. This is a great place for food and ever changing bay views.
Saturday was our day to visit the boat show, explore the coast, shop, and get together for a potluck dinner in the evening. The weather was not terrific but definitely acceptable. At this time of year anything is possible--the good, the bad, and the ugly. We met for dinner in the Little Whale Cove community center. The Schaups, hosts for this event, live in Little Whale Cove. The Center has recently been remodeled and has a homelike atmosphere. So once again we were able to share a nice meal with Jamies famous lemon yogurt chicken as the main course accompanied by salads, breads, great desserts and many good stories. The evening was driven into stasis when Henry made everyone watch his video on Kennywood. This is a large amusement park with great roller coasters that he enjoyed as a youngster in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There were no fatalities as a result of the video and the evening ended with thoughts of the coming boating season.
We hosted the Ranger trip to "The Swantown Chowder Challenge and Swap meet" in Olympia on May 17-19. Altrice arrived in the Swantown Marina Friday evening to find four other boats there. These were Gadabout, Marie Beau and Joe and Pat on their new Flicka. Ranger sailors arrived by car also and some were off to breakfast and some to the swap meet. By 1:00 PM the chowder was being served and most of the sailors lined up to enjoy this. That evening there was a Ranger potluck on the dock with a surprise visit by some sea chantey singers.
Weather was beautiful all weekend and as usual for a long weekend it was a busy one in the Harbor. Lots of boats and activities on land and sea. Whether arriving by boat or car a good time was had by all exploring the Harbor and some of it's new shops and restaurants or having happy hour and snacks on someone's boat. Several of our members stayed at the Peninsula Yacht Basin by Anthony's restaurant and said it was something they would definitely do again. On Sunday over 20 members were transported up to Steve Metz's where he and Lee put on a Jamaican Jerk Chicken BBQ with lots of good food. We all potlucked deserts and as usual no one went hungry. We also got a sneak preview of the Ranger Minto progress at the Barnacle Bill Boatworks.
We arrived Filucy Bay Marina on Thursday, July 4th (5boats and 1 car) it had drizzled off and on most of the day but the evening was nice and we had a potluck on the dock under cover. On Friday it was a beautiful sunny day with a nice wind out of the N/NW and we all had a great sail up to Jarrells Cove. No room at the docks so we grabbed a buoy and rafted up. We had fun dingying around the Cove and over to the Marina Store. We had dinner on the boats and Brad & Linda rowed over to the store for Cherry Garcia ice cream. So we all had ice cream and fresh strawberries for desert (life doesn't get any better than this!!). On Saturday the weather was again beautiful but the wind not as good, As we left Jarrells Cove we had 2-3 hours of sailing then the wind pooped out. As we motored south the wind picked up and Phil & Ann and Linda & Brad had a spinnaker race for a while (beautiful). We all got down to Oro Bay on Anderson Island in the afternoon and found good anchorage. Ann baked cookies and everyone came over to Keptie.
Sunday all away early to catch favorable tides home. Fun Trip.
A group of five boats traveled to Desolation Sound--the largest group yet from the Ranger club. And 3 of them were actual Rangers! (26s): Ernie Seevers and Mary Perkins on Mary Victoria, Cathy Taggett and Ron Snyder and Rons brother Lenn on Condesa, and Sheron and Craig Tuttle on Sundagger. The three R26s all met up in Nanaimo after a few days in the Gulfs and San Juans. On July 12th we sailed across the Strait of Georgia in hot sunny weather to Garden Bay in Pender Harbour and then up the mainland coast to the Copeland Islands outside of Lund. We rendezvousd with Charless and Marjorie Folkes at Cortes Island. They had trailered a Montgomery 16 all the way from Montana and launched it there.
The next day we all went to Refuge Cove where Jonathan Stephens and Joan Redlin on an Irwin 28 met up with us. We all celebrated Ernies birthday with a dock party. Refuge Cove is a tiny settlement of 18 families on a wilderness island. They sell fuel, groceries, and even lattes!
We spent the next few days sailing in the Sound and anchoring in some beautiful spots: Roscoe Bay and Walsh Cove on the west side of East Redonda Island. Roscoe Bay has an entrance that dries at low tide and there is a beautiful warm swimming lake a short walk away. Walsh Cove has pictographs on the rock cliffs and oysters and prawns to gather. We had potluck dinners rafted together and had a perfectly relaxing time. Charless and Marjorie, Ernie and Mary, and Joan and Jonathan went off to other adventures and Condesa and Sundagger explored Toba Inlet to the north of Desolation Sound where there are numerous waterfalls. We tried crabbing and lost our crab trap in the current--not the first trap weve lost! Our last night with the two R 26s rafted together was at Prideau Haven where we had the premier view of the 5000 foot mountains that Desolation Sound is famous for.
Our group all went their separate ways after that--Sheron and Craig took off for Princess Louisa Inlet. Cathy and Ron met up with Joan and Jonathan again and explored some more in Desolation Sound swimming, hiking, eating prawns, and sailing before heading down the coast again.
One sour note to the trip: When we arrived back home we discovered that Karen Petersen on Yarns had been looking for us in Nanaimo. She was a couple of days behind us. None of us had cell phones and so she never caught up with us. Sorry you missed us, Karen! Next time hopefully well have better luck.
Except for that, it was a wonderful trip to Desolation Sound with wonderful folks.
Mark & Cindy Kelsey (Ruby) organized this year's National Cruise, which returned the flotilla to Nanaimo.
We sailed up a little more directly this time than before, so that we could have additional time there. Couple of nice meals in town, late morning of walking around on Newcastle Island, lunch on the Dinghy Dock, and NO RAINY DAY SPENT IN JOCKEYING BOATS.
To begin: We skipped our usual initial meeting place at Blakely Island in favor of Deer Harbor, where a few of us spent Saturday evening, 13 July 2002, reminding ourselves why this is such a great thing to do. Sunday morning we started north.
After clearing Canada Customs in Sidney, those of us whose raw-water intakes weren't clogged motored on to that night's moorage in Genoa Bay, where we met up with Henry & Jamie, who were to do most of the National Cruise without a boat--on bicycles!
After a very nice dinner at The Vineyard, we ate dessert--the gods' very own ice cream (left over from Deer Harbor)--down on the dock.
Some of us had not been to Genoa Bay before our previous Nanaimo cruise, and find it to be a wonderful place to go. Nestled down among some good high mountains, it feels pretty remote--very few lights among the trees--and is absolutely dead dark and very quiet except for whatever lights and sounds may be related to the marina and its small neighborhood.
Lovely.
Monday, a beautifully sunny and fairly warm day, we sailed to Maple Bay, arriving in only a couple of hours (which suggests that this may have been a motoring day, despite the fact that all-in-all we did have enough wind for a fair amount of sailing during the Cruise).
As we looked at a Minto sailing dinghy for sale at the marine store--a boat built by a Canadian boatbuilder who also has plans and a license to build that boat, with that name--Cindy & I noticed a fellow standing nearby and admiring the same boat. She nudged me and inquired of me if we didn't know him from somewhere.
After a period of wondering silently, we introduced ourselves, and got the reply that yes, we had met once briefly, at an event having nothing to do with boats. Bruce is the cousin of a close friend, and we had been introduced at a musical event about a year earlier.
Bruce sails a nice Islander 36, Gilder, and after we had caught up a bit and explained why we were there he began considering staying with us for part of our Cruise. His crew was scheduled to jump ship the next day, so he was free to singlehand Gilder along with us on our way to Nanaimo.
In fact, two other Islanders were there that evening--one carried Larry & Jill, friends of Mike & Kit, and the other carried people of Karen's acquaintance from Poulsbo.
It's a small world, after all.
Tuesday during high tide a couple of us exercised our dinghies by motoring up the little creek at the head of the bay above the island next to the marina. (Tim & Dorothy on their dinghy, and Dick and me on mine). Leafy tree branches hung right to the waterline; Dick & I agreed that it was like some little southern bayou--quiet, peaceful, and very mildly exotic.
Later in the day the group assembled for hors d'oeuvres on the lawn above the docks.
Wednesday we motored through the Sansom Narrows, then sailed up to within a mile or so of Ladysmith (where the wind died altogether). The sky had been somewhat threatening, and even unloaded a few raindrops upon us. However, nothing serious happened in that line, so it was a pleasant day of sailing.
Before a good dinner in the restaurant at the top of the stairs, several of us enjoyed cocktails on the lower deck, overlooking the marina and the channel.
This would be a quiet place were it not for late-night and early-morning maneuvers by the logging operations across and down the channel.
Thursday - Nanaimo!
We safely motored through Dodd Narrows after a pleasant period of sailing (or a period of pleasant sailing). Once everybody had tied up, we met for dinner at the Lighthouse Bistro at the north end of the waterfront walkway. Ten boats were represented, if it is understood that by "boat", we mean to include one crew on bicycles, no boat at all.
After lurking about town aimlessly, Friday's main activity was to hire some taxis and motor up the hill for dinner at the very nice little Italian restaurant, Maffeo's. This has been a great find! Chef Dino came out and chatted with us a couple of times, giving us the opportunity to tell (and show) him that we were having a fine evening. It was great fun again.
Saturday a few of us dinghied over for a little walk around on Newcastle Island. It's a beautiful place on its own, and its view out into Big Water on the opposite side as Nanaimo is pretty spectacular.
We had tasty lunches (blackened halibut sandwich with cheese-and-gravy-smothered French fries!) and refreshing beverages on the floating Dinghy Dock Pub, then again ran the gauntlet of boats, planes, and flotsam to return to town and our boats.
Sunday we headed south again, motored through Dodd Narrows, then after a snack sailed downwind to the entrance of Telegraph Harbor Marina, Thetis Island, where Larry & Cheri (with help) grilled tuna for the starving masses huddled there, yearning to breathe freely of the delicious scents of that and other foods assembled on tables in the pavilion on the rocky lawn above the marina.
Ganges on Monday, where we spent our time walking around looking into shops and eating ice cream. Later in the day we dinghied past a Ranger 26 anchored out. I believe the name was something like Aja, and I did leave my card. (We haven't heard from her, and she isn't in our database.) Skipping the scheduled anchorage night in Winter Cove, we ended up remaining there for two nights.
Wednesday we continued south. Just a few hundred yards south of the marina, we saw a big working boat of some sort--a tug or something big and serious--that appeared to have been converted for use as a yacht, and which was large enough to have a fully-rigged San Juan 20 or so sailboat in a cradle atop the superstructure. The mother vessel was so large that the sailboat was actually somewhat difficult to discern up there.
Somewhat later, we cleared U.S. Customs--by telephone, and without a hitch. Some things are back to normal!
As we motored by the south side of Jones Island, we saw a familiar-looking Ranger 26, and soon after learned that we had by chance run past a member of the Desolation Sound flotilla of R-26s and Flickas: Ernie & Mary, in Mary Victoria.
That evening we had our last major event of the Cruise, a potluck in the sunset-facing shelter.
Thursday we split up, some headed for home, some intending to hang around. This was not without complication, however. It was very foggy that morning! One radar-equipped boat (Tim & Dorothy, Hip Hop) finally headed out, intending to go down the outside and so take advantage of currents. They were home in Seattle in record time that very evening. Others of us--three boats, no radars--finally crept out at about 1030 or 1100, to stay inside and go down around Anacortes and through the Swinomish Channel, intending to overnight in La Conner. (Mike & Kit, Makani; Steve & Lee, Keptie; Ruby)
It was pretty foggy, but although we did keep sharp lookouts and talk often on the FRS radios, we never felt that we were in any peril at all. Just off Anacortes, however, where traffic can be thickest, so was the fog. At one point, we had slowed because of sharply reduced visibility. Sitting in a little pocket of clear air, mostly surrounded by white, we were startled to see the twin masts of a superferry glide by about a half-mile distant--just the masts above a mountain of ghostly white vapor.
For a period of five minutes or so we stayed close to the channel marker (we may have made a couple of circles around it) on the theory that perhaps its giant radar reflector was keeping it safe and could do the same for us. Soon, the fog between us and Anacortes opened up enough that we felt safe in proceeding.
Oh, yes--it had been somewhat creepy.
As we passed the entrance to Cap Sante Marina, we were hailed by FRS--Dick & Dorothy (Maggie Rose) were just coming out to spend a few days in the San Juans. They had been with us just the first night, then had had to return home instead of coming along as we worked our way north. (They still get counted as participating!)
We made La Conner by 1500, plenty of time for walking ashore to a nice dinner in a Greek/Italian place several blocks from the waterfront.
At about 0245 I awoke to the disconcerting realization that Ruby was not where I had left her! After a long minute of amazed disorientation, I stumbled out into the cockpit and eventually figured out what had happened: When the Swinomish current had changed direction, it had gotten ahold of Ruby's rudder and, since we hadn't enough dock out on the end where we were for me to secure the boat in a normal way, it had shoved our stern out away from the dock. We had a bow line and two springs, but the stern line was more like a sharply angled breast line, and couldn't withstand the 5.5 knots whizzing by from astern. The boat canted out so that when I looked I saw stuff that should have been off to the side instead of behind us.
That "stern" line was bar-tight.
I called for Cindy, and got the engine started. We couldn't pull the boat in as it was, so we had to rig a new line to some dock framework where it wasn't intended that lines be attached, then winch the stern in an inch at a time. After checking to see that nothing had actually broken, we left a tripled line in place at the stern, centered the rudder, shut down the engine, and returned to bed.
It was a pretty rocky night, anyway, with locals buzzing moored boats most of the night.
At about 0800 the next morning, the three boats headed down the channel for home. We tied Ruby in her slip at 2210. Off Seattle it had been quite cold, but seemed rather less so once we were inside the breakwater at Des Moines. The last half-hour or so had been dark enough for us to enjoy seeing a bright blue neon trail behind our outboard. Phosphorescence galore!
A fitting end to a fabulous trip with wonderful friends.
As is obvious, I missed several days. Even so, if any of what's depicted there looks good to you, make plans to be a part of it next year.
This sadly inadequate account of the 2002 Kent Ranger National Cruise is submitted with apologies by Mark Kelsey, the lesser half of this year's Cruise organizers. My thanks to Cindy!
The flotilla: (Adagio), Cheryl Lynn, Gilder, Gladness, Hip Hop, Keptie, Larry & Jill (friends of Hopkinson, on an Islander 23), (Maggie Rose), Makani, Ruby, and Yarns.
I hope everybody will accept my apology in the event that I have left out anybody.
The predicted Tall Ships celebration threw us a curve after 9-11 they changed the number of ships, the location and the activities but several of us decided to go anyway. Since the venue had changed from Elliot Bay to Lake Union we decided to do it sans our own boats. We met up early and made contact with the FRS radios and moved around to see the ships, displays and events. This pretty much made for a very full day. We did have to stand in several long lines to see some of the ships but it was a good time to visit. We also explored the Wooden Boat Center and toured the Wawona. So after several schooners, barques and brigantines we were ready for lunch at Chandlers Crab House, Mmmmmm. We then watched the ships sailing and having mock battles on the Lake, tired feet, but all in all another great KRSA kinda day!!
The weather was warm on our trip to Dockton. Attending were Cathy and Ron on Condesa, Jacques and Sally on Someday, Steve and Lee on Keptie, and Cindy and Mark on Ruby. Karen Petersen arrived by car for Saturday dinner on the 24th. We all visited, walked, talked, ate, picked blackberries, and talked and ate some more. A great potluck dinner was created by all of us. Everyone, I assume, had a good trip back home on Sunday except there was not much wind--at least in our direction.
A side note--While on this trip Sally and Jacques heard about a Ranger 26 that was for sale by one of the members of the group--Jim of Yakima. They went right out and bought it just after returning from Dockton. It made the trip memorable for them.
A few Ranger club members saw amazing and even unbelievable wooden boats galore at the 2002 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival in early September.
Cindy had arranged for us to spend two nights in bachelor officers' quarters on Fort Worden. Our building was a classic old brick structure--beautiful in a simple way on the outside, and just simple on the inside. Simple, but big. The best aspect of the arrangement was that the lot of us could be seated together in one of the large dining rooms, and sit around together swapping stories "after hours" in one of the big living rooms.
The festival was a celebration of beautiful and wonderful (i.e., "inspiring wonder") wooden vessels. Some of them looked as though our grandfathers might have found them familiar, and one or two were weird beyond description. More than one was buffed and shiny like indoor furniture. The group wandered around town and on the grounds of the festival, and the airways crackled with our FRS traffic.
A few members attended presentations on various subjects, and I overheard the explanation of that odd open-framework "skeleton" boat. It's a sailboat, complete with inboard engine, that will be floated using gigantic inflatable tubes like a big R.I.B.! Pretty audacious, to say the very least. Considering that the vessel, of no small size, appears largely finished* except for the tubes, I would guess that the inventor is actually serious. An illustrative inventor-built dinghy was nearby as proof-of-concept.
* Difficult to tell for certain really; largely begun to be sure.
Weird and wonderful!
If memory serves, the weather was decent-to-fine most of the time. Wind and rain waited until mid-afternoon Sunday to flatten and then soak the booths.
It was a fine weekend that some of us would repeat if we could manage it. Unfortunately, the building in which we stayed was already booked for next year, so we may have to make some other kind of arrangement. (The marinas were full, too, and the anchorages are pretty lumpy.) If we can figure our how to do it, though, this event might be a good thing to include on our calendar every year.
Here are some pictures. The first link is to shots courtesy of Mike & Patti, previous owners of Craig & Sheron's Sundagger (the only member boat there, as they were returning from their Desolation Sound cruise). The second link is to the Wooden Boat Foundation itself, which may have pictures of this or previous Festivals. The third link is to a picture of our building.
[(Adagio), (Altrice), (Ebba's boat), (Keptie), (Maggie Rose), (Makani), (Quintessence), (Ruby), Sundagger (& P.O. Mike & Patti), (Yarns)]
Lake Washington is home to several Rangers. It is a good lake to sail on and at 27 miles in length and 3 miles in width, it is big enough to provide several days of cruising. Late September turned out to be perfect weather for a Ranger 20 outing for Tim & Dorothy on 'Free Spirit'.
Day 1, Friday: The weather was sunny and warm with good winds out of the north. We launched at Sandpoint / Magnuson Park Friday afternoon after making last minute repairs on a problem fuel tank. We set the spinnaker and sailed down the Eastern Shore to our destination - Andrews bay / Seward Park. We passed under the SR-520 and I-90 bridges and arrived in Andrews bay 1:35 after leaving Magnuson Park. It was an exhilarating sail. We settled in with 13 other boats around us and had a well deserved dinner. As night fell we were treated to a beautiful view of this part of the city cast in moonlight from a nearly full Harvest Moon.
Day 2, Saturday: We awoke to brisk north winds and as soon as breakfast was over we sailed off the hook to pick up Sally & Jacques at Luther Burbank Park / Mercer Island. We then sailed to the south end of Mercer Island and anchored near shore to have a wonderful lunch. We beat our way back up the channel to Luther Burbank Park to drop off Sally & Jacques. After farewells, we sailed across the lake to our destination, Portage Bay, next to Husky Stadium, as that night was an UW football game. We arrived at 6:15 and anchored in 5 ft. among a sort of "tail-gate" party on the water. Fun, but too much activity in such close quarters for us. We ate dinner then elected to pull anchor and left before darkness set in for a more peaceful place to stay. We arrive at the Andermo's dock at 8:30 where Ebba & Ingevar with flashlights in hand managed to safely dock our Ranger.
Day 3, Sunday: Sally & Jacques and Gail & Marty arrived by car for a full day of play at "Camp Andermo". After a wonderful breakfast, some went sailing on 'Free Spirit', some went kayaking, and everyone had fun! Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a BBQ dinner of salmon, salad, cookies & ice cream - YUM! Spectacular views of Mt. Rainier in pink followed by the very bright Harvest Moon greeted us as we spent another night tied to the dock after a fun filled day.
Day 4, Monday: The fourth day was perfect for more spinnaker sailing and after taking a motor tour of the north end of the lake we put up the spinnaker and enjoyed a very gentle sail back to Sandpoint. We must have looked very bright with our lovely yellow, orange, light red and deep red spinnaker making its way slowly down Lake Washington.
It was hard thinking about pulling the boat out of the water after 4 glorious days on such an urban lake as this one in our own back yard. This adventure was over, but the memories will last.
As long as I have known Bobby Casalis, I have heard him say on numerous occasions "we just have to take our Ranger 20s to Ross Lake for an adventure! I have scouted it from the air and the lake is majestic and secluded." Well, 2002 was meant to be the year for that trip to finally materialize. With our two Ranger 20's ('Sea Kindly' with Bobby and Laryn and 'Free Spirit' with Tim & Dorothy) packed with a weeks worth of food and supplies (NO stores on this lake!), we started off on our Ross Lake Adventure.
Ross Lake is located about 125 miles NE of Seattle and is formed by the high mountain Ross dam above the communities of Newhalem and Diablo. Ross dam is the highest dam on the Skagit River and is controlled by Seattle City Light. You can see Ross lake from Highway 20. The lake is 24 miles long and between 1 and 3 miles wide.
We left Seattle and stopped at the National Parks ranger station near Arlington to get the required permits (no cost!) for our stay on the lake. An itinerary is required for each night on the lake and once the rangers approve it you are required to follow it exactly. Most of the boating campsites have docks that can accommodate 2 Ranger 20-size boats. The park rangers advised us to use the Cat Island, Spencers Island, and Couger Island and Little Beaver Creek campsites and ruled out two others for "trouble with bears" and "too shallow for sailboats". With permit in hand, we left the ranger station and headed north on Highway 9 to cross the Canadian boarder at Sumas. We then drove to Hope B.C. where we turned south onto the 37 mile long well maintained gravel road to Hozameen and a good boat launch/restroom. Arriving at the lake in late afternoon, we were greeted with the sight of majestic mountain views on all sides_ the mosquitoes greeted us as well, so we put our attention to getting the boats rigged and in the water to get some relief.
The next morning we set off to beat our way south to our first destination a third of the way down the lake. The winds increased all day and at times we had some pretty exciting sailing. We arrived and scouted around Cat island. It appeared that we were alone on it. After dinner, we headed to our boats to sleep under a beautiful clear sky. We were to learn that as the night falls, the little critters invade!
The next morning Bobby & Laryn awoke to find that mice had gotten into many of their provisions and had made a general mess aboard 'Sea Kindly'. Hearing Laryn shriek every few minutes when she would discover yet another something that the mice had gotten into was almost more than we could take without bursting out in laughter. It seems that the island mouse colonies have learned over the years that boaters bring with them some mighty wonderful things to eat and they found a banquet on 'Sea Kindly'. We managed to dodge the bullet_for now! After breakfast we enjoyed a great day of sailing to our next destination. That night 'Sea Kindly' was sealed up tight to keep mice out. We thought we would be safe from invasion, so we left the dodger open. Early in the morning Tim heard the sounds of little (and not so little) critters hitting the deck and sprung up with flashlight in hand. They were running up and down the tiller and inside the cabin and didn't seem to care that we had spotted them. We didn't have any food out, but that didn't seem to stop them from exploring around, and they were everywhere. We made the cabin as secure as we could and ignored the sounds and finally fell to sleep.
Morning came and we were able to see all the "calling cards" left from the little critters. We cleaned up the mess and vowed to keep this from happening again. Dorothy and Bobby came up with an ingenious idea of taking the two cook stoves and strapping them together to form a barrier that the mice wouldn't get around - this proved very successful and was used the rest of the trip.
Most days the sailing was tacking up the lake looking out for deadheads. The lake level was pretty high for this time of year and that kept the snags from getting to close to the surface to bother us. Most evenings were spent in beautiful campsites with docks strategically placed on the lee side of the islands. Each dock provided adequate protection from the prevailing winds and allowed for peaceful sleep.
I can't begin to describe the how beautiful this area is - it is simply majestic. Aside from sailing, we took canoe trips up several canyons - like being in the set of "Lord of the Rings" - very peaceful and beautiful.
All in all this was a fantastic trip that we all agreed is something that we will want to do again - possibly NEXT year_ Anyone else interested?
Besides Sally and Jacques getting a larger boat, Pete and Irene Farsje also got more waterfront to enjoy. They told me this:
We are enjoying our new (to us) Cal 2-29, Amanzi. The name means water in the Zulu language. She has a 12hp Faryman diesel, a manual windlass, wheel steering and new canvas. We look forward to doing some improvements in the coming year - converting the Lectrasan head to a holding tank system and installing a roller furling jib.
We sail out of Shilshole Bay Marina and really enjoy being there. The vast majority of 1,500 boats are sailboats and there are lots of support services for the boat. Eagle Harbor, Port Madison and Port Blakely are nearby as are Blake Island and Poulsbo. We usually spent Friday and Saturday evening on the boat and get out as often as we can. We plan to sail throughout the winter as often as we can.
We are looking forward to being active with the club in 2003 after losing much of 2002 to family illnesses and two deaths. 2003 will be a better year!
As usual we will have our beginning of the year breakfast in January. This year it will be on the 19th at the Old Country Buffet in Federal Way, 1816 South 320th Street from 9:00 until 11:00. To speed up the decision making process on what events to have next year it would be nice if everybody would think about what they want to do and when, and then e-mail or mail their ideas to me. I will then try to arrange everybodys wishes on a calendar to give us a start for deciding on our new adventures for the coming year. Also, if you want to discuss other issues that are dear to your heart, let me know and Ill put them on the agenda.
The 19th is also the third day of the Seattle Boat Show at the Seahawk Stadium and Exhibition Center, so we can make the whole day a boating kind of day.
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