Wayne's World

On Friday and again over the weekend we saw raccoons on the dock and on the edge of the water next to the dock in the morning.  Given they’re nocturnal, this is quite unusual.  At first I figured they want to eat the blackberries that grow on the bank next to ‘Alice’ but that didn’t explain why they were pouncing into the water.  Then I realized they were catching and eating some of the smaller fish we have that swim around the houseboats.

The water is incredibly clear at the moment so it must make it easier for the raccoons to see the fish.  I’m learning more about raccoons – they remain creepy looking but if they are fishermen they can’t be all bad!

 

Alice and I took a long weekend and headed off down the Oregon coast for a road trip to Redding where her aunt’s memorial service was being held.  Although the reason for the trip was sad, it was nevertheless an enjoyable journey.  We headed off after work on Thursday and stayed at a hotel on the river in Portland.  Then it was off to the Oregon coast stopping in Newport for lunch and then on to Eureka California where we stayed at the Carter House Inn – a great bed and breakfast.

The Oregon coast road is spectacular in places and the driving was very enjoyable – the Jag finally got to stretch its legs on a proper driving road.

They were filming a movie in Eureka supposedly starring Kirsten Dunst so we’ll have to keep an eye out for it.  It was at night so not sure if it’s a scary movie but as we were leaving early the next morning, there seemed to be some scary people hanging around so you never know.

The memorial services was fitting and most of Alice’s family had gathered so it was good to catch up over the celebration, dinner and breakfast.

Afterwards we set off again up the coast and stopped in Depoe Bay for the night – again staying at a bed and breakfast and had dinner at Tidal Raves which was a great recommendation from the inn keeper.  Here is the view from the restaurant.

 

The Jag performed very well and enjoyed the run, although it now needs a bath.

On these summer weekends the rowing club dock gets a lot of visitors who sun bathe and take to water to swim, relax in water toys and generally have a chilled, fun time.  The dock also gets visitors in boats looking to drop off or pickup passengers, even though the rowing club actively discourages this practice.  Generally the boats that do this are smaller runabouts and sometimes slightly larger cabin cruisers.

This weekend was different.  A very large Chris-Craft, I’d estimate to be 65 feet long or larger attempted to drop off a wedding party for a celebration that was being held at the event center above the rowing club.  Needless to say this was never going to work, particularly given the large number of people on the dock and in the water near it.  They were shouting to these people to get out of the way.  After a little while, they abandoned the effort and moved onto the other rowing club dock, but there they only succeeded in causing damage to the locked gate.  Then they sent in a tender to do some reconnaissance, and finally they brought the large boat back in and tried to tie up behind the boats moored across the from us on the opposite dock.  This only succeeded in totally annoying all the owners of those moored boats how began yelling at them to “f*** off”, which eventually they did.  Not before multiple people had called the harbor police.

The Seattle water police showed up and spent some time getting details before heading off to track down the offenders.  I figured all they had to do was look for someone with a very big boat and a very small brain.

 

It seems that just like the Mounties, the Seattle water police always get their man.  An hour or so later the water police returned with the offender following them in his tender (in red Hawaiian shirt below).  Then followed by some lengthy discussions including with several moored boat owners and the police taking lengthy statements.  It was quite a while before the boat captain was allowed to leave, no doubt with one or more citations – a job well done!

What a brilliant weekend.  Kate and Adam arrived on Friday and we spent the weekend partying in fine style.  Food, libations, water fun were all the order for the weekend.  We spent time on the kayaks, paddle boards, went out on the KatieG and watched the fireworks from the deck of Alice.

Lake Union gets truly crazy with boats as it is the one day of the year that boats are allowed to anchor.  The local park, Gas Works Park provides a great view of the fireworks display which is conducted from a barge anchored off the park, so of course that park was crowded with people who were entertained with music, food, displays etc.

One highlight for us was to go out with our neighbors, Mike and Patti on their larger boat, Mischief and wind our way through the boats anchored all of which had some significant parties underway.

Then it was home to Alice to enjoy traditional July 4th hot dogs, burgers and beer as we waited for the fireworks to begin.

 

Another beautiful weekend in Seattle.  On Saturday the weather was sunny and warm ~ 85F so it was time to get on the water. I went out on the paddle board accompanied by Alice on a kayak.  It felt great until a tow-person rowing scull ran me down on the way back.  It’s a little disconcerting to look down and see the bow of another boat right along side of and moving much quicker.   Needless to say I ended in the water with quite a bruise where an oar hit my ankle.  Afterwards we went out on the KatieG for a three hour cruise – and made it back safely 🙂

Sunday was cooler with cloud cover which was a good thing as Alice and I marched on the Gay Pride Parade in Seattle.  It was a very festive event attended by lots of people representing all aspects of society and a very large number of spectators.  There were many rainbow flags flying including on top of the Space Needle.  It was all the more of a celebration following the Supreme Court decision to make same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.  As they say, Loves Wins!

It’s been an action-packed weekend in Fremont with the annual Solstice Fair and parade. We started the weekend by attending as Mariner’s game in which they beat the Astros from Houston. This was followed by a fireworks display that had a Star Wars theme.

On Saturday we visited the Solstice Fair, checking out the arts and street vendors. Among other things, there was an art car display and Alice really liked the witch’s car from Nebraska. Then on to the Solstice parade, which as per tradition started with a naked bicyclist parade – this year there must have been more than 1,000 of all shapes, sizes and ages, most of whom must have spent considerable time on their body paint.

Then off to Woodinville to watch a concert by Chicago on the grounds of the Chateau Ste Michelle winery.

All in all a fabulous weekend.

Most mornings as I head over 520 bridge on my way to work, I see a bald eagle who like to hang out on a lamppost on the bridge. Occasionally I get to see him soaring or in action hunting his prey – mostly later in the afternoon / early evening on my way home. He really is majestic and Alice who also gets to see him on her way to work has named him Buddy – I’m not sure why but it seems to work.

This week I’ve finally had the time and the nice weather to become better acquainted with my paddle board – a Jimmy Styks Scout expedition. The first day out (staying near our dock and doing large loops) was a bit of a shaky start, although I’m proud to say I didn’t fall in. Since then I’ve gone a little further each day and today I managed about a 75 minute run. Again a little shaky but getting stronger and bit more confident. No falling in which is a great thing although I’ll admit to having to go down on my knees when a cabin cruiser whose operator doesn’t know the meaning of “no wake zone” came a little close

I had a real workout getting back as the wind had come up quite strongly and of course I was paddling against it – at times I was either stationary or even losing some ground. Still I now understand why I’ve been told that SUP paddle boards provide a full-body workout and are great for core muscles.   As is always the case, now that I’m back and relaxing on the deck of Alice, the wind has dropped and all is calm 🙂

After a few weeks of business travel each week (Johannesburg, London, New York) it was great to have a relatively quiet week followed by a long weekend for Memorial Day. Alice and I are getting away to Oregon. We’ll stay in Portland and then in the Willamette Valley to do a little wine tasting. As fun as these will be, Alice is most looking forward to stopping in Olympia on the way home to pick up our new cat, Josie.

Great time tasting wine in the Willamette valley. Then we picked up Josie on the way home. Of course she was screaming for a good part of the trip. And then once we got home, Alice put her in the litter box and we both went about our business putting items away after our trip. Then Alice couldn’t find her so we spent 30 minutes or so crawling all over the houseboat including in the hull as I had the door open while I was putting the wine down there. So just as we were about to crawl all the way through the hull, Alice too another look in the litter box and there she was – hiding behind some empty plastic bags. Alice was much relieved but my first thought was that it was time from a glass of wine!

Last night we had our second set of uninvited guests for the year. At least these well less nefarious than the last set who stole my Cruzbike – a recumbent, front-wheel drive bike that will be expensive to replace. Following this we had some motion detectors and lights to shine on the dock beside our houseboat and on to the deck near the KatieG.

Last night around 2:30am, Alice awoke with a start to say there was someone on the deck of the houseboat. She ran upstairs, while I ran along the side deck to cut them off if they tried to escape back down the stairs. It was a drunken young couple who were happily sitting in our deck chairs. Alice gave them quite a talking to ands I reiterated her lecture with a few choice swear words as they were leaving down the stairs, quite chagrinned.

Afterwards we decided we did a couple of things wrong in the heat of the moment. Alice should have had picked up her phone to call the police, we should have turned on the outside lights and next time I’ll pick up the baseball bat and take that with me. We will also need to adjust the motion detectors and lights or add some more.