Wow what a week it has been or should I say what a last 10 days it has been.....I started with helping at Mule Days on June 10 11 and 12th.....everyone knows since my retirement I am NOT an early morning person . I was up early all three days and on the road to drive the 30 miles to the annual Montana Mule Days show. I enjoy seeing old friends but harbor a little sadness know that I cannot compete any longer. With the loss of Angel last fall and my remaining donkey Katie being a bit aged it was time to call it quits and just help put on the annual event....My days there were long but very joyful seeing old friends and meeting new ones...
On Monday June 13th Craig and I were off in a new direction...literally headed west to Anacortes Washington to finally pick up our boat Salty. It is a grueling 12 hour trek in the very uncomfortable 86 Ford truck loaded to the hilt with us, three dogs and some gear we might need.
Tuesday June 14th we got to see our boat again.....sitting at EQ in Coronet Bay, the repairs done and sitting on the trailer. We had made plans to have Les Lampman take us out for a while on that bay but on our arrival the tide was out -2 (what ever that means). We spent the afternoon with Salty at EQ doing some much need last minute things...like changing out it's registration numbers to the new ones for Montana MT 8680 AZ We don't like the AZ on the end as most people will think we are from Arizona. But we didn't choose the numbers...
Wednesday June 15th we are up early....staying at the Cap Sante Inn in Anacortes which is directly across from the marina. With the windows open you can hear the sea birds and smell the salt water.....delightful and calming. We load up and head the 15 miles to EQ Marina to hook up the boat and bring it back to Cap Sante Marina to their sling launch. I am nervous watching as they put two huge nylon straps under Salty and hoist it high into the air. But gently lower it into the water... the tide is again out but water levels at the marina are good and we get afloat.
Les then takes us out for about a 1 hour "lesson" on how things operate. He shows us how to manuever into our slip on P dock #16 and then he's off to see another client....Craig and I are left to ponder whether we have enough courage to go it alone.....we decide to go for it and off we go.....putting our way through the marina getting to see all the boats, this time from a totally different perspective....Maiden voyage isn't very long or very far. The sun is shining and the water is good for our first trip.....we make it and back into our slip with no problems.....whew! That's enough excitment for one day so we decide to just play "boat people"grabbed a six pack and a bottle of wine and just chilled on the boat watching the sun go down.....Probably a good thing because as we sat, sailboat after sailboat passed us going out past our slip. We found out later that Wednesday nights is Regatta night and they have sailboat races in the bay. It was a beautiful night to just sit!
Thursday, June 16th we again got up early....(this is killing me by now) but we had some shopping to do. Boat gas keys, a waste basket, whisk broom and lunch supplies but we ran all over town trying to find stuff...oh yeah a small carpet for the dogs for under the dinette. We made it back aboard about 11:30 and fixed a sandwich. Then we again headed out fro a cruise.... Craig is taking things very easy, but me, I want to see just how fast this boat will go. I ask to drive...now so far Craig has kept Salty at a slow 6 knots.....me I cranked it up to a whopping 9...not fast but faster! This time we decided to see if we could actually make it the the other marina on the other side of Fidalgo Island...the water was a bit rougher but we made it just fine cruising past Skyline and beyond. At that point it was evident that we were both getting more comfortable with Salty and the currents. We made it all the way around a second island, Burroughs, seeing kayakers bobbing through the currents and safely made our way back to our slip once again.....Later that evening we met our first fellow C Brats Herb and Willie Stark of Willies Tug.....and Jake thier faithful companion...had a very nice visit during happy hour. They were in Anacortes from the very southern tip of Texas and enjoying their brand new Ranger Tug... Very nice folks!
Friday June 17th we only had a few hours of boating.....knowing that the weather was nice and the weekend was ahead we knew we had to head back to the sling launch by 3pm...they close at 5pm and we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time being new to all this.....but we cruised out into Guemes channel about 11am. Craig had our route planned and we wanted to see if we could make it all the way around Cypress Island. We passed Eagle Bay and all the tiny little dots of islands surrounding the area.....One tiny rock formation had tons of seals basking in the sun.....because of the rocks we could not get too close but stopped for a minute to use the binoculars to watch them....Awesome. Then we cruised along the shoreline and spotted the dolphins. We saw lots as they came up for air and I think to check us out....everytime I tried to capture a photo they disappeared. We shut off the engines just let Salty float with the current and fixed ourselves lunch. We had a seagull join us begging for attention.
Huge flotillas of birds were everywhere. Craig was hoping to spot a whale....we had heard they were in the area but again we didn't have the confidence to head to bigger water just yet....next trip for sure!
That afternoon we got back to the sling launch at precisely 3pm....only one boat waiting to launch but the attendant had already started our load so he had to wait....he chatted with us and mentioned he was from Missoula...now what are the odds of that?? Friday night was great, we met up with the people we bought the boat from at Anthonys restaurant. Like old friends we compared notes about Salty and how much fun it is on the water....hated to see the evening end and the entire week for that matter.
Saturday we are off for home. Craig achecking and re checking to amke sure Salty is ready for the long drive. Buckled and tied down everything seems fine so off we go....By the way we got up to pouring rain....so we will wait to flush and wash poor Salty until we get home. But we were both tired too so we didn't get up at the crack of O dark thirty and got a late start on the road. We knew we didn't want to push going home so we make to Medical Lake Washington and a Super 8.....had a good nights rest again and finally get home on Sunday....The horses are all eyeballs watching to see just what is in the driveway.....hmmmm doesn't look like anything they have seen before.....Salty is home in Montana and we have a new chapter starting in our lives......The lawn was so overgrown it took me 4 hours to get things looking tidy again......Salty is flushed washed and parked safely in the driveway...waiting for our next adventure....soon I hope!
