New Boater Worries During the Winter
As a new boaters, we (especially I) worry constantly about the boat while it’s unoccupied in the marina during the winter. It’s silly, I know. Call it the “newby boater syndrome”. During the summer, the weather is so nice and warm and we don’t have to worry about any weather issues. But here in the PNW, our winters are wet and nasty. As I’m writing this blog today, we are in a high wind warning forecast and my house is rocking!
With wind gusts of 50mph and dumping rain, I worry about the boat. It’s secured by four lines, but the winds from the south are so strong, that our boat can be 3′ from the dock when it’s windy.
Breakfast in Magnolia
For me, I feel better if we check on the boat once a week during the winter. Remember, we have a low wattage Dry Warm Air Circulator
Since Scott and I were coming all the way to Seattle to check on the boat, we figured we might as well make a morning of it. We headed to “downtown” Magnolia and had breakfast at a great restaurant called “Serendipity Café & Lounge“. The food was simple and amazing! Super fresh, hand made and tons of flavor. Now that we know how far downtown Magnolia is from the marina, we can walk there though it’s all up hill.
We stopped at the Magnolia Park, so I could get some photos from above the marina. This is a gorgeous park, with lots of trees, great views and dogs galore!
Another crazy wave!
If you remember back this summer, Scott, Kurt and I went out boating and as we left the marina a very long huge wave / trough came at the boat. Well, I happened to notice that there was another one out in the sound. This wave was probably two miles long and not a single ship or vessel was anywhere around.
It really was a strange phenomenon. Some people wondered if maybe an underwater earthquake caused it? Who knows.
A quick trip to the marina
After breakfast, we headed down to the marina. It was super high tide and there were actually a few logs floating down the fairways.
The tide was so high, that the normally visible rock formation inside the marina, was covered. But there was just enough land for this heron and seagulls to stand on it, making it look like they were standing on water.
Upon arriving the boat, the first thing we noticed was our dinghy was deflated. Scott thinks it is due to the cold weather, since both chambers were deflated. We pumped it back up and we’ll see what it looks like next weekend.
Surprisingly, the cockpit didn’t have that much rain water in it. I wonder what it looked like today, with all of our southerly squalls coming in? While the heater was not kicked on (yet), the temperature inside the cabin was surprisingly at 50º. Outside it was 44º. Our objective is to keep it warm and dry. That’s the key word “dry”. If your cabin is too warm, it will create condensation, which can lead to mold. We don’t want that.
My question to all other boaters who keep their boats in the marina, is how often do you check on your boat? Please share with us your stories and input. In addition, if you would like to guest blog for us, please send me an email.
What’s ironic about the paragraph above, is the marina has been out of power for two days. This morning they sent out a text that it is up and running, but to come down and check on your boat. I plan on doing that tomorrow when I am in Seattle, but my “worry” is if that is soon enough?
Cheers and happy boating! Scott & Ally #KokomoSeattle #BoatingJourney
