The week has been hot here in Seattle. With temperatures reaching up into the 80's and humidity climbing higher there's no better place than to be than on the lake. Whether it's the kids splashing at the beach or the numerous water skiers being towed behind the even more numerous motor boats weaving paths back and forth across the lake, everyone is taking advantage of the heat wave this week.
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| Cake Walk wing on wing for the first time! |
Tuesday evening we went out for a sail. With the sun setting so late (8:40pm) we can get almost 4 hours of sailing in before dark. We're not overly fond of sailing past dark right now as our marina is barely lit up at night. Though it's been hot and sticky there's been plenty of wind on the lake which makes for a lovely evening out on the water. As usual there was a race taking place, so we generally try to avoid that area of the lake. Watching the race, however, is amusing. So many sailboats so incredibly close together, all taking things maybe a bit too seriously. Chill out! Enjoy the view! Have a beverage!
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| Sailing under the bridge! |
On this particular Tuesday we decided to see how far we could get around Mercer Island. Our boat is moored between the I-90 and SR-520 bridges. The SR-520 bridge we can clear at either side. The I-90 bridges... not so much. The two bridges on the west side of Mercer Island only have a 29 ft clearance. Not enough for our 35 ft mast. The east side of Mercer Island has a bridge with a 70 ft clearance. Away we went! The wind is always changing on the lake but down along the east side of the island we were able to go wing on wing for the first time. I, personally, find this a little nerve racking. Wing on wing means you have sails set on opposite sides. A smooth ride is definitely preferred and with so many power boats around it was anything but smooth. We approached the bridge with the jib flapping and decided to wrangle it in and just sail normally under the bridge. Good thing too as the winds were extremely confused just after the bridge. Once we found a wind that could decide where it wanted to go we ran with it and made it down almost as far as the VMAC, the Seattle Seahawks headquarters and training facility. Unfortunately the sun was setting, and rookie mini camps were over for the day anyways, so we turned our boat around and headed for home.
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| Despite the ripped sail, it was still pretty out. |
Geoff had been steering this whole time and now it was my turn. I was nervous to sail under the bridge, even though I knew it's clearance. When we approached the bridge the winds, again, were very confused. We tacked back and forth a few times till we thought we had a good path under the bridge. The winds would die and pick back up again as we tried to sail under with the bridge supports getting ever closer. We tacked once right under the bridge and soon found ourselves within feet of the supports. We went to tack back and the winds died and the jib caught on the spreaders and.... RIIIIiiiiiiipppppPPPP! Great. Within moments Geoff had the outboard running and in gear. We motored the rest of the way home. The rip isn't actually too bad. It's along a seam right on the leech, the aft edge of the sail. It's about 3.5 feet long and is an easy, but time consuming, fix.
So guess what I spent Wednesday afternoon doing? We had down rigged the sail last night and brought it home for me to work on in the shade of our garage. I gave the sail a good scrub with vinegar and biodegradable laundry detergent, put some dacron tape on both sides of the sail along the rip and started stitching. Didn't get too much done before Geoff came home. We had plans this evening with friends so the sail would have to wait.
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| Riiiiipppp! ugh. Silly Jib |
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| With Dacron tape on I get to stitching. |
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| Our new friend, the pissssssssed off snake. See what I did there? |
So when a townhouse across the road from us went up for sail we thought "Hey! Might as well look into it." We arranged to see the house on Geoff's lunch break. We went to the door and the real estate broker Geoff works with unlocks the door and opens it. That's when Geoff sees it... a snake. Geoff in his head it thinking "Oh! A plastic, toy snake." Wrong! A millisecond after the door was opened this snake was striking and attempting to take a jab at the legs of our poor real estate friend (who is now trapped inside the house) and Geoff. This is one pissed off reptile. This particular snake was about 3 feet long and bright orange. Let's make one thing clear, while Washington State does have a few indigenous snakes, this was not one of them. While we pondered what to do, our irritated new friend slithered into the house and found refuge on the stairs. We called the listing agent to let her know (She said she would just slam the door shut and run) and she in turn let the owner know. We have no idea if the snake belongs to the college guys renting the house or whether it's someone's lost pet who just found a new home. We weren't going to stick around to find out. So heeding the listing agents advice we shut the door (after rescuing our real estate friend through the garage), locked the door with the snake still inside and went for lunch. Maybe it's a sign we shouldn't be buying another house...
Hopefully I'll have the sail ready for a weekend sail and all will be right again. We also found that our compass isn't as full as it used to be. It seems to be slowly leaking whatever liquid is inside it. We should probably fix that a.s.a.p. But really I think we've had enough adventure for a few days. Maybe we'll just grab a cold one and try to enjoy the sunshine while we have it.
Until next time, fair winds my friends.
P.S.
Almost forgot to send a shout out to all the moms out there! Happy Mother's Day!! I know it's a few days late but you all know you don't need one special day to know you're loved. Here are a few pictures of the flowers Geoff took our to his mom and grandmother on Sunday.
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| The three bouquets we had made for the awesome moms in our lives. |
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| This one is a virtual bouquet for my mommy in NS |
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