It’s Monday morning, and I guess some people still have jobs, because the anchorage emptied out completely.  We have the whole place to ourselves.  

Weather-wise, the day is pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday… a little cloudiness, lots of sun, and a gentle breeze.  What’s not to like?

One of the zincs on the starboard engine needed replacing, and, of course, it’s located in an almost inaccessible location.  But, Al managed to ooze his way back behind the engine and get the job done.  He was hating it.

I started a very weird book, called “Zebra”, by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi.  The book’s description, on Bookbub, advertised it as “A tragicomic picaresque”.  However, unless you have studied Nietzsche, Dante, and similar authors, which I haven’t, you might have the same problem I’m having finding the humor.  I keep reading, hoping to eventually get it.

We have wall-to-wall blue skies when we arise this morning, but by 1000 hrs, the clouds started drifting in, cooling things down.  

I whipped up some Belgian Waffles for breakfast this morning.  I discovered we no longer had an electric mixer, but found that a whisk does a fine job of whipping egg whites.  The waffles were the best I’ve ever made!  

This being Sunday, the bay was teeming with boaters, kayakers and paddle boarders.

It rained again last night, but like yesterday, the sun came out this morning.  We have a pretty low tide this morning, and the deer are loving it.  We watched as a family of deer sampled all the goodies exposed on the beach.

The deer spent hours browsing the shores of each islet, ferreting out gastronomical delights, while Al whipped up a batch of his famous peanut clusters…yummy!

To our surprise, it rained during the night and was overcast when we awoke this morning.  However, by about 1000 hrs, the sun was shining brightly once again.

Al called West Marine in Port Townsend this morning and asked them to hold a paddle for me.  Now, I don’t have to worry.  The paddle will be a bit longer than what I am used to, but beggars can’t be choosers, and now I don’t have to worry about not being able to go kayaking this year.

Al had the ugly job of replacing leaking hose clamps on the generator this morning.  The hose clamps were in an area where it was almost impossible to see what he was doing, or have room to work.  But, he persevered and was able to eventually get the new clamps on.  It was an exhausting job, however.

I’ve spent the day reading “Wizard, the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla”.  What a fascinating man!  I just wish I understood the basics of electricity better.  

It’s another gorgeous day, with temperatures in the 80’s and light winds.  It looked like a perfect day to go kayaking, so I pumped up my kayak, planning to go for a paddle after dinner.  However, when I hunted for my paddle, I discovered it was not on the boat.  Bummer. Hopefully, I’ll be able to buy a new paddle in Port Townsend.  I called the West Marine store there, and they have two paddles left.  Now, I just need to get there before they’re gone.

So, I spent the day reading, and Al cooked up a batch of Zuppa Toscana… delicious!

I hated leaving the tranquility of Manzanita Bay, but Al was anxious to head for Port Ludlow this morning.  Luckily, we got underway by 07:30 hrs, because by the time we reached Port Ludlow, the wind had picked up to 25 knots.  Luckily, we didn’t have a spring tide, so the tide rips off Point No Point weren’t too bad.  For awhile, it looked like we might have to contend with fog, but by the time we got to Port Ludlow, the fog had dissipated.  Yay.

We hadn’t been to Port Ludlow in years.  We fell in love with it on our first visit, over 20 years ago. However, when we were here a few years ago, we found that they had filled the snug little cove with buoys, which made it impossible to anchor.  Today, however, to our delight, the buoys are gone.  This little cove is hidden away behind a couple of small islets and is surrounded by gorgeous homes set among very tall and beautiful old spruce and Madrone trees.  Because of the very shallow entrance, not many boats venture back here.  We’re snug as a bug in a rug and loving it.

The weather is perfect, with wall-to-wall blue skies. Al has kicked back and is enjoying some reading. I just finished a fascinating book by Pearl Buck about the Dowager Empress of China, and am starting a biography of Nikola Tesla, called “Wizard”.  Doesn’t get much better than this.

The weather has been hot for the last week.  Yesterday, it was 87^oF!  Today, it’s a little cooler, and we’re enjoying a lovely gentle breeze.  We’ve been mostly relaxing, after a week of hard work.  Al’s big chore for the day was making spaghetti sauce.  We’re liking Manzanita Bay more and more.  So relaxing.

At the last minute, Al discovered we were out of propane, so we didn’t get away from the dock until almost noon.  But, the wind was light, so it didn’t really matter, since we didn’t have far to go.  We’d decided our first stop would be Poulsbo, on Bainbridge Island, just a two-hour run from Seattle.  However, after reading the cruising guide, we decided a better anchorage would be Manzanita Bay, just inside Agate Pass.  To our delight, Manzanita was a beautiful roomy bay, with just a few boats in the anchorage.  Perfect.  And, we have cellphone service!  Xfinity has coverage here also.

Al and Russ spent the week getting the boat ready to go cruising.  The first project was fixing the freezer, which quit working the day after we arrived.  Luckily, Al had a spare controller, which is what they finally determined had failed.  Once the controller was replaced, the freezer sprung back to life.  

Projects filled every day.  Finally, the last project, painting the foredeck, was completed, and it was time for Russ to practice taking the boat in and out of the slip.  Russ has owned twin-engine boats before, so it didn’t take long before he got the hang of it.

Russ headed for home the next day, and we concentrated on the last odds and ends, like provisioning the boat, doing laundry, etc.

We’re getting a late start on our boating season this year, due to health issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Canadians are not happy with the way the U.S. is handling the pandemic, and consequently they have closed the U.S./Canada border.  So, it looks like we’ll be cruising the San Juan Islands this year.  

Al’s son, Russ, is following us to Seattle in his car this morning. Russ is only going to stay with us while we get the boat ready to go cruising, during which time Al will teach Russ all the endless chores that must be accomplished before leaving the dock. In a couple of months, Russ will rejoin us in Anacortes. Since Russ will soon be running the boat on his own, he needs to get some hands-on experience.

We left Redding at 0500 hrs and arrived at Elliott Bay Marina at 1630 hrs.  By the time we unloaded the car and got all boat systems working, we were exhausted, but happy to be back on the water, where the temperature is 75^o F, instead of over 100^o F, which is what we had experienced in Redding for the past week.