May 23, 2024   For a variety of reasons, we have missed the last several years of our Alaska journeys.  This year were we able to organize a shorter trip, with friends and family helping us with running Spirit.   Our first team, Kent and Melody, arrived in Anacortes about noon and by 1230 we were underway for our first night at Echo Bay on Sucia Island.  We were accompanied by friends on the Selene 55 “Rendezvous”. By 1525 we were anchored in Echo Bay, after a short 22 NM run, where we shared dinner.   We were one of four Selene’s anchored in Echo Bay.  This ..read more

“Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation.” – Lois Wyse This will be Hattie's last May visit...she starts kindergarten in the fall. She's so excited and so ready. We love these one on one visits with the Grands. We have a chance to really get to know them. Hattie has grown up so much in the last three years, she's smart, energetic and she says the funniest things. We were entertained the whole visit ..read more

The annual Little Norway Festival in Petersburg honors the town’s and communities’ Norwegian heritage. It is Petersburg largest community event and held in the middle of May over a weekend close to the Norwegian Constitution Day, May 17.  Like many small town celebrations, there are parades, contests, demonstrations and many opportunities to eat and drink. We arrived on Friday, May 17 which was the day of the parade followed by the very popular herring toss and street fair (crafts, food vendors and beer gardens). I’ve red circled the herrings in flight in the photograph. We made the ext ..read more

We started our 2024 cruising season on Saturday, May 4, one day earlier than we originally targeted. The winds looked to be less fearsome on Saturday than Sunday so we speeded our preparations up a bit.  The first stop was Anacortes where we took on fuel and had some work done on the boat. Because the work was done on Monday, we needed three nights in Anacortes and didn’t depart until Tuesday.  We cleared BC customs in Port Browning on North Pender Island in the Gulf Islands.  Our yacht club subsidizes our moorage at the marina there (it is considered an “outstation”), it has a ..read more

Completed in September, 2023 at a cost of $2.3 billion, the Sphere in Las Vegas is 366 feet (111 m) tall and 516 feet (157 m) wide. The exterior is covered with 1.2 million hockey puck-sized LED lights that are programmed with an ever-changing array of spectacular images. The interior features a 16K 160,000-square-foot (15,000 ..read more

We’ve been toying with the idea of a high-speed weekend boat to more easily take advantage of the water-based attractions in the area, so made that our focus at this year’s Seattle Boat Show. Brands that we toured include Arksen, Axopar, Coastal Craft, and Saxdor. Wellcraft also is of interest, but they weren’t represented at ..read more

Despite all our travels, Jennifer had never been to Mexico and James had only briefly visited once, years ago for a conference in Cancun. Jennifer finally reached America’s neighbor to the south early this year on a fabulous weekend trip to Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. James started ..read more

Gig Harbor is a wonderfully sheltered and tranquil harbor on the opposite side of the Puget Sound from Tacoma. We’ve spent many nights anchored there on Dirona, enjoying the lights reflecting into the still waters from the homes and businesses that ring the shore. And we always made a point to take the tender ashore ..read more

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” —C.S. Lewis Wow it's the last day of April already and it's the first time in 14 years we're not on a boat. Stan didn't call Beacon Bay to line up our launch date until last week...we've been preoccupied here at the house. So we won't be at the marina on May 1, but no worries we head back to The Pearl on Thursday and should start our summer season on Friday.  ..read more

We enjoyed our first weekend at Point Ruston so much that we returned for another earlier this year. We love the rooms at the Point Ruston Waterfront hotel, with sweeping views to Commencement Bay, where we can get a little work done by the window and see what’s happening outside, both on land and the ..read more