It was a short drive from the boat launch at Point Defiance to our destination of Gig Harbor. Well, it did take a little longer than needed because the water was smooth, the wind was so warm and we yearned to just cruise – but our schedule dictated that we move along and arrive Arabella's Landing Marina in Gig Harbor sooner rather than later due to an MTOA happy hour scheduled for 5:30. We signed up for this MTOA Rendezvous…
Jim and I have been long-distance cruisers for five years. Most of that time has been spent on good sized boats, most recently our Fathom 40, but last year we decided it was time for a change. After redefining our cruising goals we came up with a plan to buy a trailerable trawler. We wanted to have more flexibility in our cruising time. After doing the Great Loop boat trip almost two times we wanted the ability to move around…
Here I am with my dad boating on Lake Chemung. When I was a child, our family would drive to Lake Chemung (Howell, Michigan) to spend summer weekends, a family event I always enjoyed. Like many things children look forward to, like getting to the lake, it never seemed to happen soon enough. If I said it once I’d bet I said it a hundred times, “Are we there yet?” and I’m beginning to feel the same way about heading…
We don't want to do it, but then again we do... We are talking about leaving Washington to go home. We've had such a rewarding experience while in the Pacific Northwest making new friends, reacquainting ourselves with some of Lisa's old friends, sightseeing, watching our new boat be built, cruising the Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and a few surrounding inland lakes. Part of us would really like to just stay - This is the "don't want to do…
After the boat was safely secured on the truck we headed back to Seattle where we were the guests, for dinner, of Walt and Margie with whom, along with friends Patti and Eric, we celebrated our last night in Seattle. We spent the night at Patti and Eric's home and squeezed in precious moments until we left early Friday morning.We feel fortunate to have been able to spend some time during our stay with such fun people.
Yesterday they took off the fly bridge to prepare it for shipping. Today we got up early drove the boat over to the lift where it was lifted out of the water and onto the truck for the long ride east.
Today is our last day, touring the islands. We left Friday Harbor this morning to head to Hunter Bay, off Lopez Island. This is quite a large bay located on the southeast side of the island. We made our way into the crook of the bay and found only one other trawler and an old fishing boat already anchored close by. We settled in to…
Friday morning finds us leaving Fisherman Bay and Lopez Island at high tide and cruising the short distance back to Friday Harbor. We found more liveliness in this harbor this trip since the weekend is approaching and there are more boat and people activity.The weather cooperated with a warm afternoon for us to sit on the fly bridge to watch the comings and goings of all the boats, float planes and ferries. The sunset was amazing as it cast a…
Thursday morning we rose to a gentle rainfall. We took time with our showers and preparations to leave not wanting to vacate the peace and quiet of Reid Harbor. We find that most days include rain of some sort accompanied by ever changing skies, which open and close to expose the blue sky and rays of sun on and off all day long. We have noticed that the skies here are often dark and menacing looking, but quite harmless unless…
One thing you can't help but notice out here in Puget Sound, and surrounding waters, is the continually changing character of the water. With the rise and fall of the water, which constantly and rhythmically comes in and out on a predetermined schedule, Mother Nature is right in your face reminding you of forces greater than yourself.While out whale watching, in Haro Straits we thought the 900 foot depth water seemed more alive with an amazing rush of disturbed water…
Today’s destination was Stuart Island's Reid Harbor and a secluded, well-protected anchorage within three miles of Canada's Vancouver Island.It was optimistic but, our mission today was to try to spot a rare (this time of year) whale sighting in the 800-foot water of Haro Straits on the Canadian / United States border. We had no such luck, however, we did see dolphins, sea lions and some of the most turbulent and large whirlpools, we had ever seen, as the currents…
We left our protected dockage in Anacortes for a five-day tour of the San Juan Islands, which is located in the northwest corner of Washington State. First stop was Friday Harbor - this is one of those boating towns we've all heard of. Most wonder where it is and even fewer, east of the great Pacific Northwest, have ever been there.It is little known that the San Juan Islands enjoy an average of 247 days with sunshine a year and about…
What can we say? How about... a photo is worth a thousand words.
Our son Ross and girlfriend Brooklyn came from Portland, by train, to Anacortes for a short, but very sweet, two day visit. They came to visit with us one more time before we head back to Michigan. We packed a lot in during the short visit. We had really wanted to cruise over to Friday Harbor but weather prevented us from leaving the dock. We had lots of fun though being together, which is the best part of family anyway.We visited…
Today we went through Deception Pass. This pass was discovered and named by Vancouver's exploration team a couple hundred years ago and is revered today, as it was then, as one of North America's most treacherous passes, with currents that can run as fast as 8 knots. It is recommended that you run the pass at slack tide to reduce your exposure to the whirlpools created by the narrow passage and to have more control of your vessel.We left from…
Again the weather provided us with a calm partly sunny day to cruise north toward the San Juan Islands. We lowered the hook, just before Deception Pass, at Kiket Bay for the night. Quiet, peaceful with lots of birds and little jumping fish at sunset.
We moved the short distance from Elliot Bay Marina to Bell Harbor Marina right downtown Seattle. Just one night here, our last night on the boat in Seattle. See Mount Rainer on the right only it looks a lot smaller in the photo.We spent the day walking around town. We visited the Pike Place Market one last time. It was busy on this warm, beautiful day lots of people were out taking advantage of the spring weather.Below: This is BUBBLE…
Whenever we arrive or depart Elliot Bay Marina we have been greeted by these cute seals.
The welcoming "First Sight" of familiar smiling faces from home. Our friends and boating buddies, Gary and Jean flew into Seattle to spend some time with us. Even though the weather could have been better, we still had lots of fun touring downtown, eating, drinking wine and playing games.The time went by so quickly but I guess it always does when you're having fun and sharing good times with friends and making memories.On Sunday, we had a mostly dry day…
Time to get the two hundred and fifty feet of chain wet. We didn’t need it all but we wanted to try out our new boat at anchorage so we headed out during a one-day weather window. We went through the Hiram Chittenden Lock to the eighteen-mile long Lake Washington. We toured over to Bellevue, around Mercer Island and buzzed by Bill Gates estate before we settled into Cozy Cove, on the east side of the lake for a quiet…
We came to Seattle to watch our future boat be built and little did we know when this plan was formed that the most important experience we will take away from our time in Seattle will unquestionably be all the new friendships we made and a couple of old ones that were renewed.When I (Lisa) moved away from Seattle some thirty years ago I left four very good friends, Patti and Eric of Seattle and Judy and David from Lopez…
Although we've been living on our boat for two weeks already enjoying ourselves while getting the new Kismet commissioned to our satisfaction, we felt that it was time for a short trip to get a better feel for the boat.We choose Poulsbo because it was recommended by a number of people as a must stop, so we headed out across Puget Sound on a mostly clear day with calm silky waters. The boat handled well as we maneuvered over the…
Time for guests and a little celebrating. Our son Ross and his girlfriend Brooklynn came up from Portland, OR for the weekend and we did some sightseeing around town and went for a cruise in the Sound on Sunday morning.We also had our friends Patti and Eric, Margee and Walt aboard for a late afternoon cruise on Wednesday and a couple of our friends from the B&B, Tom and Jacques, over for dinner on Saturday.
Finally settled on the boat and looking forward to some anchoring out and a little cruising time.We spent a couple of days carting leather chairs to the boat to see if they would fit in the salon. The third one worked and we are happy with the result. We decided on a chair and ottoman instead of two chairs. This will give us a little more breathing room since there is already plenty of places to sit in the salon…
With everything up and running we left Yacht Masters for Elliott Bay Marina, our new home for the month of March. It had been beautiful all week up until about an hour before we left the Yacht Master's dock when it started to rain and the wind picked up considerably. None-the-less we made our way out of Lake Union, through the lock and around the point to the 1,400 slipped Elliott Bay Marina.Our new Fathom handled the 2 to 3…
As in those technicians who install all things electrical that help boaters navigate the waterways. Tim, and sometimes Kent, at Yacht Masters on Lake Union spent four-and-a-half days installing our new 2-station GPS Chart-plotters, radar, auto pilot, VHF radio, integrating all to work together in harmony. On Friday afternoon we went out for a test cruise with Tim to make sure everything was up and running correctly. This is where the "Wizard" part comes in... after four days of exhaustive wire…
We have been fascinated by the houseboats in Seattle. I guess they just appeal to us because we consider our boat our home and it is on the water. Only difference is that our home is moveable. There are many little Houseboat communities around Lake Union. They add a lot of color to the lake along with a great deal of character.
After one night at Shilshole Bay Marina we left dock and headed for the Hiram M. Chttenden Locks. We locked through in the small lock with many spectators lined up above us. Had a nice chat with one of the friendly Lockmasters while going up in the lock.We are on our way to YachtMasters today to have all of the electronics installed on the boat. Until we have this final installation completed we are not quite ready to roll. They…
We were fortunate that the streak of good weather held on for one more day while we made our trek south down the Sound to Seattle. As you can see from the photos, it was a warm, sunny day with clear blue skies. There wasn't much wind to speak of and there were snow-capped mountains everywhere. WOW! What a ride and, guess what... it is only FEBRUARY.
First time out for a spin on the boat, a trip to the gas dock and a little docking practice.
We headed up to Anacortes today to spend our first night on our new Kismet. What a treat. We spent a lot of time appreciating the well thought out design and quality of workmanship of the Fathom 40. Tracy Prescott from Fathom met us at the boat, just before lunch, to go over everything that we needed to know.We immediately felt at home and are very excited about the future adventures that this boat will take us on.
Our Kismet finally feels the fresh northwest air, goes for a truck ride, touches water, gets its top put on and its engine started - all on a rare, for the Pacific Northwest, sunny and warm, February day. We arrived at the Fathom plant at 8a.m. just in time to watch our boat being loaded onto the trailer, which is used to haul boats to the launch site. As the boat peeked out of its womb for the very first time…
Well, we got the word on Thursday that Ric, at Fathom, has scheduled the truck to come pick up our boat at the plant, early Monday morning, to take it to LaConnor where it will hit the water shortly after. We won't move onto the boat until, probably Wednesday after sea trials are over.So, needless to say we are very excited. Jim can hardly stand it these last few days and I am finding it hard to get to sleep…
Remarkable! This is what we think when we see the professional dedication that the craftsmen apply to the quality workmanship as they build our Kismet. We've included photos of some of the crew who are finishing the installation of the port windows, cabinetry, carpeting and detail on the teak trim work.Since our last visit to Fathom they have installed the flat screen TV and cabinetry, starboard salon cabinets, refrigerator freezer, bottom paint, five blade prop and they finished the swim…
We drove down to Portland to visit our son Ross and his girlfriend Brooklyn. They had just arrived in Oregon a few days ago from Michigan where Ross had been living since early last summer. It was a quick, fun filled, one-and-a-half days. We were able to spend some quality time with Ross, Brooklyn, see their new apartment, go out to dinner and just have some one-on-one time.
We never tire of going to boat shows and the Seattle Boat Show was no exception. This time though we spent most of our time looking at boat accessories for our new Fathom - blinds, drapes, bed coverings, electronics, etc. We also were able to visit with the OEM folks from Cummins, Northern Lights, Garmin and the company that makes EPIRB's (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). They were all able to help give us a better understanding of the products,…
It's hard to believe how quickly three months will fly by. That's how long it has been since our new "Kismet" was started and today we were told that if all goes as planned she'll splash on February 11th – two days ahead of schedule. We continue to be amazed at how many changes occure from one visit to the next. This weeks most noticeable changes were the installation of the rear salon door and window interior teak trim and cabinets, the beautiful…
There are a lot of important areas of a boat however two of the most important are the galley and head (kitchen and bathroom for you landlubbers). Top-left: In this photo you are able to see the teak galley cabinets before the granite counter top has been installed. They've also set into place the electric 3-burner stove/oven and, like any construction project, you need to have some imagination as to what the final results will look like.Top-right: In this photo you…
We have had some beautiful, sunny days here. Watching the sunset on Mount Rainier from Queen Anne Hill is like watching the sun set over the water in Key West.
There is an amazing scenic drive along the water toward Bellingham and we were fortunate to have another sunny day.
A fun day at the Fathom plant. On our latest visit to Fathom we were able to witness the culmination of 8 weeks of hard work come together to form what is starting to look like a boat.First we took the last photos of the hull's interior before the deck was installed. Top-left: You'll see the engine has been installed, the exhaust hooked up.Top-right: The generator.Bottom-left: The lazarette which houses the batteries, water tanks etc.Bottom-right: You can see the interior…
We met the Huang family at our B&B on Capitol Hill. Chen (Meg) is a student from Taiwan now studying in Seattle, Yu-Yen, Chen's mother, stays with her here while her father commutes back and forth from Taiwan. Just before Christmas they moved from the B&B into their new apartment, which is close to where we are staying. We've made fast friends with them in the short amount of time that we have been here. Hsu-Yu is a very friendly…
