Spending Labor Day in Seattle
We spent Labor Day in Seattle this year. Scott and I left Gig Harbor on Labor Day morning and headed back to Elliott Bay Marina first thing in the morning. His brother and his family were coming down for an afternoon cruise on Kokomo.
The winds had calmed down from NNW 9mph to about 5mph. Since we were scheduled to go through the Ballard Locks the following day, Scott & I decided to head towards Shilshole Bay and check out the vessel traffic.
There is a resident seal that sleeps all day on one of the green buoys and everyone was excited to see some marine life!
Checking out the entrance to the Ballard Locks
We made our way up the channel into the entrance of the locks and there was a line of boats waiting to go through the locks. Soon, we turned around and headed back out. What was shocking to us was how many paddle boarders and kayakers were literally in the channel entrance with a line of boats coming in.
On our way back to the marina, a large yacht passed us (M/Y Ocean Pearl) and I said “I bet it’s heading back to our marina”. Sure enough, it was waiting along our dock when we arrived. This is a 115′ Christensen custom yacht and is available for charter. It accommodates up to 11 guests and primarily stays on the West Coast.
It was a fun afternoon with everyone. When we came back to the marina, we kept looking for our resident seals, but they never appeared.
By 5pm on Labor Day evening, Seattle skyline had turned into a “burnt sienna” theme due to all of the smoke and haze from the Eastern Washington fires. It did make for some beautiful photos though.
Night time brought out an orange moon that hovered over Seattle.
The next day, we woke up covered in ash from all of the fires. What a mess! Just the day before a vast majority of the boats in the marina were being cleaned and scrubbed after the big holiday weekend!
Since it had been so warm last night, we slept with the hatch open. Great, we breathed in soot all night!
Marine Life at Elliott Bay Marina
Scott and I walked down the dock early the morning to run into all of these fellas! We’ve been at Elliott Bay Marina since May and never have we seen them on the docks. We know they are a nuisance, but still it was cool for us to see them for the first time.
Every morning our dock starts to move up and down, probably due to the tide change. I tried to capture it and on this morning it was pretty mild.
As I walked back to the boat, I was thankful that our boat doesn’t have a heron on it making a big mess. Then we decided to take a peek at our own canvas and sure enough, it looks the same. Ack! That will be on next weekend’s project list.
Stay tuned for our next blog, as we go through the Ballard Locks for the first time!
Cheers, Scott & Ally on Kokomo