The holidays were nice. We drove to Boise and had a relaxing week with the Boise gang. It was great to connect with some cousins we have not seen in a while. We got to watch a Boise State game too. Very fun!

Back home and Back to work I had a lot of flying to do as the year closed down. Ang is busy with DSS. Hard to believe it has been a year.

I settled down and got to work on finishing the BowSprit.

 here is a picture of the new(on the left) and the old(on the right)

The new one is 6 Pieces laminated together to form a 9"x9" x 14' solid piece.

The shaping took longer than expected, but now I have the finished product on the boat.

This is how I transported it to the boat.

Before install, I must dig out the rotted Sampson Posts. The two monster beams hold the Sprit in place, they were cemented into the hull. It was like digging out a couple of rotted teeth..

this is in the Anchor locker, under the bowsprit.

 Also, the deck where the new sprit will rest is getting the old failing teak torn out and replaced. Its all coming together, but there is still lots to do. Hopefully Ghost will be back in operation in a few weeks.

On another note, we are headed to Mexico to spend a few days with Bob and Shari and the girls on Pearl! Can NOT wait for that!!

Following is a re-cap of some summer events with some pictures.

We had not planned on very much sailing this summer because of some large projects that I have gotten into on Ghost. But we did get away from the dock several times. One such voyage was to Poulsbo with the Big G group. We managed to get everyone  there for a couple of nights at the dock. It was sooo much fun.

Later on in the month we headed to Friday Harbor for the Tenth Annual PNW cruisers party. It would have been a bit of a haul to get Ghost up there for just the week end, so we made it a day trip. It was a loong day, but we all had fun. Ellie even won the treasure hunt contest!

The next day we jumped into the dingy and welcomed the S/V Pearl to Shilshole for a week before they headed south for a year. It was hard to say good bye. The will be missed!

A couple of weeks later we let Ghost off her leash and sailer her down to Eagle Harbor for a couple nights. It was very relaxing. Zak even caught a couple of Dog fish

Next we have our favorite time of the year. Halloween!

As the summer wound down, I managed to remove the old/rotted bowsprit off the boat. As you can see from the picture, Ghost, in the background is with out her pointy bow. Fathom is smelling the rot. Almost ready to put the new one on.

Our good friends Bob and Ingrid McDonald and their two boys joined the crew of Ghost for a short over night trip to Port Madison.

The weather was really nice and we actually got to sail most of the way over. Its about 1 hour from Shilshole.

The girls sea kayaked and the kids played at a little park. The topper would have been nice on this trip!

Bob and I hid colored eggs for fathom and the kids to find. Much fun

After laminating all the pieces together to create 2 halves, I needed to cut and build the hatches. These would allow us too see the sails and manage the mizzen. There would be 2 hatches that would slide open and one that was fixed. I also need to measure and cut the 10 holes for the shrouds.

I also had to add a peice to the inner seem that would act as the joint between the two peices.

Once all of the wood work was done, I was able to cover the entire thing with fiberglass. I used west system and 6 oz cloth.

you can see the shroud holes and wire for the solar panal.

At this point each piece weighs about 200 pounds.

Ok enough work, now it's time for some fun!

This month the kids and I decided to go camping during their spring break.

I had always wanted to drive up to Shaw island in the San Juans and sea kayak over to Blind island to camp.

This seemed like a great time to accomplish this.

This island is a prefect place for kids and dog to run around.

I figured we would be the only ones on the island in April.

Since the kids would be contained on the island i invited a couple of the kids friends along. Yup, me, 4 kids, and the dog for a two nighter!

We were up early to load the car. I was running late and was in a hurry. My long day started by  me dropping a heavy sea kayak onto the car that was parked next to our car. Not just any car, but a shiny black sports car. The gleeming black paint didn't stand a chance. Big dent...bummer. Hmmm maybe no one would notice? Well, I wouldn't do that, infact it turned out to be out good friends car. Bye bye $500.

With the car loaded, I ran a quick mental run of my list: Tent, Sleeping bags, dry food, dog, kids, clothes....tons of other stuff! We were filled to the gills and on the road 30 minutes late, but still ontrack to catch the ferry.

We manged to get almost all the gear to the island in one trip. I had to paddle the 1/4 mile to get the last load.

A quick break here to tell you about the discusion the kids had on the 2 hr drive to the ferry. They talked about what we would do if we forgot.....the tent. "build a leantoo"....cool. What would we do if we forgot the........ food? "Fish, and eat the birds"! Ok, that would not be good.

Now when I got back to the car for the last load, I realised, to my horror, that I forgot the cooler full of food...at home.....on the boat! Yup, scroll up and you will see that it was not on my mental list!

Also left my wallet back at camp. I would have to go to camp, admit my mistake to my liitle campers and then hurry back to the little "ferry dockside" store. The kids thought that it was great fun. But the $120 I had to spend to replace the $50 worth of food that was left in the cooler wasn't too fun.

Ah yes we had a great time!

note the fire made pizza

I am pretty sure Fathom had the best time!

It was a great end to April

Now that the Florida trip is behind us, we are able to get started on a long awaited project. An enclosure for our aft deck.

We love spending time outside, but we are always at the mercy of the weather gods. And while on watch during a passage, the elements can be pretty tough.

I wanted something that would allow us to be sheltered but still be outside.

I planned on a "topper" that could be enclosed during the winter months to create an extra room for Ghost. Then in the summer, we would simpley have to remove the canvas and we could still enjoy the warm summer afternoons.

I decided to build this moinster in two pieces. The total area would be about 15' x15'.

I started out needing a rather large place to start the project. I found I was able to use a friends garage for a few months to get things together before final assembly.

Step one was to buy the "core" material. I decided to use 1" foam that would be epoxied between 1/4" plywood. The total thickness was going to be 1.5".

I used the foam as a template to get an idea about hatch position and hole linup for the 10 shrouds.

After this template was up, I was able to get a rough idea of what the whole thing would look like.

Now off to the shop!

I layed out 4 sheets of 1/4" ply and fiberglassed them together and on top of this I places one side of the foam template.

I trimmed the excess ply and now I had a rough single side of the topper. In this case it is the starboard side.

I then cut out the two hatches that would be on this side.

these two pieces were laminated together and while it was drying I was able to do the same with the port side.

I needed to reenforce the areas where the supports and solar panals would be. In these places I inserted solid wood istead of the foam. I also ran wiring for lights, speakers and the solar panals.

The 1"x2" peices that i used to hold up the template, are now placed around the edge.

More next month!

February was a great month.  We were able to get away on a little family vacation and had a wonderful time.  After reading the entire Harry Potter series to the kids last year, we decided that we all wanted to experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando.  So, we decided on a Florida trip during the kids' mid-winter break.  At first we thought of renting a car and heading down to the Keys since none of us have ever been there, but we found out the Space Shuttle Discovery was scheduled to launch while we were there.  Plans were changed and we planned on a day at the beach to watch the shuttle launch.  I'm getting a little ahead of myself.  When we first arrived in Orlando, we headed to Universal Studios.  We planned on spending 2 days there and I'm glad we did.  It was so busy, especially Harry Potter.  You had to get a ticket once inside that told you what time you could enter Harry Potter's Wizarding World.  It was really cool, but there were so many people.  The castle was really cool:

And we all got our "butter beer":

And, of course, the kids had to go into Honey Dukes Candy shop to get their chocolate wands, chocolate frogs, and Bertie Bots every flavor beans:

Every place you wanted to go in had a line and at least 30 min wait.  It was worth it.  The kids enjoyed it so much.  They even got wands from Olivander's wand shop.  A couple boat bucks down the drain for this little vacation, but overall it was totally a good thing to do.

The second night we decided to have dinner at Margaritaville (of course) and it was wonderful:

The margaritas were perfect:

4 years ago we went to Florida and took a pictures on the surf board.  Check out the difference 4 years makes:

This year:

November 2006:

The next day we went to Seaworld and had a great time, but we all agreed we like seeing these beautiful creatures in the wild.  We are so lucky to live where we do and have whales, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and so much more in our back yard.  The highlight of the day was Ellie was chosen to go up on stage and help Clyde the sea lion:

The next day we headed to the coast in our rented convertible to spend the day at the beach:

And the highlight of this day is seeing the shuttle Discovery take off for the last time:

We had a great time.  The drive home and the sunburns we all got was a bit of a bummer, but otherwise it was a great ending to our trip.  The next day we headed home.  It was hard to step off the plane to snow in Seattle.  Oh well, now only a couple more months until summer (hopefully).  Time to get back to work.

www.dockside-solutions.com

It's an exciting adventure and I am thankful for all of those who have been so supportive.

Wow, it's been a long time.....hasn't it?  I've really been a slacker on updating.  We have tried to get rid of our internet and I have to say, it's a lot harder to get to coffee shops to do updates than I thought it would be.  I can't believe how much I rely on the net.  But really that's just an excuse, I've just been procrastinating.

Anyway, October was a great month.  We were quite busy with soccer season, but we planned a weekend away with our friends from Pearl, Bob, Shari, Sydney, Annie, and Salty.  They invited us to join them on Orcas Island at some cabins called West Beach Resort.  We were staying two nights and the car looked like we would be gone a week:

The resort was absolutely beautiful right on the water on the West side of Orcas Island.  The cabins were pretty cute, too:

We all enjoyed hanging out, carving pumpkins, playing games, cooking, eating and just spending some good quality time with our good friends:

It was such a great weekend we vowed that we had to do it again and hopefully soon.

The next weekend was Halloween and once again, we had our annual Trick-or-Treating on the docks and After Party at Ghost.  This year we had the most kids ever:

Our neighbors were as generous as ever and the kids had a blast:

We even dressed Fathom up (using some of her natural assets):

November 2010

Pictures from November

We started off the month with Ellie's 8th Birthday Party.  I can't believe my baby is really 8.  She invited some friends down to the boat for movie night.  They all had so much fun:

We had plans to drive to Boise for Thanksgiving, but due to the weather we decided to stay home.  The kids and Fathom enjoyed the snow that dumped on Seattle and spent every minute they could playing in it:

We went to Bill & Heidi's for Thanksgiving Dinner and enjoyed spending a couple days hanging out with them.  We taught them how to play Mexican Train and had so much fun.

December 2010

Pictures from December

The holidays on the boat and in the marina were wonderful this year.  We enjoyed decorating the boat along with our neighbors and it was so festive: 

We also got some great Family Pictures:

Check this one out - the Ghosts of Ghost:

Every year our neighbors try to put together a lighted dinghy Christmas Parade.  This year Boo looked great:

Unfortunately the battery we had for the lights wasn't all that good, so we couldn't keep the lights on the whole time we were out.  Afterwards we went aboard our neighbors boat Reflections and had hot buttered rum.  Yummm!

For Christmas this year, we all headed to Bill & Heidi's house.  Scott's parents were in town and we enjoyed a big Brosius Family Christmas:

Spending the time with family was wonderful. 

We decided to spend New Year's Eve in Blakely Harbor this year with our friends from Hawkwind.  The weather was absolutely beautiful. Extremely cold, but beautiful.  We headed out together and both took pictures of each other.  Fathom seemed to be happy to be out on the boat again:

Here's Ghost:

And Hawkwind:

The view from Blakely Harbor is beautiful.  I always love when the sun sets on downtown Seattle:

We all enjoyed ringing in the New Year:

Alas, Miss Ellie didn't make it until midnight, but she did pretty good:

It was such a wonderful time with KC and Elaine and it was so nice to get the boat away from the dock.  Happy New year Everyone!!!!

It was hard to get back into the swing of things after such an eventful summer.  My family came to visit around the first of the month and we had a great time.  My cousin and her husband and new son, Aidan came for a visit first.  We enjoyed showing them Ballard and hanging out on the boat.  Aidan is such a cutey and it's fun having a baby around:

Then my Mom and Dad came for a visit.  We headed downtown to visit the waterfront and had a great time doing that:

We also had a great crab and clam chowder feast with them and my cousin's family aboard Ghost and also went to Taki's Mad Greek for a great evening of Greek food, Greek music, and Belly dancing.  It was a great time.

After Mom and Dad left, we spent one last day with Scott's parents and they headed out in their RV for the winter.  School started and life started getting REALLY busy.  Scott was able to fit in a quick trip with the kids to the Puyallup fair:

We also were able to get away for a weekend to Camano Island to visit our neighbors and friends, Bob & Jane.  It was a fabulous weekend hanging out with them, gardening, drinking Bob's homebrew (can you say "Chocolate Mint Stout"....yummmm), playing games, beachcombing, and Zak even was able to shoot a BB gun.  It was a perfect weekend for all of us.  Even Fathom was able to run around their huge yard and had a complete blast:

We had an amazing time and Bob and Jane are such fabulous hosts and wonderful friends.

Most of the rest of the month has been filled with soccer.  We have 5 out of 7 days of the week of soccer and it's so much fun.  At first it was a bit of a challenge getting everyone to the right places, but now it's just fun.  Zak started this year after seeing how much fun Ellie had last year and he's doing great:

It's been a fun fall so far.  We are finally starting to feel like things are calming down a bit and we can actually enjoy oursleves. 

Our last week of the trip started after dropping our friends, Jim & Debbie, off at Roche Harbor.  We stayed another night in Roche Harbor and enjoyed some of the conveniences of being in town (ice cream, coffee, grocery shopping, etc.)  Our friends, CB & Tawn from Palarran, showed up and we enjoyed some time with them.  The next morning we decided to head the short distance to Reid Harbor pretty early and as we were leaving the harbor, Scott and I both saw the fin of an Orca a short distance away.  There were no other boats around, so it was a special viewing of a small pod right outside Roche Harbor:

It was beautiful and we knew that it was Jim's orca carving that made it possible .

After the sighting, we headed over to find our spot in Reid Harbor.  We were going to be there 4 nights, so wanted a perfect spot and we got a perfect spot on one of the floating docks.  And these 4 days ended up being some of the most memorable 4 days we've had at Stuart Island.  CB and Tawn showed up on Palarran and tied next to us:

The boys all headed out fishing and while they were gone, our old neighbors, Doug and Ruth aboard Angelique, came and tied up to the other side of the dock:

The boys caught 4 greenlings, so we grilled those up and combined food for another great dock party.  We spent the evening hanging out in Palarran's cockpit.  They took off the next morning, but Angelique stayed for another night.  While taking a walk the day before with Fathom, the kids found a perfect place for another Fairy House, so the next morning, we gathered some special items to help create it and headed out for a Fairy House building expedition.

They even were able to explain to a few passerby's what they were doing:

It was a successful endeavor and we are excited to head back to see if anything is still there.  After getting back to the boat, Ruth and I decided to take a walk to the lighthouse.  I had a great time.  While we were gone, Scott rigged up another boom swing for the kids:

They always have a blast with the boom swings.  While I was gone another boat came to the dock with a boy around Zak's age, Kyle.  They bonded and started kayaking, driving the dinghy, playing games, and swimming.  After Ruth and I returned, we had a big social time on the dock with the other boats.  The crew of Serenity, Bill and Karen were wonderful and provided all the kids (and adults) with smores, yummmm!  Our neighbors, Frank and Chanda, showed up on Midnight Blue and came over to the dock to chat and see Fathom:

It was another great evening at Reid Harbor.  The next morning Angelique headed out to Friday Harbor.  We were waiting for our friends, Bob, Ingrid, Roscoe, and Skye to show up aboard their new boat, Adiamo.  It was another beautiful day in the San Juans and ended up being a crazy day of "blasts from the past."  Scott and Ellie took Fathom for a hike and as I was walking up on deck a family was getting out of their dinghy.  I did a double take, because I knew that I knew these people, but it didn't fit.  The last time I had seen these people was at the same dock, 8 years ago.  They are friends of Jim and Debbie, who were aboard last week, and we had met up with them 8 years ago at the same dock in Reid Harbor, us in Ghost, and them in a charter boat named Resolution:

Ghost and Resolution on the dock 8 years ago:

Doug, Dee, and Family 8 years ago:

They were actually chartering Resolution again and once again the two boats were together.  They couldn't get a spot on the dock, but they were on the closest buoy to the dock:

Unfortunately, this ended up being such a busy couple days, we weren't able to sit down and catch up with them.  After that some people I know from work showed up on the dock and were suprised I knew their address.  It's terrible when you know people by a number instead of their name.  Then out of nowhere a dinghy comes up and the people start waving and out of the corner of my mouth I ask Scott "do we know them?"  He shrugs, "I don't know".  Come to find out it's our friend Bob"s (Bob & Shari from S/V Pearl) cousin, Steve and his new wife Kathy, who bought Scott's first boat the Pondo May from Bob & Shari.  Then it dawned on us that they had to get to Reid Harbor aboard the Pondo May.  So it was actually in the harbor.  The boat that started it all.  The boat we were on when we first pulled into Reid Harbor, introducing us to the San Juan Islands.  They told us they were going to pull in closer and ended up taking the other buoy that was closest to the dock:

Scott and I headed over to check out the good ol' Pondo.  So many memories on that boat.  Scott was out chatting with Steve and I was chatting with his new wife, Kathy (they were on their honeymoon).  As I was talking to her I kept thinking that I knew her from somewhere.  Come to find out, her and I both worked as supervisors for Horizon Air at the same time.  We always enjoyed talking to each other when we had conferences and meetings.  She left the airlines around the same time I did.  Small world.  Crazy how some things work out.

So after all this, our friends on Andiamo showed up.  This was their first experience cruising in the San Juans and they planned on hanging out with us for the rest of the trip.  Their boys are the same ages as Zak and Ellie, so it was great having some other kids around to keep them occupied.  We all enjoyed the afternoon:

It was a beautiful evening and great to be with such great friends.  The next day we planned a hike to the lighthouse.  We wanted them to have the full Stuart Island experience.  It ended up being a little gray, but perfect hiking weather:

We packed a snack and the kids went to work on Fairy Houses (yes, Ellie got these guys into it, too):

Another great Turn Point Lighthouse adventure.  The next morning we headed out to Blind Bay on Shaw Island.  Roscoe decided to ride with us and Ellie went on Andiamo.  We put Roscoe to work:

Ellie and Skye had a great time on Adiamo:

As we were approaching Blind Bay, Palarran was just leaving:

Bummer that we missed them, but always great seeing their beautiful boat under sail.

We found our spot in Blind Bay and Andiamo tied up next to us.  We packed up some supplies and headed to Blind Island for the rest of the afternoon and evening for a fire with hot dogs and smores for dinner.  The kids had a blast having the run of the island:

Experiences like this are how great friendships are made.  It was another perfect day in the San Juans.  How many times have I said that this trip?

The next morning we left early to make slack tide at Deception Pass, the plan being to pull into Cornet Bay for the night.  Andiamo took a great picture of Scott tying Ghost up:

We made it to Cornet Bay pretty early in the day and had the rest of the afternoon to explore the park.  We took a nice hike to the beach on the north side.  Ellie and Skye picked flowers on the way:

And then Fathom ate them.....oops.  We did some beachcombing and just sat and enjoyed the beach:

The crew of Andiamo got a great family picture with Deception Pass in the background:

Zak finally found a snake (with Fathom's help):

And we enjoyed another great evening on the dock with fabulous friends:

Our last night of vacation.  Do we really have to go home?  It would have been nice to stay another couple months, but unfortunately it was that time.  The next morning we headed out early to catch the tide home.  Andiamo left a bit later and took a great picture of Ghost while passing us:

It was so great getting to know Bob, Ingrid and the boys better and showing them how wonderful it is to cruise in the San Juan Islands.  Can't wait for more cruising with them in the future.  Another year of cruising in the San Juans was coming to an end and like always I was a bit sad.  I love the islands and it's really hard to leave them.  The kids felt the same way, but it's time to get back to reality and the season for school, soccer, and work is upon us.

For the next part of our trip we brought the Beaty family aboard.  Jim, Debbie, & Danielle have cruised with us since the beginning.  They were with us on our very first trip to the San Juans aboard the S/V Pondo May.  We left Friday Harbor and headed to Stuart Island.  Reid Harbor is one of our favorite spots and we couldn't wait to get there.  We anchored out the first night and woke up to rain the next morning.  We had planned on going on a hike to the lighthouse, but it was pouring, so we decided to stay in and play some games.  It was so nice.  A little later we saw that there was an opening on one of the floating docks, so headed in to grab the spot while we could.  It's great for the kids and dog:

We had caught some crab, so ended up having a crab feast on the dock.  It was a little drizzly, but perfect:

The next day we decided to take our walk to the lighthouse.  The weather was great.  Like all the times we head to the lighthouse we have to stop at all the little landmarks on the way.  There's the swing:

The schoolhouse and then the cemetary (didn't get pics of those).  The treasure chest of T-shirts from Stuart Island:

The old broken down Jalopy that we make stories up about:

And then we go down a long windy hill and we are there.  I probably missed some of the stops, but it's so fun for the kids to look for each landmark along the way.  It sure makes the hike seem to go by quicker.  When we turn the corner and see the lighthouse, it always makes me so happy:

We had a great picnic lunch sitting in the grass and just enjoyed hanging out and looking for whales:

No luck on the whale front, but it was such a great day!  Fathom did great on the hike, but was one tuckered out little pooch.  When we got back to the boat, Scott hauled Jim up the mast to fix a halyard that had come off it's track and we all enjoyed some time on the dock:

And we enjoyed another great dinner on the dock that night:

The next morning we headed out to Friday Harbor.  We headed around the south side of Speiden Island to see if we could see some wildlife and weren't dissapointed:

Antelope or some type of exotic deer:

Big Horn Sheep:

Some other type of sheep or goats - not really sure:

It's always amazing to see the wildlife on the island.  In the 70's wild game was imported to the island for big game hunting.  They no longer have the hunting there, but the exotic animals are still there.  Kind of fun to see what you can spot whenever traveling past.  We also sent out a message in a bottle in San Juan Channel.

We headed into Friday Harbor to catch up with some of the crew from Latitudes and Attitudes.  They were doing a share the sail charter and we were able to catch up with them.  It was kind of a rainy day and we took it easy.  Spent the evening playing Dread Pirate and were able to provision for the rest of our trip.  The next day we headed out to Matia Island.  It was a beautiful day and Scott even created a boom swing for the kids while we were underway.  They had a blast:

We were lucky to find the cove next to Rolfe Cove was empty.  Scott headed out in the dinghy with the hand held depth sounder to see if we could fit.  We planned to stern tie and would have the whole cove to ourselves.  Jim was designated to take the stern line ashore:

I was at the helm and Scott took care of the anchor:

We all worked great as a team and got a perfect spot for Ghost and her crew:

The fishing poles came out and it wasn't long before they caught some fish:

Everyone went off and did there own thing.  There was kayaking, fishing, beachcombing, swimming, and just relaxing.  It was perfection.  And then we got a perfect sunset, as well:

The next day was spent doing pretty much the same thing.  Unfortunately the island is a nature preserve so we couldn't take Fathom on the beautiful trails on the island, but we had fun hanging out on the beach.  We probably could have spent a week at this spot that we now name "Fathom Bay", but the winds were going to change and we needed to head over to Echo Bay to be a little more protected.  The boys took a fishing trip one of the mornings and did pretty good bringing home 6 greenlings:

That night we had fish tacos and crab for dinner.  Not too bad.  Every day keeps seeming to get better and better while we are out.  That evening our family took Fathom for a walk and actually got a family picture:

And the kids and Fathom walked around the Chinaman Caves.  These are amazing:

The next day we packed a lunch and headed to Fossil Cove to check out the beaches on the other side.  Fossil Cove is definitely different from Echo Bay.  It's seems kind of posh and fancy over there.  Nice new docks and amenities.  We had a great time hanging out on the beach and checking out the mushroom rocks:

Fathom even met a new friend.  This pup was 9 weeks vs. Fathom being 15 weeks:

Makes me a little happier knowing that she is going to be pretty small.  I was starting to worry that she was going to be bigger than we thought.

When we got back to the boat, the wind was blowing quite hard.  Jim and Danielle were in the kayaks and as Jim tried to board Ghost, he lost his camera overboard.  Such a bummer.  They had so many pictures of this trip on their camera.  The boys tried to snag it with the fishing pole, but no luck. 

One piece of good news was that we had a message from some people who found our message in a bottle we had sent out a couple days before.  This is what they wrote in our guestbook:

Hello! I live in Friday Harbor, Washington and today while me and my family were relaxing at the beach my 5 yr old son found one of your messages in a bottle. It was really fun! He was really excited about it and definetly made his day! Thanks for that! I hope you guys keep up the fun!

Thanks again!

Sooo Cool!  That made our day.  Still sad about the camera, but what could we do?

The next day we headed to Roche Harbor.  The kids all put together some more messages in a bottle and sent them out:

They had so much fun doing that.  As we were sailing past Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island, Scott spotted the orcas heading our way.  The excitement on the boat escalated and there we were in the middle of a pod of orcas:

They are such magical creatures and to have them so close is so amazing.  Jim had just finished carving an orca out of driftwood and decided it was our good luck charm, so he gave it to us:

It's a perfect addition to Ghost.  What a great afternoon, but we still had more to come.  We anchored in Roche Harbor.  There was no wind and it was probably around 90 degrees.  It was beautiful, but hot.  The boys decided to take a swim:

We also set out the crab pots because the plan was to have crabcakes for dinner....yummm!  Ellie wanted to clean the crabs (you go girl!):

We spent a nice evening looking at pictures of the trip and then said goodbye to our guests the next morning.  It was such a fabulous time with the Beaty's it was sad to see them go.

So, we left from Cornet Bay in the fog and headed thru Deception Pass as a 100 year celebration was happening up above on the bridge.  We had quite an audience going thru the pass.  Luckily we had no problems.  We passed some friends on their boat She b a Miller.  Bummed we couldn't hang out with Billy and Trish, but they were headed home.

We made our way north to Echo Bay on Sucia Island.  Amie and Ally aboard Peregrine were tied up in the harbor and we had dinner aboard their boat that night.  The next morning we all headed out for a hike to Ewing Cove:

It's a great hike and we love Ewing Cove.  It's where Ellie claimed her mountain 4 or 5 years ago, which officially (in our books) became "Ellie Mountain".

We had a great time hanging out and doing some beachcombing at Ewing Cove.  Fathom has definitely started loving her beach time and except eating rocks, she does very well:

It was a good hike and Fathom was exhausted when we got back.  She did so good!

We shared dinner again with Amie and Ally and the kids explored Echo Bay with the sea kayaks.  It was a great day.  Really starting to feel like vacation. 

The next morning Scott, the kids, and Fathom went out on a fishing expedition:

Ellie caught her first lingcod.  Unfortunately they couldn't keep it because they aren't in season, but it was still fun for her to catch such a huge fish:

When they got back we all headed out to explore some of the many beaches around Echo Bay on a mega search of beach glass.  It was a warm day and the kids had a blast playing in the water and we scored when it came to beachcombing:

Fathom even got some more practice with swimming.  From the look on her face I'm not sure if she liked it or not:

Fathom also enjoyed taking a kayak ride with me.  She's going to be a great boating dog:

We had such a great time hanging out with Amie and Ally, but it was time to move on.  We were picking up our friends in Friday Harbor in a couple days and decided to head over a day early to meet up with some other friends.  Once we anchored, Scott and the kids rigged up a swing from our main boom and had a blast playing in the water:

We also had a beautiful sunset that night:

The next day we headed over to the Port of Friday Harbor marina for a night at the dock.  It's always fun staying in Friday Harbor and remembering the old days when we lived there.  We got all our laundry done, did some reprovisioning, and tidied the boat for our guests.  Our friends, Darren & Lisa and their new baby Ariana came over for dinner that night.  We loved meeting Ariana, especially Ellie:

It was a great night hanging out.  The next day, our friends Jim, Debbie, and Danielle were coming in to spend a little over a week with us.  I'm going to add a new post for them.  Just a warning.....lots of pictures are coming your way.

After our 10 day sail, Scott had to return to work and the kids, Fathom, and I headed to Boise to visit my family.  It was great seeing the family, but dealing with a new puppy in my parents house was a little stressful.  They have an old cat that everyone was worried about, but I have to tell you.....I think the cat was fine:

He knew how to handle Fathom.  Fathom loved everyone, of course:

Especially if they were dealing with food:

I was able to go wine tasting for the first time.  We went to the Snake River Valley and had a great time.  It was nice to have a little adult time after a week of dealing with puppies and kids.  And always nice to hang with my dad, brother, and sister-in-law:

After getting home, we had a couple days before heading out cruising for 3 weeks.  Scott put together an impromptu Birthday party for me, which was so wonderful.  I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends and neighbors:

It was a fabulous time.  We headed out the next day, but only went over to Port Madison due to our late departure.  We just needed to get off the dock.  The next morning we headed up to Cornet Bay.  We actually got a little sailing in:

We pulled into Cornet Bay just in time to see the fog start rolling in:

We headed over to see our friends Big John and Trish and they offered the use of their small boat for exploring the islands around the next day.  The kids were so excited.  They have a fascination with Horse Power lately and couldn't believe we were going to be in a boat with 75 hp:

We had a great time exploring the islands.  Deception Pass is such a beautiful area.  We packed a picnic lunch and just enjoyed ourselves.  We even found a fairy house (you'll have to look back at previous posts if you don't understand):

Fathom had a blast playing on the beaches and in the water.  She definitely fits into this lifestyle. We headed back and spent some more time with John and Trish and even got a ride in one of John's beautiful classic cars.  Wish we would have taken pictures of that.  Oh well.

Next installment of our San Juan Cruise will be coming soon.  We have over 650 pictures to go through. 

Our new puppy, Fathom adjusted to boat life quite well.  A couple days after getting her, we headed out on the boat to Liberty Bay (Poulsbo) to celebrate the 4th of July weekend.  We arrived into Liberty Bay with only maybe 10 boats in the bay.  Over the next couple of days hundreds more arrived.  Fathom bonded with the kids quite well:

Ellie was a little bummed that she slept so much.  The next morning we headed into town for some yummy pastries at Sluys and Fathom took her first dinghy ride.  She wasn't so sure of her life jacket, but she sure looked cute:

We did a great hike to the kids park and Fathom started getting used to the leash.  Of course she crashed as soon as we got back to the boat.  Zak started fishing and caught this huge flounder:

Fathom found it quite interesting, too:

The weather was a little off and on for the couple days leading up to the 3rd of July, but turned out quite nice for the 3rd and 4th.  We had our friends Curtis and Cynthia aboard Winddancer and Rich and Echo aboard Ve Ja Du raft up with us.  A longboat with Vikings always come around and start water fights.  The kids and Scott and Curtis were ready for them:

They said that was the wettest they've ever been. We also took a dinghy ride around the bay to say "hi" to some friends and Fathom seemed to like the dinghy a bit more:

The fireworks were good, but as soon as they started Fathom freaked out a bit, so I wasn't able to see them.  The kids and Scott enjoyed them.  On the night of the 4th, we headed to Ve ja du for a big game of Mexican Train.  It was a great time.

On the 5th we headed out to meet up with our friends from Pearl. We tried to get into Blake Island marina with no luck, and decided to go to Blakely Harbor instead.  Here's a picture of Ghost Scott took while the kids and I waited for him to check for a spot at Blake Island marina:

It was beautiful and calm there with only a couple of boats sharing the harbor with us.  The kids set off in the kayaks and we all went to the little park at the head of the harbor:

At around dinner time our friends, Bob, Shari, Sydney, Annie and Salty aboard S/V Pearl showed up to raft up with us.  It had been awhile since we had some good, quality time with our friends and it was so nice to spend the evening together:

Sydney was wonderful with Fathom and took care of her the entire time they were with us:

Annie and Zak went out kayaking and had a great time together:

Fathom met their dog, Salty, and I know they are going to be great buds. It was definitely a short visit, but so good to see them.  They headed to our slip at Shilshole so Bob could head to work before heading up to the San Juans and we headed to Blake Island.  Luckily we were able to squeeze into a spot at the dock and decided it would be a perfect place to spend the rest of our vacation.

Fathom had her first beach experience and loved it.  There were all kinds of things that she decided to taste which I don't know if that was a good thing or bad:

We also went on some pretty long hikes and she was a complete trooper:

The kids found some huckleberries on the island:

We saw a ton of wildlife like always:

The coolest were the owl:

And the huge moth:

We had such a great time and when we pulled into the dock yesterday at 9:30 a.m. everyone was ready for another great day.  We all put our crab pots down, went kayaking, lounged on the dock and later enjoyed an amazing feast of crab, sides, key lime pie, cheesecake, and Margaritas.  It was a dock party for the history books:

Fathom did great:

She met quite a few of the dogs on the dock, picked up all the bits of crabmeat people dropped, and also fell off the dock for the first time.  The last she didn't like too much, but loved everything else.  Now we have a couple weeks at home and then we'll be heading up to the San Juans for August.  Can't wait