We decided to head a little farther North than usual with our extra time for this 3-day weekend. Originally we had planned to go to Blake Island however with the forecast predicting heavy rain all weekend we thought it better to take the girls somewhere with a little less goose & deer poop, so we set our sights upon Shilshole […]
Arabella’s was our 1st official outing with the Tacoma Power Squadron this year. A small craft advisory and high winds were expected for our short trip from Chinook Marina and upon arriving heavy rains came down. While I feel we are capable now of docking R Lil’ Ship on our own, its always great to arrive and have lots of help as is the case with the Tacoma Power Squadron group. There are always lots of friendly faces waiting to help out. The weather wasn’t too bad and while cold, we did manage to get out for a good walk, exploring some of Gig Harbor we have not seen before. I think thats one of the things I appreciate about our weekend jaunts on the boat, while we are still working we never have enough time to explore a place fully but everytime we visit for a weekend, we have the opportunity to see something new. Mike was able to find a nice little park and practiced launching his new Mavic Pro 2 drone. He’s practicing in prepartion for our scenic Barclay Sound trip in July. I always love seeing the fishing boats in Gig Harbor and we even got to watch a little otter busy himself along a dock running back and forth. We also took some items over to the Second Wave store for consignment. If you have never been there, it can be a treasure trove of […]
This is our 2nd year attending the Poulsbo Winter Rendezvous. It’s a really fun event that is sponsored by The One Eighty Foundation and many local businesses such as Georgetown Brewery, Elliott Bay Maria and Dock Street Marina to mention a few. This year’s theme was Seks – Year of the Viking. Events range from a glogg fest to a poker run, Viking Olympics, traditional Viking bonfire, Viking parade down Main Street and Fabulous Paella dinner and dancing with a live band. Of course it’s a party and we did a fair bit of that over the course of the weekend with our G-Dock boating buddies despite the forecast of impending snow. If you have never visited Poulsbo you are missing out. It’s a charming town with lots of shops, restaurants, book stores, a quilting store, marine store, walking paths and history. One of our favorite places to go is Sluys Bakery for the delicious pastries and fresh baked goods. This year we went to the Slippery Pig Restaurant for lunch and had a really good Cuban and Pastrami sandwiches, I would highly recommend both! Although it was really cold, everyone initially gathered at the Loft Restaurant for spirits and good company. Little did we all know that this would be the year of SNOWMEGGEDON! While there wasn’t much snow sticking on Friday evening we awoke Saturday to a plethora of snow everywhere. It was fun to watch everyone shoveling […]
What do you do on a 3-day weekend with no specific plans? Well we decided to dock hop. On Saturday morning, we headed over to Dockton Marina so I could practice pivoting and docking. Following the guidance of Douglas Cochran who is a former Nordhavn owner and has created many handy and informative You tube videos, I set out out to practice. It was a pretty windy day and the first time I tried docking in the wind. For a newby I now know what all the fuss is about when its even a little bit windy and can say the wind is not my friend! After several tries we ended up tying up at Dockton and took the girls (Daisy and Roux – Furbabies) ashore for a stretch. After Dockton we lazily headed over to the “Dock” in Tacoma. Utilizing our wing engine so as to give it some excercise it was a slow but steady progression. Once docked, (and yes I docked again successfully on the 2nd try) we hunkered down as it started to downpour and watched a movie. Later that evening we had dinner and drinks at Rock the Dock Pub and enjoyed some bluesy rock from a local band. On Sunday we left Tacoma and mosied our way over to Gig Harbor and tied up at the Tides restaurant where we met friends to watch the Saints/Rams game. Our team didn’t win but we had […]
The prediction of gale force winds could not stop R Lil’Ship from making her way from Chinook Marina in Tacoma to Bell Harbor in Seattle to ring in the New Year. Our stout little Nordhavn handled the winds and waves like a champ and not once did we feel uneasy. Once in Seattle, we met up with friends and we visited some of our favorite places. Pikes Place Market although always very crowded is a novelty. We always love walking along the art walk to the Rose Garden. On occasion, we will even walk to Elliott Bay. For New Years Eve we had dinner at the Brooklyn Oyster House and then bundled up to watch the fireworks at the Space Needle.
Our summer cruise to the San Juan Islands was supposed to be filled with kayaking, paddle boarding and hiking however the week before our trip, as fate would have it, I tore my calf muscle while in Cardio-Kickboaxing class. Nonetheless, we ventured on and still had a lovely holiday enjoying good meals, beautiful scenery and a restful 2-weeks away from the grind. We left early am about 4am, and plotted our course to Garrison Bay. Arriving in late afternoon, we had a long but uneventful cruise day. Once in Garrison Bay, we joined our good friends and proceeded to work on getting into vacation mode. We chose to anchor in Garrison Bay as it is very conveniently located to Roche Harbor and one of our furbabies is particularily sensitive to the canon booms each night during the colors ceremony. We really like the ambience of Roche Harbor and all that it has to offer so it is a must visit destination when we travel to the San Juans. Roche Harbor has amazing stores, great people watching, a swimming pool, good restaurants, an art park and off leash dog park! Don’t get me wrong, Garrison Bay is an outstanding anchorage to spend time in. There is lots of room, around 20 ft. of water with a good mud bottom and easy access to English Camp, home of the historic Pig Wars. If you enjoy history, you won’t be disappointed. There is […]
Live Happy, Be Happy - documenting our travels north and south from Oregon
Longtime Sailors Explore Life Aboard a Nordhavn 43 Trawler
Nordhavn 4057
Nordhavn 4057
Nordhavn N55
