Rigging Trip



Last weekend, we made a trip up to Port Townsend to get Vicky's rigging inspected by the folks at Port Townsend Rigging.  We are also having a solent stay installed for the new drifter sail that we're having made.   We headed out super early on Saturday morning so that we'd have favorable currents and made it through the locks in no time. 

 

 

 

We're getting pretty used to the trip from Ballard up to Port Townsend, but this trip was exceptionally nice -- sunny, strong wind out of the south, no complaints. 

 

We recently bought a new camera, so we had fun taking pictures of the passing boats, including this lovely lady, Mara.  Mara sailed with us all the way up to Port Townsend and moored at the same marina.

 

 

Ty's parents, Jeff and Pam, had a trip planned up to the San Juans, so they decided to meet us for the weekend in Port Townsend.  Jeff had just finished working on their dinghy, the Pam Maureen II, and was excited to get it in the water.   They beat us up to Port Townsend -- no surprise -- and motored out to greet us.

 

 

We spent the first two nights at the Point Hudson Marina, which is a small marina near the wooden boat center and the sail shop where we're having Vicky's new sails made.    Saturday evening was lovely -- the sky kept turning deeper oranges and purples.

 

 

Before dinner, Jeff took Pam Maureen II out for a bit of a row.  (That's the sailboat, Mara, docked behind Jeff.)

 

 

Jeff and Pam had done some salmon fishing the weekend before, and Pam brought up some amazing salmon for us to grill for dinner.   We took our time cooking, and had a wonderful evening talking, sipping wine, and enjoying the beautiful sunset over the marina.

 



 

On Sunday, Ty and I took a long walk across town to do some grocery shopping. In the afternoon, we took Vicky out for a sail.  This was Pam and Jeff's first sail trip on Vicky and they both had a blast.  

 

On Monday, Ty and I headed over to Boat Haven, the big marina on the other side of town near the marine industrial park and boat yard.  Port Townsend Rigging has its shop over there, and we were meeting the rigging guy, Justin, over there for Vicky's inspection.  Happily, she passed with flying colors.  We got lots of ideas for improvements to make to her rigging before any major sailing trip. 

 

In the afternoon, we went back to the sail loft to visit with the wonderful folks at Port Townsend Sails who are making Vicky's new sails.  We had some decisions to make, namely what color we wanted Vicky's genoa cover to be, and whether we wanted a colorful drifter. Big decisions.  We decided they would be best made over a drink at our favorite bar in Port Townsend -- the Pourhouse. 

It was tough, but we finally settled on a Captain Navy genoa cover and an all-white drifter.  Phew.

The sunset on Sunday was amazing, yet again.... cue camera.

Sometimes I can't get over how lovely Vicky is. 

 

 

On Tuesday, we got up early to have breakfast and then  meet Justin for one last set of measurements on the rigging.  

 

 

We recently got our new stove, which works perfectly for heating coffee water and cooking boatmeal.

 

 

We didn't have the wind with us on the way back, so we ended up motoring quite a bit.  We made it back kind of late on Tuesday, tired, but so happy to have spent yet another wonderful weekend in Port Townsend, enjoying spending time on Vicky, visiting with the Hedlunds, exploring the town, and dreaming up ideas for our next adventure.

Family Sail Trip

My sister, Laura, was visiting Seattle from San Francisco for Labor Day Weekend.  On Sunday, we decided to take Vicky out to Puget Sound to (literally) show Laura the ropes. 

We headed out around 11:00 AM and quickly discovered we weren't the only people who thought it'd be a good day for a sail.  The locks were packed.

Once we were underway, my parents, John and Paula, made themselves comfy on the bow to watch the marine life.  The salmon were running, so you could see them jumping out of the water on all sides of the boat.

 

 

 

There wasn't much wind on the Sound, but there was still a fair bit of excitement.  This tall ship is actually a member of the Spanish Navy, which was in town for some reason.  A little later on, it put up all its sails and was quite a sight. 

 

Dad took to sailing right away and was plenty happy to man the tiller while the rest of us enjoyed the ride.  I brought out my recently-acquired ukelele so Laura could strum for us a bit. 

Coming back in, we didn't have much of a wait for the locks -- just enough time for me to take down the jib lines and snap a couple more pictures.

 

Walking Ballard

On Tuesday evening, Ty and I went for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner.  It was a warm, lazy evening, and we wanted to take advantage of the last of the long days and summer sunsets.  I decided to take the camera along to snap a couple pictures.

So without further ado…

Looking out over the dock across from Vicky, we can see the sun set behind the Theodore Bear, another live aboard at the marina.

Ty and I wandered into the parking lot behind the old Union Gasoline building where we spied some classic vehicles, including a early-to-mid 1960s ranchero.

The Union Gasoline company is long gone, but the building kept its sign and houses workshops of various sorts.

We also wandered into a facing lot to admire colorful graffiti and the backside of an old Ford van.  Ballard has no shortage of graffiti or old Fords.

After checking out the cars, we wandered over the the boat launch on the other side of the Ballard Bridge.  Next to the boat launch is an old warehouse that was pretty cool looking against the bright blue sky.

 We arrived back at Vicky just in time to see the last bits of sunshine behind her.  (Ty just finished putting new handrails along the top of her cabin, which look quite elegant!)

We will miss the warm summer evenings as fall arrives.