Memorial Day Weekend, 2010: Nautical

The weather here in Seattle for Memorial Day was not nice: highs in the low 50's (lows in the 40's), fog, and rain. (I know that some of you out there in the world have been in full-blown Summer for a month already. I don't want to hear about it.)

Jane and I decided to make the best of it. We had a very nautical time.

We cast off out docklines Thursday nite and headed for our favorite close-in anchorage, Port Madison. As there was no significant wind, we drove. That has a benefit tho: we have a Red Dot heater, which heats the cabin using the engine cooling water. As soon as the cabin began to cool off after anchoring, I lit the Dickenson. Jane made us a huge taco salad for dinner.

The next morning was a lazy one. First, the cabin was down to 56° F, so I got up early and lit the Dickenson, and then tucked back under the covers while it did its work. A lot later, we got up and had a couple of lattes, and then even later I fried up some eggrooms (fried eggs & fried mushrooms). Then some reading, and finally lunch. All of this was because the tide would not turn in our favor until 12:30 at Agate Pass. Having forced laziness is actually a good thing on the first day of a vacation - it gets the mood in place right away.

We motored thru Agate Pass to Poulsbo after lunch. We didn't leave the boat after anchoring tho, as it was raining hard. So we had another cozy nite down below. I cooked us some cheeseburgers on the grill between rain showers, and there was more reading. I spent an inordinate amount of time working with a new wireless antenna for the computer. Again, the Dickenson kept us toasty.

This morning, we rose late, and after a couple of lattes (seeing the pattern yet?), we put the dinghy in the water and headed over to town. Instead of our usual stop at Sheila's Bayside Cafe, we tried a breakfast at Tizley's Pub - it had been recommended to us by Brent and Jill on Ambition, our next door neighbors at the marina, not least because they make a killer Bloody Mary. It lived up to its billing - Jane had an Irish boxty, and I had bangers, hash & eggs, with the obligatory Bloody Marys. It's an upstairs place, with balcony seating, tho no one was out there sitting in the rain.

Then we wandered around town to the galleries, bought 3 lb of licorice, some antique plates at one of the antique stores, and a matted old-timey Poulsbo poster. We stopped at the used book store and bought some books, and in particular, a book which will go to Fred, published by Sampson Marine, the maker of Fred and Lynda's boat, s/v Black Opal (shhh... don't tell him). We finally ended up at the Hare and Hound - a pub built by an Englishman and named after one that was across the street from him in England, when he was growing up. They had a fine selection of beers, and wanted us to try them all.

Then back out to the boat. For dinner tonite, Jane made us a wonderful coconut chicken with jalapeños and basmati rice. After I finish this post and wash the dishes, there'll be some guitar and some more reading.

Tomorrow, we'll head back to Port Madison - the tide in Agate Pass has us exiting sometime between 04:34 and 12:42. We'll not be able to continue our years long annual tradition of watching the Indy 500 while at anchor somewhere, because with the digital TV "improvement" we no longer get enough signal. But we'll listen on the radio, which takes Jane back to her girlhood.

Monday, we'll return to Shilshole at the 13:50 slack water.

I'd say the trip is a success... and in fact, it is hard to not have a success with a 4-day weekend.

Memorial Day Weekend, 2010: Nautical