Well it is finally February and the weather is getting a little better! Days are slowly getting longer by 1-2 minutes each day and the sun is starting to coming out. We lucked out with both Saturday and Sunday forecasted for sun/clouds/overcast and no RAIN! Taking advantage of this, we spent the weekend anchored in Gig Harbor, WA. This is our 1st anchor of 2021 so the Captain had to pump up the dinghy tubes and check the Evinrude. The harbor was mostly all ours, not many other boats choose to anchor. We did notice that the public dock was full.

Saturday was absolutely glorious so we were able to get in a good walk and even discovered a new trail that is fairly close to the harbor. Of course we stopped at one of our favorite pet stores where the fur-babies were given treats, and we left with a back-pack full of more treats and a new night-shirt for Piper. Not that Piper really gets cold, she just looks so adorable in clothes we couldn’t resist! After the pet store, we just started walking and happened upon the Cushman Trail. From point to point the trail is about 6 miles long and has a significant grade depending on which direction your walking. We caught the trail off of Rosedale Street, walked to the end, and then took Harborview Drive back to the town. All in all we meandered about for about 5 miles. Later we learned from friends, local to the area, that there is a farm with a pond and park that allow dogs off leash. We will definitely be revisiting this trail again!

Since the dogs had a long walk, we left them aboard and went out to eat! Yes! Eating out seems like it should be an everyday thing but with the lockdown, we have not been out to a restaurant in over 4 months. We had some fabulous mexican food. The service was fantastic, and it was just a pleasure to be waited on, eat a good meal and know we don’t have to wash the dishes! The portions were enough to feed an army so we boxed up the extras to have for breakfast the next morning.

When boating, one never knows what will happen next as is the case when we were leaving the public dock in our dinghy to head back to R Lil’Ship. We were hailed by a young couple on a houseboat asking for assistance maneuvering away from the dock. Their story was that they did not feel comfortble on their own power and feared they would hit another boat. We did our best to assist them by towing them out far enough until they were safely under their own power. Another testement to our 25HP Evinrude workhorse!

Sunday morning as we were pulling up the anchor, we had a visit from our Slowburn friends who recently purchased a beautiful 47′ Nordhavn. We have serious boat and dinghy envy and are very happy for them. A 47′ is a beautful boat, however we are very fortunate to have R Lil’ Ship and the freedom to explore she affords us.