We've been back home over a month now. Doug's back improved after a few nights in a real bed and a few soaks in the hot tub. If it hadn't been for the laptop display issues, which required sending it back to the vendor, we might have gone out again for a few days. We sure wanted to. Gina, our house sitter, and her daughter stayed with us through the end of the month. Our daughter graduated from USMC basic training, we flew to Parris Island, SC for the graduation ceremony. Doug got back in to his client work, none of the customers were disappointed in the support they received while we were on the water. A good tiding for the next trip.
The trip succeeded in the sailing and live aboard lessons we were wanting. We definitely want to do it again. "Kitty Cat" has probably taught us about all she can. Cindy's been shopping for the next boat, something a little larger and more comfortable, with a real mattress. Maybe not next year, but soon.
There are a few more articles we've been wanting to publish, so stay tuned.
And to all of you who followed our voyage, thought good thoughts and maybe said a prayer or two for our safety, we thank you.
God Bless,
Doug, Cindy, and Squishy.
"Jesus said 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'
So they went away in a boat to a solitary place."
Mark 6:31b-32
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
September 9
Sorry for the long delay in closing this out.
Doug had another rough night. But, we get him moving, we work on scrubbing down the boat to get any salt residue off. We got a little too rambunctious with the sluicing, and ended up drenching portions down below. Squishy is really not impressed, and things are not looking too good for it to dry out by bed time. So, we make the decision to head for the home slip, and make arrangements to get home from there.
We were able to sail the last stretch home, a nice ending. Doug hadn't forgotten how to park in our narrow slip at St. Helens (we have about 6" on each side). Our niece will bring our car up after school is out, so we have a few hours to prepare. We do the sweaty work of getting stuff ready to go off the boat, get showers, and pack what looks like way to much stuff up to the parking lot. Jaclyn arrives, all our gear does fit. We also take home the tiller, the stairs, and the bilge cover, they need some serious sanding and varnish. A swing through Burgerville for dinner and fresh blackberry milkshakes, then on home. The great adventure has come to an end. For this year.
There's a little more to follow, so stay tuned.
Doug had another rough night. But, we get him moving, we work on scrubbing down the boat to get any salt residue off. We got a little too rambunctious with the sluicing, and ended up drenching portions down below. Squishy is really not impressed, and things are not looking too good for it to dry out by bed time. So, we make the decision to head for the home slip, and make arrangements to get home from there.
We were able to sail the last stretch home, a nice ending. Doug hadn't forgotten how to park in our narrow slip at St. Helens (we have about 6" on each side). Our niece will bring our car up after school is out, so we have a few hours to prepare. We do the sweaty work of getting stuff ready to go off the boat, get showers, and pack what looks like way to much stuff up to the parking lot. Jaclyn arrives, all our gear does fit. We also take home the tiller, the stairs, and the bilge cover, they need some serious sanding and varnish. A swing through Burgerville for dinner and fresh blackberry milkshakes, then on home. The great adventure has come to an end. For this year.
There's a little more to follow, so stay tuned.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
September 8
Doug didn't sleep well, getting spasms in his back. In the past doing stomach muscle exercises has corrected this. On the boat, there are constant stomach muscle exercises. After two months one wouldn't think it's the settee cushions we've been using for mattresses.
We wait until the tide change, then head on up to Rainier. Not a normal stop for us, but we need, of all things, cat food. And ice. We tie up, I take the hike. What used to be the grocery store is now a scratch and dent food store (at least they had cat food) about a mile north of the dock. Block ice is availabe at the filling station across the street. The nearest real grocery store, according to the pump jockey, would be in Longview. Hike back to the boat. There seems to some kind of fishing event going on, we've seen lots of boats anchored off the Washington side of the river fishing. Unfortunately, several of these recreational fishermen motor into Rainier at high speed, setting up wakes that made things very bouncy for Cindy and Squishy. Rather inconsiderate. We get under way, and are able to sail a good portion of the way to Martin Island. Several times we hear horn 5 blasts from freighters, which usually means “get out of my way”. We're pretty sure this was directed at the boats anchored in the shipping channel to fish.
We pull into Martin Island, drop hook, intent on spending a few days. Horses here now, in addition to cows. No one else in the pond, quiet except for the noise from I5. We scrub down and sluice down the decks. Unfortunatly, we sluice down the inside of the cabin, too, so have to get that dried out. It's cooled off a little, Doug saves swimming for tomorrow. A sailboat comes in, then goes out again. Odd. An inflatable rows in, lets the dog on shore for it's business, then rows out again. Also odd. At high tide, the first sailboat comes back in, along with another, larger sailboat, with the inflatable in tow. It takes the bigger boat some time to sound out the pond, then anchor and the little sailboat rafts up to them. The odd becomes clear now. The entrance to the pond in Martin Island is shallow, and big boat's owner is timid. They anchored out in the channel until high tide before coming in. The dog had to go, and there's really no landings outside of the pond (unless you know about the creek).
We move Doug to the quarter berth for the night, hoping more space might help with his back.
We wait until the tide change, then head on up to Rainier. Not a normal stop for us, but we need, of all things, cat food. And ice. We tie up, I take the hike. What used to be the grocery store is now a scratch and dent food store (at least they had cat food) about a mile north of the dock. Block ice is availabe at the filling station across the street. The nearest real grocery store, according to the pump jockey, would be in Longview. Hike back to the boat. There seems to some kind of fishing event going on, we've seen lots of boats anchored off the Washington side of the river fishing. Unfortunately, several of these recreational fishermen motor into Rainier at high speed, setting up wakes that made things very bouncy for Cindy and Squishy. Rather inconsiderate. We get under way, and are able to sail a good portion of the way to Martin Island. Several times we hear horn 5 blasts from freighters, which usually means “get out of my way”. We're pretty sure this was directed at the boats anchored in the shipping channel to fish.
We pull into Martin Island, drop hook, intent on spending a few days. Horses here now, in addition to cows. No one else in the pond, quiet except for the noise from I5. We scrub down and sluice down the decks. Unfortunatly, we sluice down the inside of the cabin, too, so have to get that dried out. It's cooled off a little, Doug saves swimming for tomorrow. A sailboat comes in, then goes out again. Odd. An inflatable rows in, lets the dog on shore for it's business, then rows out again. Also odd. At high tide, the first sailboat comes back in, along with another, larger sailboat, with the inflatable in tow. It takes the bigger boat some time to sound out the pond, then anchor and the little sailboat rafts up to them. The odd becomes clear now. The entrance to the pond in Martin Island is shallow, and big boat's owner is timid. They anchored out in the channel until high tide before coming in. The dog had to go, and there's really no landings outside of the pond (unless you know about the creek).
We move Doug to the quarter berth for the night, hoping more space might help with his back.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Back home, almost
Business issues, as well as back problems for Doug, sent us back to our slip in St Helens, and then on home. We still have after-cruise cleanup to finish on the boat, so we will be going back sometime this weekend.
Monday, September 7, 2009
September 7
A mellow day. The forecasted morning showers were very early morning showers. Mochas for breakfast (I broke my French Press a few days back), spend the morning getting the blog updated and dealing with other on-line stuff. We top off the water tank, I hose down the main anchor rode. Lots of dirt, we'll probably want to take it home after the trip and run it through the clothes washer. When we do get under way, a bunch of power boats were coming in. We hover (interesting in a sailboat the twists easily with the wind), then take off. The tide is out and rising, favorable for going up river, we take the "short cut" east through Cathlamet Channel. It's got shallow spots, our old sailing friend Ralph has provided detailed instructions for getting through, we have no problem. Back in the main river we are able to unfurl the headsail with wind from the west, this lasts for about half an hour when the wind suddenly shifts to from the northeast and becomes variable, like on, off, on, off. We work with this for a bit, then there is a freighter approaching from behind, so we fire up the motor, furl in the headsail, and motor the rest of the way to Walker Island. Set hook, salads for dinner, dishes, conversation, blog, sleep.
September 6
The inclement weather has pushed out to today, with strong winds forecasted for tonight. I’d left the auxiliary anchor rode in the cockpit, it got well rinsed with rain. One boat battery is down, our boat water is low, cell phone has been marginal, we need to get month end finances up to date (I overwrote the wrong file and we had to redo some stuff), I have some clients wanting attention over the Labor Day weekend, and we are wanting showers. We catch a break in the rain and motor over to Elochoman Slough Marina. It’s not a place we’d been to before; the entrance is tricky when you need 5 feet under you, even at high tide. Thanks to Uncle Ralph’s Guide, we get in with no problems. We get a slip with power away from the yacht clubs We get batteries charging, get showers, and walk to the town for a late lunch. Well, Cathlamet, WA doesn’t have much to offer. We get lunch (kind of heavy), then Cindy has the idea that hey, we’re in port, we could get a bag of salad fixings and Doug’s honey mustard dressing (on board, unused this trip), and have a perfectly reasonable dinner for two for $5. Duh. We should have thought of that several times over the past two months. We go to the local IGA, get salad, cucumber, a tomato, drinking water and cat food, so we’re good to go for the evening.
Back at the boat, we crack out the computers and get on business. Several rain showers blow over. One window is showing some leakage. I get the main anchor rode onto the boat deck to rinse out the salt in the rain. We look at the weather and tide tables, not sure we want to be here another night. Looks like warm weather later in the week, I’d like to be in Martin Island so I can go for a swim and scrape off any salt water growth off the bottom that needs it (I know the outboard does).
Back at the boat, we crack out the computers and get on business. Several rain showers blow over. One window is showing some leakage. I get the main anchor rode onto the boat deck to rinse out the salt in the rain. We look at the weather and tide tables, not sure we want to be here another night. Looks like warm weather later in the week, I’d like to be in Martin Island so I can go for a swim and scrape off any salt water growth off the bottom that needs it (I know the outboard does).
September 5
We got some rain over night, but not the “rain all morning” that was forecasted. Some wind, again, not bad. Looks like the predictions pushed out. We stay put, catching up on reading, and plotting the return up river. We're actually pleased with having “bad” weather over the Labor Day weekend, it tends to keep loud drunken idiot boaters off the river.
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