Autumn at the Marina

PNW Autumn at the Marina

Today Scott and I went down to the boat to take things home in preparing for the winter. The irony is, we HAD planned on spending the weekend on it, but on Thursday the weather forecast was rainy for all days. Sure enough, last night was dry and today it was gorgeous!  Oh well.

pnw autumn marina

Later this week, I’ll give you detailed post about our prep work for the boat. For today, I wanted to capture the beauty of the marina. Elliott Bay Marina, is truly exceptional, compared to most. It has lots of foliage, views of the mountains and view of the city. Everyone is so friendly that’s it a bit surreal sometimes.

One of the yachts that came in early in May, is back this week. M/Y Picosa Lady is on the dock next to us. She is a 101′ yacht from the Marshall Islands and gorgeous!

yacht pnw marina

So calm and quiet

The marina was dead calm and quiet. In fact, had we planned ahead, we should have gone out boating today, but it just wasn’t on our agenda! Such a bummer too, because today is probably one of the last sunny days we’ll see in awhile.

Cruise ship seattle port

Of course, the Holland America Eurodam was back from Alaska today too. That part of the marina life we don’t miss on weekends. Since our dock is so close to the cruise ships and we can hear every announcement.

autumn pnw marina

Making our boat our home

Scott and I do plan on coming down to the boat and staying during a few stormy weekends. I know you are asking the question of why, when we didn’t even stay on it last night!  Well, we want to see what it’s like and can we handle it? Remember, we are planning on living aboard, so we have to be able to endure the brutal wet winters of the PNW.

During a storm, we’ll be hunkered down in the cabin watching movies, playing games or reading. It will definitely be cozy! Before we bought the boat, Scott and I would give each other boat themed gifts. For our wedding anniversary, we stick to the traditional gift and this year it was “Ivory”, so I gave him the custom ivory pillow below for our boat.

custom boat pillows

I do try and make our v-berth “homey” too. Most boaters just sleep in sleeping bags, but I wanted to give it more of a comfy feel.

sleeping quarters boat

cruising boat pnw

We wrapped up the day, with lunch at Maggie Bluffs and ate outside for the last time of the season. Just as we paid our bill, the clouds rolled in and it started to rain.  It was the perfect day at the marina.  Look for my next post about prepping the boat for winter!

outdoor restaurant seattle

Cheers!  Scott and Ally