Allison, Author at Boating Journey

November 9, 2019November 13, 2019

Our Glamorous Boating Lifestyle

Okay, do you really think we have a glamorous boating lifestyle? If you have been boating with us on any weekend, you know we’re basically camping on a boat. That means sweats, no showers, no make-up and bad hair. LOL!

That’s especially true when we spend the weekend on the boat at Elliott Bay Marina. Since we are trying to embrace what it would be like to live aboard a boat, we spend as much time as possible on it. This past summer, we were lucky to have good weather to visit a lot of places including Tacoma, Port Orchard, Kingston, Bremerton and around Blake Island. The rest of the time, we basically hung out at the marina and did boat projects.

What’s a typical weekend in the marina like?

Our glamorous boating weekend at the marina starts by packing up the car Friday evening and stopping at Whole Foods to grab dinner on our way. Scott and I then load up the red wagon and haul our groceries an other supplies (linens, etc) down to the boat. We do keep extra clothes and toiletries on the boat, so we don’t have to pack each weekend.

As you can see, we are fancy drinkers! LOL The galley is small, so it fills up fast when we unload everything.

During the summer, we tried to use the grill as much as possible, since I’m not a huge fan of using our stove top or oven. I admit it – the LPG system (liquid propane gas) freaks me out. However, when the weather is cold and rainy, we don’t have much of a choice.

Spending time on the boat is much the same as our condo

Whether Scott and I are at home at our condo or on the boat, we’re probably doing the same thing on a Friday night (unless we’re entertaining friends). That means, dinner and tv or a movie – glamorous isn’t it? One thing I’m trying to get used to, is that our boat isn’t that comfortable for relaxing and watching tv. We don’t really have a couch (except in the hallway).

The other option, is to sit at the settee and watch tv there. Scott also has set up another tv in the forward stateroom, where we can stretch our legs on the bed. But honestly, I’m not much of a “in bed tv watcher”. LOL

When we are just staying on the boat at Elliott Bay Marina, we typically use Saturdays for boat projects and catching up on chores. It’s much more fun to work on projects with a view like this. Plus you get to see your neighbors, say hi and catch up.

After we’re done with our projects, we’ll enjoy cocktails either at an event at the marina or with friends on the boat.

Funny story to share – you never know who you will run into

When I flew up to Roche Harbor last April with my boss, another passenger on the plane started talking to us. He got off at Friday Harbor, but we ran into him again at Roche Harbor later that day. Turns out (Ken is his name) works for another broker. We then go to breakfast and he’s right behind us in line. We get on the plane and sure enough, he’s on the plane with us.

Later that day, we were moving the boat from Union Marine through the locks. After we tied up to the wall, I looked at the boat in front of us and low and behold, there he was again! Too funny.

After that day, we seemed to run into each other at different events and shows. It became comical really. One Friday evening, Scott and I were relaxing at Maggie Bluff’s and this really cute dog walked by. I couldn’t resist, so asked the owner if I could pet him and she said yes.

What ended up being the funny part of the story, is the dog belonged to Ken! He came walking down the sidewalk and we couldn’t stop laughing. Yes, you had to be there. But the point of the story, is that the boating world (life) is small and one way or another, you’ll run into someone you know (maybe multiple times!)

The views never get old

One of the best things about mooring our boat at Elliott Bay Marina, is the views never disappoint. The only bummer right now, is our dock faces the breakwater wall. For us to enjoy the view at low tide, we either have to be on the fly bridge or up the walkway.

Entertaining on the boat

We love having friends and family come down and enjoy a day on the boat. Whether we cruise over to Port Madison or around Elliott Bay, it’s always a good time when you’re on the water. On top of that, Seattle offers some of the best views in the country and we’re five minutes away. That’s pretty glamorous to me!

Even on a blustery Fall afternoon, we can have fun watching college football on the boat with friends.

So we might not have a glamorous boating lifestyle, but it sure is fun. As they say, “Life is better on the water”. How can you get out and join us? Check out our Patreon page! With your support to produce better quality and informational videos, we in turn want to take you out boating. Join Here.

As always, thanks for following us on our journey! Please subscribe to our social channels too, on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (@BoatingJourney). Not only do we want to share our story & experience with you, we also want to hear from you too. We’re learning everyday.

Cheers, Scott and Ally
#BoatingJourney

October 24, 2019October 30, 2019

Hauling Out at Canal Boatyard

Last month, Scott and I hauled out our 2002 Bayliner 4087 MY to do some work at the Canal Boatyard in Ballard. When we had the survey and haul out done in March, they recommended we take care of a few things before winter arrives.

The items that were on the list were:

Check rudder packing
Bottom paint
Check sea cocks and through holes
New zincs / anodes

Seemed simple enough. Since Scott and I planned on doing the work ourselves, we bought the bottom paint and supplies a few weeks ago. We scheduled our haul out at Canal Boatyard in Ballard because they allow boaters to work on their own boats. Some boatyards require you to hire this out. One thing to note about bottom paint (which we wish we knew before hand with Kokomo), is if you don’t know what type of paint you have (Hard vs. Ablative), then you have to use ablative. Think of it the same way as Latex versus Oil paint. You can paint oil over latex, but not visa versa.

After researching bottom paint, we selected Sea Hawk Cukote ablative. This paint is highly recommended, but very expensive. We paid over $240/gallon!

Scheduling the work at Canal Boatyard

Scott scheduled our haul out with Ivaylo at the Canal Boatyard about a month ago. He then recommended we call Pacific Fiberglass to have the rudders and sea cocks checked, which we scheduled as well. During the Boats Afloat Show, we met Doug with Pacific Fiberglass and discussed our haul out. He was super friendly and helpful. He said he would be happy to take a look at the bottom and see what type of paint they used and see if we need to change our game plan.

The boatyard also offers rental equipment including the vacuum sanders and tarps. They have 24/7 security access (but you wouldn’t want to work in the dark) and shore power. Scott scheduled the haul out for Friday, September 20th at 10am. This boatyard is located inside the locks, so we would need to allot time to get through the cut.

Our original plan was to work on the boat all weekend. If we needed an extra day during the week, we could take some time off work. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was rainy and wet for the weekend. On top of that, we both had to travel for work the following week. Now what? Change of plans.

Going through the Ballard Locks

The last time we hauled out a boat was last Spring and it was a very long process! We hired the boatyard (a different one) to do all of the work and we were there over six weeks. That was NOT in our plan this time. For this haul out, we left Elliott Bay Marina around 8am on Friday, September 20th and headed to the locks. Keep in mind, this is only the 4th time we’ve gone through them and only the 2nd time on this boat.

In front of us was a big tug boat. The lock attendants asked us our length. We told them our length was 48′ and then they motioned for us to move forward. Turns out the tug was 70 feet, we were 48 feet and the total length of the lock is only 120 feet. Really? Two feet to spare!?

As the doors to the locks started to close, they caught the dinghy pontoon. Luckily no damage was done.

Hauling out ……again

Since Scott and I got through the Ballard Locks so fast, we were now early for our haul out. I called Ivaylo at Canal Boatyard and he was thrilled we arrived early! He had a lot going on, so the sooner the better.

It was much easier getting out off of the boat this time, but still a bit tricky. We still had to go from the bow & then crawl under the railing, but at least he lowered it enough to make it easy on me – compared to Sea View. Yikes!

You won’t believe what the boat looked like when we hauled out! Below is what it looked like in March of this year during our survey.

And this is what it looked like when we hauled out just six months later!

Can you say BARNACLES?

Scott and I had planned on scraping the boat and bottom painting it ourselves. But once we saw what it looked like and the work involved, we quickly changed our mind. Money is valuable when you are in a boatyard and at $140/day, we couldn’t spare a dime.

So we met with Doug at Pacific Fiberglass and he gave us a quote to do all of the prep work, bottom paint the boat and apply PropSpeed to the props and shafts to prevent growth. Done! Deal.

It also turns out that we do have hard paint, so we didn’t need ablative. He gave us a quote for Seahawk Shark Skin, which was about $200/gallon. The nice thing about the paint we had bought already, is West Marine will take it back if it’s unopened.

How long will the work take?

At $140/day, we couldn’t afford for the boat to sit in the boat yard for very long. We had hoped that Pacific Fiberglass would start right away on Friday afternoon, but they didn’t have it scheduled since we had originally planned on doing the work ourselves and they don’t work on weekends.

Monday was a gorgeous day, so I swung by the yard after work to see what progress they had made; unfortunately, nothing! Both Scott and I were flying out the next day and I started to get worried it wouldn’t be done by the end of the week. Scott talked to Doug and he assured us it would be ready by 3pm on Friday – yay!

Wanting some footage for the blog, I asked Kurt to go check on it on Wednesday. We were so shocked to see the photos!

Imagine, that they had to hand sand the barnacles off! Look at the shaft and props now! Wow! There’s no way Scott nor I would have been able to do this job.

After they cleaned them completely, they then applied Propspeed. Propspeed is a coating that protects the metal. With that said, you don’t want to ever hire a diver to go down and scrape barnacles after you have applied Propspeed. We were told that it should last at least two years. We plan on putting the GoPro in the water in a month or two and see what it looks like.

Time to go home!

Just as they promised, the boat was ready just a week later! Luckily, Scott was able to capture some pictures before it went in, so we could see all of the work they had done. Check out our new bottom paint!

Time to head back through the locks – it was a nice afternoon on Friday, so I prayed there wasn’t a wait. Guess I didn’t pray hard enough. After doing the “waiting dance” in the cut, we decided to tie up and wait, as it could be an hour before we get in.

Luckily, when we did get called it was for the small lock!! Yay. I did not want to deal with the large locks. When we got into the small locks another boat tied off on us and we were SNUG. We also had to tie up on the port side, which meant we would have issues with the dinghy motor almost touching the wall.

But we made it unscathed and headed back to Elliott Bay Marina. As soon as we left the channel, Scott throttled up the engines and we were shocked to see we were going over 20 knots! Now that we didn’t have 2″ of barnacles, we glide through the water.

It was nice to have the boat back at home and all secure. A big thank you to Kurt for helping us out! We couldn’t have done it without you! We’ll keep everyone posted on how the props look after a month or so.

People have asked us if we are finished boating for the season? Actually no. Since we have been trying to decide if we can live aboard a boat, our plan this winter is to stay on it during a few stormy weekends (once we figure out the cable situation) and also stay on it one night during the week. That way I can see what it’s like to come home from work in the dark and wet weather and also what it’s like to get ready for work. So stay tuned for those adventures.

A big Thank YOU

In each blog post, we say thanks for following our journey! Scott and I hope all of you reading this, understand how much it means to us. We’ve worked hard to make this dream a reality and we love sharing it with you.

Watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel below.

Please subscribe to our social channels too, on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Not only do we want to share our story & experience with you, we also want to hear from you too! We’re learning everyday!

Cheers,

Scott & Ally

October 13, 2019November 23, 2019

Are our holding tanks leaking?!

A couple of months ago, I started smelling a rancid burning urine smell and wondered if our one of our holding tanks was leaking. The smell stayed in one spot near the forward holding tank, but not directly where it was. So we ignored it for a few weeks. Finally last weekend on the boat, I couldn’t stand the smell. In fact, I swore I could smell it everywhere.

So Scott and I decided to investigate. The forward holding tank is located in the third cabin under the bed.

Once we removed all of the bedding and the floor cover, we were able to access the entire tank. To our dismay, there was some sort of stinky liquid under the holding tank. GROSS. Since it is a tight space, we decided it would be me, who would sop up the liquid and dry the space out. This way we could try and see where it’s coming from.

This is a stinky job!

Unfortunately, we had not pumped out recently, so this was a very stinky job! We also checked all of the hoses running to the tank and they were bone dry. After drying out the area, we then flushed the toilet to see if water would appear under the tank again. Surprisingly, it stayed dry.

Scott and I then moved on to the aft holding tank. We assumed it would be the same story – NOT! First off, all you see when you lift up the floor board is a stinky bilge and the edge of the tank! You have to be kidding me!

We assumed the worst!

Determined that we had leaking holding tanks, I contacted my parts department at Union Marine to find out how we could order new tanks. Then we realized, how in the world do we even access the aft tank? There must be an easy access. I contacted Bayliner and to our surprise – no access. Oh joy. Our best option, would be to dismantle the entire bed frame and cut a hole in the floor.

That’s when Scott and I decided to investigate further. That can’t possibly be true! So we tore apart our bed to see what we could find.

Turns out, it is one solid piece. We would have to remove the edging (which would most likely destroy it), unscrew the top and the sides.

What we did discover, is there is an access panel to the water tank. So we used our remote camera to try and see if there was any way to access the holding tank, but it didn’t tell us much. It did indicate we would have to unscrew the bed frame from the inside though!

Option #2

Before we dismantle ANYTHING, let’s make sure that this tank is actually leaking! We know the bilge belongs to the holding tank, so we decided we needed to dry it out too. This time it was Scott’s job to clean out the stinky bilge water and see if it leaks.

To better access the situation, we decided to pump out so that we were dealing with empty tanks. Our plan was to fill up the forward tank with fresh water to see if it ever started to leak.

Surprisingly, there was never a leak in either bilges! What the heck? Where did that liquid come from?? We can only guess that there might have been a leak at one time and after they sealed it up, they never cleaned up the liquid.

The smell is still there!

Back to our original problem – it still stinks in the forward stairway to the cabins. Interestingly enough, that’s also where the vent is. We have noticed a slight corrosion from salt water on the outside vent. Maybe that’s all it is? But it’s not easy to access.

So what’s our plan? Right now, we’re planning on flushing fresh water into both tanks over the next couple of weeks and not using them. Then have them pumped out a few times, so we’re only dealing with fresh water. At the same time, we’ll check the outside thru-hull and see if we can clean up the corrosion. I don’t think we can easily remove it (especially while we’re in the water) . But if anyone out there has dealt with this same issue, we’d love to hear your advice or experience!

Lots of people have also mentioned the hoses can go bad and get stinky. Again, they are not easy to access, so this is a huge job! Obviously, if we were to consider seriously living on the boat, this would have to be addressed right away. We did try to run water thru one vent, but nothing happened. Then we tried to disconnect the vent hose from the tank to see if we could see a clog, but it wouldn’t budge.

Stay tuned for updates as we try to figure out the issue. If anyone out there has successfully accessed their aft tank, please give us your tips and advice. We’ll share as much as we learn with you all too. It could be that they just stink – they are 17 years old after all.

**** UPDATE****
We ended up calling Emerald Harbor Marine to see if they could check the line. Turns out we have an inline vent filter and those need to be changed every few years. (each tank has one, but we only changed the forward vent). We didn’t know we had a vent, because we couldn’t see it. It was located behind the battery bank panel. The labor was the most expensive part of the bill (2.5 hours) and the filter was about $85. Hoping this fixes the smell. Stay tuned!

As always, thanks for following us on our journey! Next weekend, we are hoping to take the boat up to the Port of Everett if the weather is nice. In our next blog, we’ll share our haul-out at Canal Boatyard.

Cheers,

Scott & Ally

October 1, 2019October 1, 2019

Boats Afloat Show – Where it all began!

It was at the Boats Afloat Show in 2010 where it all began! Scott and I had owned The Wine Alley since 2005 and we decided to head to the show for something to do. As we admired all of the beautiful yachts, we knew those were not in our future. Then headed to the sailing dock and toured a 35′ Lagoon Catamaran. All of a sudden, we knew we would someday retire on a boat.

After the show, we spent time with a local charter company and actually considered investing in a new Lagoon. Thanks to the recession and the fact that we still owned a business, that wasn’t going to happen. So, in the meantime, all we could do is attend shows and work towards our dream. After we sold the wine shop, we started searching for our first boat and bought Kokomo in 2017.

What are we looking for at the Boats Afloat Show?

Now that we own a boat, you might be asking why are we at the Boats Afloat Show? Scott and I are not looking for another boat, but there’s a lot of things we can do to remodel our current boat. Time to look for ideas! In addition, we have found a few of our vendors (Lending Associates, Global Marine Insurance, Color Glo Marine & Pacific Fiberglass) at the show, so it’s a great place to connect with people.

Let’s start with the carpet. Our boat, a 2002 Bayliner 4087 Aft Cabin M/Y has the original carpet and it needs to be replaced. We have talked about replacing it with a wood laminate and it wouldn’t be too costly, except for the stairs. Then we toured the Aquila 44 at the show. How ironic, because that’s what we are chartering in April in the BVI’s!

I immediately noticed that they had Snap-in Carpet for the interior. Interesting. Thoughts anyone?

Scott and I have also been talking seriously about the possibility of living on THIS boat. That was never in the plans, but I would consider it to save money. However, we would need to make some changes to make it more livable and user friendly. Check out these table designs. It would be great if we could lower our dinette table so we could easily relax on the seat and watch t.v.

Galley Remodel

While we wont’ be remodeling our galley anytime soon, it’s on the list if we end up living on it. Here are the list of things we need to change:

Swap out the double sink for a single
Replace the faucet with a smaller, taller, skinnier faucet
Replace the microwave with a microwave/convection oven
Remove the propane stove top and replace with an electric stove top.
Remove the oven and replace with cupboards

Why? Well, we can’t fit pots or pans in the sink. The faucet is so low and huge, it practically is in the sink. To use the stove top and oven, we have to turn on the gas at the tank, turn on the switch at the electrical panel, turn on the switch in the galley and then light it with a lighter! No thanks.

The question will be, is can we find a small enough microwave/convection oven? We have a pretty tiny microwave.

On one sailboat, they had a pretty cool set up for their bbq, but I’m not sure how you could do that after market for a boat like ours.

Check out the galley on this catamaran!

As we toured the sailboat row, Scott and I stumbled upon a peculiar looking catamaran. It was a brand I have not heard AND it was very green. This is a Baracuda X 2013 Chris White Atlantic 47 Catamaran.

At first, I didn’t want to go on it, but am I glad I did. They thought of everything on this boat!

The galley is not on the main level, but down below (similar to the Antares). It’s also massive! There’s more counter space here than my condo has.

Then they built in a “shop” on the other side, where there’s the engine access and the washer and dryer!

By the initial looks of this boat, you could easily do some off-shore cruising. The craziest thing about this catamaran is has patented Chris White Designs MastFoil™. This is a unique combination of modern rigid airfoil technology with proven soft sails.

Other cool things at the Boats Afloat Show

New to the market is the center console from Ocean Alexander. I’ve read about it in magazines, but to see it in person was unreal. Who owns a boat like this? Has to be some huge yacht and they use this as their tender! We saw plenty of them in St. Barths.

With four 350hp engines, this boat can easily go over 50mph! Crazy.

Then we toured a 1990 yacht that is moored in our marina. Everything about this yacht was unique and eccentric. So we had to check out the bridge. Is this a boat or a helicopter?

Check out this Life Proof Boat! It’s made out of a patented Styrofoam. You can stab it with a knife and the pontoons will not deflate!

That’s a wrap of the boat show! What’s next for us?

It was a quick tour of the boat show. When you work the boat show as an occupation, it’s not as fun to tour it anymore. Next up for us is to figure out our leaking holding tank situation. Since we’re hauling out in a couple of weeks, now is the time to fix it. We’re also gathering information for our Moorings BVI bareboat charter, so if you have any tips or suggestions for an itinerary, please reach out.

As always, thanks for following our blog! Please subscribe to our social channels too, on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Not only do we want to share our story & experience with you, we also want to hear from you too! We’re learning everyday!

Cheers,

Scott & Ally

@boatingjourney #boatingjourney

September 21, 2019October 1, 2019

Afternoon Cruise around Blake Island

Scott and I took his sister & her family out for an afternoon cruise and we decided to go around Blake Island to check it out.

Now that we have practiced anchoring, we wanted to see what the bays look like around the island. Blake Island is just six nautical miles southwest of Seattle, so it’s a quick trip from Elliott Bay Marina. It took us about 30 minutes going 9 knots.

Blake Island is managed by the Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission and is accessible only by boat. When Scott and I bought our previous boat, we took a quick trip to Blake Island to check it out. Turns out it was a horrible day and we struggled to get into the marina! The marina has either 30 minute slips or overnight slips. They don’t take reservations, so it’s first come first serve. You do need a Discover Pass to visit. There’s plenty to do on Blake Island, including visiting Tilicum Village, hiking and beach combing.

Where do they anchor at Blake Island?

There are four mooring fields with anchorages and one dock. Though we didn’t see anyone moored outside the marina.

On The anchorages are actually pretty shallow. Our charts were showing as shallow as 2′. Scott reminded me over and over, that I would have to get used to entering shallow waters. (LOL). Remember, I have freaked out a few times entering Port Madison!

We cruised around the island, counter clockwise, heading to the west side first. What I am curious about, is what the weather (specifically winds) are like on the west and south side? Our old house had a southwest exposure, we we got beat up by the weather all the time.

Quaint mooring fields

As soon as we saw the boats, I actually got excited. How fun this would be, to come out for even just one night. You can take the dinghy to the beach and then go explore the island!

We counted about seven balls on the west side. The question for us newbies is, how do you know what the ball is rated for in weight? Are they all the same?

On the south end, there were only two mooring balls, with one available. I’m guessing the south end is not very comfortable based on the winds that come from the south. Then as we rounded back to the east side of the island, there were more boats anchored. There might be mooring balls, but we didn’t get close enough to check.

The Blake Island marina is located at the north east corner of the island. There’s plenty of beach right next to the marina, which is just a few steps away from Tillicum Village. Since we’re new to anchoring, I don’t think we’ll try that yet this Fall, but we are hoping to make a trip over and stay at the marina this Fall. By then, there should be more slips available and less tourists.

salmon bake indian reservation — Blake Island

One thing to note, is do not overstay your 30 minute visit. The park ranger will come out and ask you to leave. Before we start staying overnight at anchor or anywhere else, we have to figure out if our holding tanks are leaking. Stay tuned for that blog post. Next week, we’ll share with you some of the remodel ideas we came upon at the Boats Afloat Show.

As always, thank you for following our boating blog! Scott and I have a lot of things coming up, including our big haul out in a few weeks. Please be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. #boatingjourney

September 15, 2019October 6, 2019

We Anchored for the First Time!

Scott and I finally anchored for the first time last weekend! When we had Kokomo, we went through the process of pulling out our anchor and marking it in feet. So we did the same thing with this boat a few weeks ago. It’s important to check your anchor for a few things: is it in good shape, is it all chain and how much chain do you have? Plus, once the chain locker is empty, you can inspect it too.

Our anchor is tied to a cleat on the bow, which helps keep it secured. But as you can see, we need to replace the rope – it’s seen better days.

On this boat, we have foot pedals on the bow for the electric windlass. The anchor you see in the photo below, is actually our spare anchor.

Laying the anchor chain out on the dock.

Turns out we have all chain and no rope. That’s a good thing. However, we noticed the first five rungs were really rusty, so we decided to remove those. Easier said than done, but Scott managed to do it with a set of bolt cutters.

Next we knew that the dock was built in 10′ segments, so we laid out the tarp and then I slowly released the anchor chain and Scott lined up the chain every ten feet on the dock.

How much anchor chain do we have?

Our previous boat had over 250′ of chain and we never once anchored with that boat. Since this boat has a generator, we hope to spend the night on the hook next summer. Once Scott laid out all of the chain on the dock, he spray painted the ends, indicating “every ten feet”. The previous owner had also tied ribbons on the chain, every 25′, so now we have two methods of measurements we can use.

Notice the end of the chain, we double painted it yellow and orange, so we would know we were at the end when anchoring.

Turns out we have about 240′ of chain. The chain locker looked good and we were very careful when we brought it back up. We checked the locker a few times to make sure it was laying flat.

One word of caution – don’t pull the chain / anchor too tight. As you can see in the photo below, I did just that and it got stuck on the anchor plate below the bow. Scott was finally able to loosen it, by attaching a line to it from the dock and pushing the boat back and forth. But if you’re on the water, you’re stuck.

Let’s practice in Port Madison

Last weekend, we headed over to Port Madison to practice anchoring. Kurt came along to give us some tips and advice. It was a beautiful day and perfect to practice anchoring for the first time.

The original plan was to enter into Port Madison and anchor inside.

However, it was also a very low tide that afternoon and once we got inside where Treasure Island is, we were in only 7′ of water and I got uncomfortable. Not only was I worried about our draft (yes, our draft is 4′, so we were fine), but there were a lot of boats inside and the last thing they needed was a newbie practicing around them. When anchoring, make sure to practice proper etiquette.

So we decided to turn around and head back out. We would practice anchoring in the outside bay. (smart decision). If you are looking to practice anchoring, Port Madison is perfect – it’s only 40 min from Seattle (at 9 knots) and a fun trip.

We’re finally ready to anchor for the first time!

Right outside the bay, we picked a spot that was about 20′ deep and there were no boats around. We untied the anchor and slowly started to lower it into the water. Since there were no boats around, we decided to let out 100′ of chain (5 -1) versus 140 (7-1). If I noticed that the boat was moving forward over the chain, I had Scott slowly back up. We did this a few times, until 100′ was let out. Then we waited about 3 minutes to see if the chain was holding. It wasn’t vibrating, which can be an indicator that it’s dragging.

Success on the first try! We’re not going anywhere. Time for lunch!

The four of us enjoyed lunch in the cockpit while at anchor. It was a bit weird and you do move a lot. This is not a bay I would stay over night in, so I’m assuming it would be calmer somewhere else.

Now we have to pull up the anchor

You’ll love the pictures here, as I was wearing our GoPro camera while pulling up the anchor! LOL. Scott and I followed the same procedure of backing up the boat, if it started to move over the top of the anchor. I would give him arm signals, indicating which direction the anchor chain was as we were pulling it up.

The wet chain made a bit of a mess on the bow, with some rusty water. We took a bucket of water and rinsed it off right away. We only brought up a little bit of kelp, so nothing too bad. The anchor had a lot of mud on it, so I carefully lowered it a few times to rinse it off. In all, it was a successful first time anchoring. I’m really glad Kurt was there to show us the ropes and help with the process. Be sure to check out our next blog as we take a trip around Blake Island to look for a spot to anchor!

Here’s the full footage on our YouTube channel below.

As always, thank you for following our blog. We’re booking our bareboat charter in the British Virgin Islands this week. Our friends Ben & Maria are chartering a Power Catamaran with us next April. I will be sure to share all of my research and am looking for tips and advise too in upcoming blogs.

Please follow us on our social channels: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!

Cheers, Scott and Ally
#boatingjourney

September 7, 2019December 8, 2019

Visiting Bremerton

A few weeks ago, we joined the Union Marine getaway in Bremerton and we brought along my college friend Jen. The Bremerton Marina is just across the bay from Port Orchard, where we were earlier in the month, so it was nice to know where we were going. The three of us left Friday around 3pm, so that I could get a dock party set up for our event. Going at 10 knots, it would take us about 90 minutes to get there.

The weather was a bit grey, but the water was almost calm the entire way! We even saw a few porpoises, but I never got a chance to get their photo.

Entering the Bremerton Marina!

Most of our crew & guests were already at the marina, so I called our broker Steve and said we were coming in. He warned me that the current was swift and to be ready. We entered the Bremerton Marina on the west end, as we were on the guest dock in the center. That all was very smooth, as the water was so calm. But once we turned down our fairway, Scott said the current was fast!

The fairways and slips are very wide (thank God!) and we were grateful for that, as we were sharing a slip with one of our customers who has a beautiful 48′ Sea Ray yacht. As we started to back in, the current over took us and we had to try again. This time we went to the end of our fairway, turned around and backed in again. Let’s just say, we were grateful for all of the extra hands on the dock!

The docks are nice and wide and well appointed. The marina doesn’t have a breakwater wall, but instead an outside dock.

Happy Hour on the Dock

Union Marine was hosting the wine & beer hour on the dock. Each boat then brought an appetizer and there were some amazing bites that everyone made (being so busy, I brought store bought chips & salsa – boo!) One boat brought Caesar salad in a cup! Genius idea!

One of the best things about this getaway, was hanging out with the three fur babies! I mean, we had a Corgi, Bernese AND a Golden! Heaven!

After our happy hour, Jen, Scott and I decided to explore DT Bremerton and find a bite to eat. The Port is very nice and has a lot of culture built in. The US Navy is based out of Bremerton, so much of the Port is dedicated to our service men and women.

Our First Night in Bremerton

The three of us headed into Bremerton and stumbled upon the South Pacific Sports Bar, which is walking distance from the marina (just past the bus terminal). The food was fantastic and they had plenty of seating! I highly recommend a stop here during your next visit.

It wouldn’t be a boating getaway, if there wasn’t a night cap party on the dock. Luckily the weather never got bad and it was a really great night to sit and mingle with good friends on the dock.

Touring the USS Turner Joy

I wanted to check out the USS Turner Joy Navy ship, for a possible future event. The ship is located at the Port, right next to the marina. They gave us a quick tour of the upper deck, where parties would be held. This is a very cool venue! You can even stay the night on it as a group!

USS Turner Joy was one of 18 Forrest Sherman-class destroyers of the United States Navy. It was named for Admiral Charles Turner Joy USN. Commissioned in 1959, it spent its entire career in the Pacific. It launched in 1958 and was decommissioned in 1982.

Apparently this is the party deck! Better hold on tight!

A Quick Trip to Port Orchard

Say, weren’t we just in Port Orchard two weeks ago? Yep, but there is so much to see there, that we wanted to show Jen the cute town and farmer’s market. Port Orchard is located directly across Sinclair Inlet from Bremerton – yes, we could take our dingy there, but that would be too much work. Instead, we hopped on a vintage ferry boat – the Carlisle II.

Carlisle II is the oldest of only two operational Mosquito Fleet vessels in Puget Sound. (The other is the 1922 Steamship Virginia V. which is located on Lake Union) They were once part of a large fleet of small passenger and freight carrying ships that linked the islands and ports of Puget Sound in Washington State in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The ferry runs every 30 minutes and it’s best to have your ORCA card. Otherwise you’ll need cash (I think $2) for each way.

We talked to the Captain and found out that the ferry will be decommissioned in a few months and replaced with an hybrid catamaran foot ferry.

There was a tall ship “festival” in Port Orchard, but we only saw one ship at the marina. Jen, Scott and I decided to walk around town a bit and check out a few things we didn’t see before. Including the must have belly rub on a sweet golden.

One of the funniest things we encountered was at the Candy Shoppe in downtown. They not only sold these cute “turtles”, but they also sold “turdles”. LOL!!

After a quick one hour tour, we headed back to Bremerton on the ferry for the Union Marine Party at Anthony’s.

Union Marine Getaway Party at Anthony’s in Bremerton

Union Marine hosted the Bremerton Getaway cocktail party at Anthony’s Homeport, located right at the marina. We rented a private room and it was perfect for our group. The staff did a fantastic job and the food was amazing! Thank you to everyone who made this a great event.

Prism Graphics sponsored the event and talked with them for quite awhile. Scott and I would love to change the name of our boat, as it’s not one we would pick (“Our Happy Day”). To do that properly, you need to have a proper ceremony to avoid bad luck. Turns out that Prism offers that too!

Walking around the Bremerton Marina and the Port

Our group told us to go check out the fountains, just walking distance from Anthony’s. I was skeptical, wondering what the big deal was. Well, were we in for a surprise! These things were so cool and the photos don’t do them justice. We think they are meant to simulate a submarine.

With everyone content with good food and cocktails, we returned to the dock to relax. Somehow, that’s where all the stories are told (or begin for the next time). This is a great group of boating friends and I’m glad I’m part of their family.

A Beautiful Trip Home from Bremerton

We couldn’t have asked for a better travel day. The weather was calm and warm. In fact, I wish we could have stayed out on the water a bit longer.

Since we had a lot of chores to do, we decided to kick it into gear and let the boat burn off some carbon across Puget Sound. We made it home in 45 minutes!

Scott and I are thrilled about how well our Bayliner 4087 has done this summer. We’ve taken her out to Kingston, Tacoma, Port Orchard, Port Madison and now Bremerton. For our first year, we couldn’t be happier. We’re looking forward to the next getaway, wherever that may lead us.

As always, thank you for following and subscribing to our blog! Stay tuned for our YouTube episode and tour of Bremerton. If you want to get notifications of our next episode, be sure to subscribe to our channel – click here!

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter too at @BoatingJourney #boatingjourney.

Cheers, Scott and Ally

August 24, 2019September 21, 2019

Fresh Water on the Boat

While Scott and I might not be out at sea, I still want to make sure the fresh water on the boat is good and drinkable. Let’s just say, I’m a bit of a water snob and I have always been that way. Perhaps it’s because the tap water I grew up with tasted horrible. At home, I always drink filtered water – whether it be through a pitcher or a portable (Brita) water bottle. Our goal is to help eliminate plastic bottles and find other solutions. That’s where this blog post comes into play! We’re all guilty of buying bottled water because it’s cheap and readily available.

Let’s go back a couple of years, when we owned our first boat. I shared a post about potable water and how I wondered if the water on that boat was safe to drink. Keep in mind, that boat sat on the hard for two years, so the tank had to have gotten nasty. I refused to brush my teeth with the water on that boat. Yes, there were things we could have done to clean up the tank, but we didn’t. But I did say, that the next boat would have to have some type of filtration system on it.

Water at the Dock

At Elliott Bay Marina, we have city water, which is actually pretty good. Some marinas you visit, especially up north might not have the greatest quality and they don’t recommend you add it to your tanks. However, if you have no choice, then make sure you take the steps necessary to purify the water you are putting in your tanks.

The first thing I always recommend, is use an Teknor Zero-G Rv/Marine Hose for safe drinking water when you fill up your tank. We only use this hose for drinking water and a different hose to wash the boat.

This year, we took it a step farther and we use a Camco TastePURE Water Filter which filters the water from the faucet to the hose. This filter runs about $26 and we keep it in the locker with the antibacterial hose.

Drinking Water

Just because the water in our fresh water tank has been filtered, it doesn’t mean it’s good enough to drink (for me at least). That’s because you don’t know how well your tanks has been maintained. Typically, the smell of the water is a good indicator and on this boat, the water smells fine. So I have no issue brushing my teeth with this water, but will I drink it? Not so fast! Luckily for us, we also have a drinking water faucet! How cool is that? To be honest, I didn’t know what it was for the first few months!

Under the sink, there’s another filter that is hooked up to this faucet, acting like a super Brita filter. However, make sure before you buy a replacement filter, that it’s the right part. These are not cheap. This 3M filter was about $80 from a specialty filter company. I was skeptical, but the water tastes great!

Making Water On-Board

Scott and I were shocked to learn this boat came with a water maker! Our broker had told us to make sure we run it regularly to keep the membranes wet. Since it had been on the market for at least 6 months, I wondered if it needed to be serviced. We have run it on low pressure a few times and then I was convinced that the water tasted like salt. LOL!! Time to have it checked out.

I called Emerald Harbor Marine located right here at Elliott Bay Marina. Turns out they know this boat and unit well. The previous owner had upgraded the water maker and turned it into a “science project”. Not sure that that means, but I was happy to hear it was regularly maintained.

Dan came down and ran the machine to pressure and let the onboard TDS meter stabilize at 148 PPM. A TDS meter is a device used to indicate the Total Dissolved Solids in a solution. Since dissolved ionized solids, such as salts and minerals, increase the conductivity of a solution, a TDS meter measures the conductivity of the solution and estimates the TDS from that reading. He then disconnected it and sampled the water with his hand held unit and it showed 135PPM. Anything below 500 PPM is good. In Puget Sound, our water maker should make water from 100-350PPM.

Water Maker Maintenance

Moving forward, we need to make sure we flush the system with fresh water each week. I asked how we will know to change the filters? He said that there is a vacuum pressure gauge and when the system is running and the filters are clean, the gauge should read 20-30 PSI. As the filters clog, the pressure will drop. He recommends replacing the filters when the feed reaches 5-10 PSI. Dan also mentioned that the membranes should have a 6-8 year life with proper care. If we are not going to be on the boat during the winter, he recommends that we have them “pickle the system”, basically preserving the system and locking it down until Spring.

So now you know more about water makers than you ever wanted. You might be asking why we are doing all of this? Do we use the water maker? Not really, but water makers are great to have when you are out cruising. Scott and I are maintaining the unit, so that it stays in tip top shape. Water makers are very expensive and our model is about $4000 new.

To summarize, we’ll keep the water maker membranes wet and use the drinking faucet for all consumable water and to make ice! As always, thanks for following our blog! Please be sure to subscribe to our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels. Check out our full review on our YouTube channel below.

Cheers, Scott & Ally

#BoatingJourney

August 7, 2019September 5, 2019

So Much to Do in Port Orchard!

At the end of July, we took a quick over night trip to Port Orchard with Kurt, his brother Cal and girlfriend Tracey. This has been a very busy boating month for us, as we were just in Kingston the weekend before.

Port Orchard is about 14 nautical miles due west from Seattle.

We estimated it would take us about an hour and a half going 10 knots, and we were right on the mark. The weather was a bit cloudy, but dry and warm when we left. There were a lot of logs along the way that we had to watch out for. Plus we either had a ferry coming up on us or at us. Other than that, it was a non eventful trip (a good thing!).

Going through Rich Passage into Sinclair Inlet, cruisers suggest you enter at slack tide as the current can be almost 2 knots. We entered just before slack tide, and didn’t have any troubles. But you could see how a smaller vessel would struggle a bit.

The Naval Ship Yard is on your starboard side has you enter the channel adjacent to the Bremerton Marina.

Entering the Port Orchard Marina

Reserving dock space at Port Orchard was similar to La Conner. They simply put you on the (east) breakwater dock, with the name of your boat in the spot you are reserved for. I knew by looking at the aerial shot, that the fairways would be wide. That was great, because we would need to turn around to dock starboard. What I didn’t realize, is how narrow the entering fairway is.

Once we got in, we weren’t sure where to go. All of the reserved signs were for other boats and it turns out, we were the closest to land. It’s hard to tell by this photo, but our anchor was inches apart from the guy in front of us. The only negative or “con” I would say about our spot, was we had a tall water spigot right where you get on and off the boat. Definitely not the obstacle you want after a few cocktails!

You also would not want to be in the first slip next to land – it seemed to attract algae and make it look like a rug! LOL

We checked in at the marina office right away (which is located up the hill to your right). They gave us all kinds of cool stuff, including a huge bag for the Farmer’s Market! The market was on the main street and was from 10am – 3pm, so we had plenty of time to check things out!

Since Scott and I have never been to Port Orchard, we didn’t know what to expect. Friends of ours kept teasing us and saying we’ll be bored senseless and that there’s nothing to do in Port Orchard. (That happened to us in Oak Harbor, so I was a little worried before we left.) Turns out they were wrong…..

The Farmer’s Market

We’ve been to the Kingston and Poulsbo Farmer’s Markets. They are small with just a few vendors, so we were not expecting much in Port Orchard. Boy were we surprised! First of all, when we got our goodie bag, we also found out that there is a night time market with music!

The daytime market had lots of vendors, including food, crafts, gifts, olive oil, spirits, homemade ice cream AND wine tasting! Imagine that! Seabeck Cellars opened in 2016 and produce about 300 cases a year. I loved their Rose’ and Cab, so I bought one of each.

Downtown Port Orchard

After we toured the market, we headed to the main drag to check things out. Port Orchard has lots of quaint shops and pubs to check out. Josephine’s Mercantile is a great shop with all kinds of souvenirs, seasonal gifts and nautical items.

Eventually, we made our way to The Brick House Bar and Grill, where we sat outside, enjoyed live music and met a new furry friend!

Just down the street was the Nauti Mermaid bar and we couldn’t resist. It’s pretty much a dive bar and it was a bit empty when we went in. But our group can have fun anywhere we go!

There was also a band playing on the main street! These guys were awesome! Who knew so much was happening in this small town!

Off to Check Out the Night Market

After exploring downtown Port Orchard, we headed to the Night Market to check things out.

This wasn’t as big as the day event, but they did have a wine and beer garden. Hmmm, I see a theme here. Since we were hungry, we all headed back to The Brick House, which was now packed full for dinner. The food and music were great and you must make a stop here next time you are in Port Orchard!

What a fun day we had exploring this fun little town. Everyone had a great time and Our Happy Day got us there without a hitch!

But Wait! There’s More!

What more could be happening in the town on Port Orchard? Well, the next day they had the largest Ford Mustang Car Show in the region. There were over 300 cars and everywhere you turned, there was a Mustang! We couldn’t leave without checking it out.

It was also one of the lowest tides of the season. The ramp was steep and the mussels were out!

The Mustang car show took up all of the parking along the waterfront! If you like car shows, you could spend all day here! This is an annual event, so mark your calendars for next year!

What a Fun & Quick Trip!

All of us were surprised as to how much we did in just 24 hours in this sleepy little town. If anyone tells you (Ben – LOL), that you will be bored, don’t listen to them. The boat trip to Port Orchard is beautiful and we had perfect weather for the way home!

Aside from watching out for logs and ferries, you also need to be on the look out for kayakers!

When we got back to Elliott Bay, we got a great surprise when Sea Wolf an expedition yacht passed right by us! The yacht is currently for sale for $9,900,000 but not for US residents in US waters.

As always, thank you so much for following our blog and journey! We’d love to grow our audience and any shares are really appreciated. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter @BoatingJourney. We now have 40 episodes on YouTube, so please subscribe to our channel, share and like our upcoming episodes.

In our next blog, we’re back to boat projects, so stay tuned! Cheers, Scott & Ally

July 30, 2019August 6, 2019

Back to the Port of Kingston Again!

Every year we head over to the Port of Kingston with the same group of friends, but this year we mixed things up a bit. Normally we leave on Saturday morning, but our group decided to make it a two night visit. Kingston is about 12 nautical miles from Elliott Bay Marina and in our previous boat (Bayliner Ciera 3055) the trip would take us about 35 minutes going 20-23 knots. In Our Happy Day the trip required a little more than hour at 9-10 knots.

Our crew left on Friday afternoon, July 19th, around 4:15pm with calm winds and warm sunshine. The one catch about our departure was that this is also the time that the three cruise ships leave the port in Seattle. We had to navigate (not only tons of crab pots), but we were stuck between two cruise ships. The wake from this cruise ship would sink a kayaker!

There was a lot of activity in the bay as we arrived to Kingston. The Coast Guard was out when we arrived and when we left. Again, be sure to watch out for crap pots – they were everywhere in the bay. I had hoped to see some whales, as they were spotted all over Puget Sound the past few days, but no luck. We did see a few harbor seals, who swam by to say hello.

The marina is easy to get in and out of – especially when your friends are already there. Our boat was in slip 19, Cory & his wife Stacy were next to us in 20 and Ben & Maria were in 22. The catch here was, all of the slips were the same size! Ben’s Sea Ray is 28′ and our boat LOA is 49′. Yep, you guessed it…we barely fit. In fact, the harbormaster made us move the boat back as the anchor platform was sticking over the dock. By doing that, our swim platform didn’t really line up with the dock, but we managed. Even more remarkable was how well Scott docked it in a tight spot!

I should have taken a picture, but as you can see by this photo of the Coast Guard, our neighbor’s dinghy is inches from ours. (Our dinghy has the tower, his is the other one)

The Point Casino in Kingston

On the trip with us, was Scott’s brother Jeff, his wife Michele and Randy who comes every year. Jeff and Michele were celebrating their anniversary, so they were staying at The Point Resort and Casino.

After checking in and enjoying a cocktail, it was time to head to the casino. Here’s a tip! If you are staying at the resort, they recommend making reservations for the shuttle,;however, I also called a local cab company days prior and he said it would be much faster if we called them. (No, they don’t have Uber or Lyft). So I called the cab company and not only did they not answer the phone, they texted back saying they were extremely busy. When I said I had 9 people to go to the casino, he replied “no way, you should have made reservations”. ?? Hmmmm, I just talked to you two days ago, why didn’t you tell me that then? Now what?

Good news is that there happened to be a shuttle already there from the casino, so we hopped on and off we went. The last shuttle back to the marina is at 9:30pm, so you want to make sure you don’t miss it!

The First Night in Kingston

Since we were back early from the casino, we all headed to our boat where we shared funny stories and had some great laughs. One thing about traveling with Ben and Maria – there’s never a dull moment. I think every time Maria and I get together, we laugh so hard it hurts the next day!

We recently bought a new SLR camera. I tried to capture some shots in manual mode of the rising moon, but you really need a tri-pod to keep it steady.

What to do in the Port of Kingston?

Okay, so this is our third time there and there’s not much to do at all. But, what we do love about it, is we can all just hang out on the dock, soak up some sun, have a cocktail and then go to the concert in the park.

We started the day at the farmer’s market right at the marina. Unfortunately, it’s not a very big one and they don’t have a lot going on – but it’s fun none the less.

Of course we did try to mix things up a bit and so we headed into “town”. Town is basically a two block stretch.

The Kingston Pub Crawl

We decided to do a mini pub crawl, but with only a few restaurants/bars, that was hard to do. First stop was Kafe’ Neo, where we sat outside and enjoyed Mango Sangrias. Yum, is all I have to say about that!

Next we stopped at the Kingston Ale House and sat outside soaking up the sun! They had fantastic huckleberry mules that were to die for! We also tried their smoked salmon chowder, which was amazing. The clams were great, but they come with A LOT of garlic!

By now it was only 1pm and nothing else really jumped out at us. So we headed back to the boat, to enjoy some sunshine.

Concerts in the Park

Every Saturday during the summer, the Port of Kingston has a free concert in the park. They do have a wine & beer garden (nothing too fancy) and a few few trucks. We always bring our own dinner and beverages. it’s a very casual event, so bring your blankets, chairs and coolers. The concert ran just a few hours, then we headed back to the boat for a few more cocktails.

What Boating Life is All About

Scott and I love the boating life and the friendships we have created as a part of it. There’s something unique about boaters that brings us all together – we always have a great time. Even if we run out of gas on our way to the Port of Kingston – right Ben? LOL (no we did not!)

Squidding at Night – is that a word?

Last year, Ben and Maria were catching squid with their blue lights on their Sea Ray. So now that they are pros, they did it again! This time, they had a better plan to keep the ink out of the boat. Maria unhooked the jig on the dock, to keep the boat clean. Afterwards, Ben, Maria and Randy cleaned the squid (in the dark) on the dock. I wish I had better pictures!

Too bad this photo is blurry, but you can see how black their hands are!!!!

Another Gorgeous Trip Home

Winds were light and variable for our trip home from the Port of Kingston. Mount Rainier was out, sail boats were everywhere and it truly was one of the best days of the year!

As always, thank you for following our blog! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter @BoatingJourney. We’ll have a new YouTube episode coming soon with our trip! Next week we are headed to Port Orchard for the first time! #BoatingJourney

Cheers, Scott & Ally