I could get used to this...

Well we waited for the good weather and, man, did it arrive!
The past few days have been beyond gorgeous here in Seattle. With the sun out and the temperatures well into the 80's it's easy to see why parking at the marina was hard to come by.


Tuesday and Wednesday Geoff and I went sailing for a few hours after the working day was done. It's the first time Cake Walk has left the dock since we moved her up here on April 13th. It was our first time at the marina on a sunny day and it was really nice to see how many boats were out. Both Tuesday and Wednesday saw races for boats in our marina. Luckily Lake Washington is giant enough that even with a proper race course set up there is still plenty of room for us to stay well clear of the more serious boaters.

The view at Cake Walks new home 

 On Tuesday we sailed a giant counter clockwise loop between the I-90 and SR 520 bridges. It was our first look at how changing the winds are on the lake. We had a lot of fun. We're still getting to know our boat and it's a blast! All the mountains were out and so was our sunscreen. Our pasty white skin seeing the sunshine for the first time in probably 6 months. To top the trip off we managed to rescue a lost fender! Poor thing! It was so scared and all alone! With Geoff at the helm and also manning sheets, I got the boat hook ready and realized as I tried desperately to grab the fender (which was floating by a lot quicker than I had anticipated) that our little boat has a LOT more freeboard than I thought and had to call on Geoff to quickly hold onto my ankles before I took a tumble into the water for our first man overboard drill. I'm happy to say the fender was rescued and I did not go for an unplanned swim, though much laughing ensued. We've put it to good use at our slip as it's surprising rocky with maybe not the greatest breakwater ever and a ton of over zealous power-boaters on the lake. After our sail we went to Hula Hula to wish one of my co-workers a fond farewell as she moved home to California. Some karaoke was sung, some sangria was drank. It was a good day.

Wednesday saw us reaching sustained speeds of 6 knots in our little Columbia 26 and a few alcoholic ginger beers. The orange one is SO tasty! We've also starting picking out our favorite giant houses along the shores of the lake. Which one has the best dock, the best view, and the best style. We sailed back and forth in front of Mercer Island, taking a peak at the waterfront near Bellevue and back over to our side of the lake. We tried to sail wing on wing but the winds on the lake are too changing and the jib just wasn't having any of it. Maybe next time...

Geoff enjoying the sunshine

One of our favorite things we've seen over the past few days is the most interesting way to get a boat out of a marina with no engine. Quite a few of the serious racers don't carry outboard motors as they're far too heavy. They need to rely on man power to move the boat from their slips to the open water. They get a good push off the dock and then rock the boat back and forth with a few people on either side. With one person using the rudder as a sort of paddle they manage to get the boats up to amazing speeds and rock the boat out into the lake, set sail and away they go! We sort of laughed at the first boat to do this ... but then boat after boat followed and it seems to work pretty well for them. Makes you REALLY work for that beer though! I think we'll stick with our engine...

This coming Saturday (May 3rd) is Opening Day here in Seattle. Which means the opening of boat season. The day is filled with CRAZY traffic on the water, including a boat parade through the canals, the opening of the Montlake Bridge, Lake Washington and Lake Union are packed with boats of all sizes, shapes and kinds. There are rowing races, log boom parties and general awesomeness that takes place on the water. It's a great way to meet other boaters but with it being so incredibly busy we might sit this one out. That and I work this weekend...

Till next time, fair winds my friends!

Twilight over Mount Rainier