A Little W(h)ining

For several years now Nicole and I have been heading over to central Washington each President's Day weekend for wine tasting.  The area just past Yakima has a group of wineries called Rattlesnake Hills, and they host a Wine and Chocolate event each year at this time.  This year we were joined by fellow sailors Jason and Christy, and also met up with Heather, Jodi, and Danny, friends from Nicole's work.  In recent years Rattlesnake Hills has been adding wineries to their group, and this year they were up to 18 wineries, which presents a bit of a challenge to visit all of them during the event weekend.  Luckily it's a three day event so we could spread out the fun a bit.  We knew Christy would be up to the task, but Jason mentioned something about not really liking wine so I was a bit worried, but he was either understating his wine drinking prowess or he warmed up quickly.

Nicole and I were trying hard to show restraint in purchasing this year.  With our sailing trip departure just over a month away, we have been concerned that we already have quite a bit of wine on the boat and are only allowed a couple bottles each going into Canada.  We agreed that this would be a tasting weekend only with no buying, and that decision lasted all the way to the second winery we visited.  Having done this trip in the past with just the two of us, we have been known to fill the trunk of the car with cases of wine, keep our bags and toiletries in the back seat, and go on our merry way.  This year with four people and their associated luggage, we were thankfully limited in the amount of wine we could bring back.  I did, however, notice an unspoken agreement between the two couples that the luggage was arranged around the passengers inside the car to provide more space in the trunk for wine.  In the end we all had a great time and tasted some great wines.  For those that like statistics and/or gory details:

3 days of wine tasting
18 wineries visited
122 wines sampled (approximate number, for obvious reasons)
47 bottles of wine purchased (20 by us, 27 for Jason and Christy)
1 wine glass broken
4 livers slowly recovering

Pre-Departure Shuffle

I believe this could be referred to as the pre-departure shuffle, where large boxes of stuff are moved off the berth so we can sleep, in the morning they are moved from the settee so we can drink coffee, in the afternoon they are moved from the other settee to the berth so we can get something out of a locker, then it's time for bed, with the boxes back on the berth....About day five of this someone smarter than me (Nicole) will ask what exactly is in these boxes, at which point unpacking and organizational mayhem ensues....
It could be worse, we could also be dealing with the boxes of things currently stored in our vehicles, or the stuff in the storage unit, or the stuff at friends houses.

Say hello to my little friends

It's been cold but sunny the past few days, and the critters in the neighborhood are taking advantage of the lack of rain.  We don't see the seals hauled out in the marina too often, but the otters are regular visitors.

New Years

Tug and tow w/ Mount Baker in the background

After a few weeks of holiday travel involving planes and trains and automobiles, we finally got the chance to head out on the boat for a couple of days.  The original plan of a longer trip was revised after a look at the below-freezing temperatures forecast for the weekend.  We want to work the bugs out of our various systems in preparation for a few years in Alaska, but better to ease into this cold weather lifestyle.

The weekend turned out to be gorgeous in spite of the chilly temps.  Our revised plan had us making the relatively quick trip to Poulsbo in the company of our friends Jason and Christy on S/V Hello World.  Good company, good food, good wine, no better way to ring in the new year.  It was slightly disappointing that both the bakery and the used gear store were closed New Years Day, but the bars were open to make up for it, and we did sneak in a trip to the bakery the following morning before heading back to Seattle.

Olympic Mountains

Mount Rainier, first sunrise of 2011

Here's wishing everyone a Happy 2011, and to all our boating friends, see you out on the water.

October in a nutshell

When we repainted the hull of the boat, we had to remove the name and hailing port off the transom. Soon after leaving the boat yard we ordered our new vinyl graphics, and they sat on the boat for weeks waiting for us to find some ambition. Last Saturday that ambition crept up and caught Nicole and I by surprise, and our boat once again has a name and a place.

Shortly after applying the boat graphics, we headed out on the boat, across the sound to Port Madison for our cruising club halloween cruise. The weather forecast was a bit intimidating for the weekend and consequently the turnout was less than usual, but the club house was warm and cozy and the food was good. We ended up winning the pumpkin carving contest, part of the prize being a nice bottle of wine. We are trying to reduce our wine stores on the boat before heading to Canada in the spring, and by drinking one bottle with dinner and then winning one right after, we may have to try different tactics.

On Sunday, it turned out they got the forecast right, and it was a bit lumpy bringing the boat back home. About mid-Sound we were registering steady 27 knot winds with gusts just over 38 knots. This was the first bad weather we have been out in since acquiring our new shipmate, and Hope seemed more annoyed than scared, and thankfully didn't show any signs of being sick.

Afloat

The boat went back in the water Saturday afternoon on the 4th. No issues so far with any of the work we did in the yard. Happily the boat is not leaking and moves in the direction we want it to. We spent a day in Everett just in case there was an issue, and then headed back to Seattle to settle into our new slip a bit further north in the same marina. Since then we have been working to clean up the boat after our time in the yard and take care of a few last projects in preparation of the second half of our survey. Once the survey is done I have to wrap up some work issues and pack to head back to MN for a few days. Nicole is, has been, and will continue to work each day while I'm gone so we can live this luxurious life we have become accustom to. Our kitty, Hope, continues to goof off and does nothing to contribute to the financial security of our family; it may be about time to give her a stern talking-to.

Seeing red, finally

Yesterday we got a break in the weather and finished the last coat of red for the topsides. The white stripe will have to wait until we are back in the water, it's actually easier to do from the dock anyway. Splash date tomorrow morning (Saturday) so I need to get moving on the last few projects before we leave our beautiful temporary neighborhood in the boatyard. We'll probably take a couple days to get back to Seattle to take advantage of the holiday weekend, and hopefully by then our new slip will be vacant.