heigh ho, it's off to work we go

I work in Fremont right off the water. I live in a houseboat on Eastlake. I own a kayak. Of course I should be kayaking to work. However, we've had a winter chock full of crappy weather and bombing winds out of the south. Winds out of the south means I have to paddle upwind on the way home. That's a recipe for sucking the fun out of kayaking so I haven't done much (read: any) kayak commuting lately.

But the weather gods have been smiling upon Seattle lately and last Friday was exceptionally nice. So I plopped into my kayak and off I went to work.


Paddling down the fairway between houseboats.


How do you not love this town?


Watch out for traffic, though.


Cruising up the east side of the lake.


Heading towards the Aurora Bridge.


Pulling into the dock at the rowing club in front of my office.


We almost raced on this boat one time. True story.


On my way back home after a hard day's work. Can you just see the rigors of the commute on my face?


Interesting to stare down a seaplane coming right at you from a kayak. Our skydiving instructors always called the moving propellor of an airplane "mystery meat makers". Funny what you remember, huh?


Back in the neighborhood.

plan update

Once again, it's been awhile since I've updated the bloggity blog. Plans are on track and we're making progress on our intentions to not become Darwin award recipients during our travels. To that end:

• We're signed up for John and Amanda Neal's cruising seminar on 3/1 in Seattle.


• We're scheduled to take a bareboat charter class on 3/14.


• We're scheduled to take a Medical Care for Long Distance Sailors class on 4/12 which will also give us a Wilderness First Aid certification.


• Christy's dad is crewing on a boat delivery from the Bahamas to New Jersey in May and got both of us invites as crew. We're flying into Marsh Harbour May 9th and flying back from Connecticut a week and a half later.

We're also heading out to Sequim the first weekend in March to go look at a 37 foot custom pilothouse designed by Stan Huntingford:



It's all happening!

hauling out whitecloud

Fish, Kim, Christy and I all fired up Whitecloud's engine for the first time in many moons in order to deliver her to a yard in Ballard for her haulout. Before traversing the locks and a couple bridge openings, we had to stop and pump out all the nastiness in her holding tank and fuel up.


Skipper and crew motoring through Shilshole on the way to the pumpout.


Pumping out poo - Fish Approves!


"HA HA HA. Jason, you are sooooo funny!" Christy seems to say.


Into the small locks, these are all the good people who stood by and watched while I tried 10 or more times to get the friggin' bow line onto the bollard. Smooth.


"Hey man, can't you get the bow line on the bollard? What the hell?"


Check out Kim's blog to see the reciprocal shot of this one. I'm sure it'll be up there shortly. (Ed. see here)


Bye Ballard Bridge.


The whole day was a circus of errors and goofs, all topped off by attempts to push start the Jeep with the lights left on. Oops.

Now Whitecloud is safely on the hard. Some rot in the core of her decks is being cleaned out and filled, hull blisters are being ground out, and the current cutlass (cutless?) bearing has an appointment with the trash.

ocean shores

Somebody spent alot of time and effort naming the town of Ocean Shores, WA. Guess what it's primary attribute is? Our plan was to ride the bike down to Ocean Shores taking the long way down the west side of Hood Canal on hwy 101 which is positively wicked fun. But the weather conspired to foil that plan so we moved on to Transportation plan B: the Subaru. Except the Subaru has a check engine light on (this was all two weeks ago by the way and we still haven't gotten it looked at). Of the three vehicles we own between the two of us, we were down to our last one. So we piled into the XTerra and headed south.

As it turns out, this was a clamming weekend and the word was out. The beach was absolutely littered with folk burrowing after the slippery little suckers. As much as Christy was dieing to participate, we lacked the necessary and slightly sophisticated digging tools to clam. This is apparently serious business.

So mostly, we spent a weekend walking on the beach, eating too much, and watching movies. I can think of a lot worse ways to spend a weekend.


As far as the eye could see, people were stuffed on to the beach chasing clams.




Hanging out on the jetty.


And then getting back down off the jetty.


Sunset.






Gazelle.


Water buffalo.

choice

"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?

-from Voyager by Sterling Hayden