Allison, Author at Boating Journey

June 12, 2020June 12, 2020

Boating these days

These are certainly different times right now and boating these days, isn’t quite the same as it used to be. It was a year ago this week, that we took our first big trip to Dock Street Marina in Tacoma. The weather was horrible and we had three foot seas. At 9 knots, it took us just over three hours. Definitely not my favorite in the books.

Once we got there, we had a blast and that’s what boating is all about. Spending time with fellow boaters on the water and docks. Even though things are starting to open up, we still aren’t there yet and we miss those times.

Adjusting to the new norm

When boating opened up in Washington State on May 4, 2020, many of the marinas were still closed as were the towns they are in. Some boaters chose to head out and anchor, but we like the amenities of a marina (especially since our generator is only a portable one). As a result, we’ve been hanging out at home working on boat projects.

Last weekend, we finally gave in and invited our good friends Ben & Maria down for the night for cocktails and a dinghy ride. We hadn’t seen them since we took off to Port Orchard and we needed to talk about rescheduling our trip to the BVIs.

They have been following our struggles with getting the dinghy started, so it was a celebration of its’ own. Ironically, I have never taken the dinghy out by myself. After Ben and Scott got back from their tour, Maria and I climbed in for the big adventure. We had a ball cruising the marina, saying hi to fellow boaters and enjoying the sunshine.

What’s next on YouTube?

Before they arrived, we filmed a YouTube episode about our electronics on board (see video below). A few followers asked us how our boat was outfitted and we decided to share in a tour. We have the basic necessities for cruising around Puget Sound and they work great for us. Be sure to watch the video at the end for the full episode.

Our weekend was short with Ben and Maria, but fun. It doesn’t matter if you are at a marina, at anchor or out cruising – if you are on the water with friends, life is more fun. Summer is just two weeks away and normally we’d have big plans for cruising. This pandemic has changed that for all of us, as we are living day to day. Instead of making huge cruising plans in two months (we did that back when….remember how that turned out?), we’re looking short-term at what we can do as the weekends arrive. We love the summer evenings at the marina and we can’t wait for more warm weather.

In the meantime, we’re enjoying being on the boat with friends and family. As I said in our “whale on our stern” video; if you open yourself up to the world, you never know what might be waiting for you. Stay tuned and see what happens for us this summer.

As always, thank you for following us! Be sure to follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram @BoatingJourney, so you can see our stories and get current updates on our progress. Also, check out our YouTube channel at @BoatingJourney and subscribe for future episodes. Cheers, Scott & Ally

June 2, 2020June 3, 2020

Ally learns how to fly our drone

Scott bought me a new drone for Christmas last year and believe it or not, I’ve never flown it. Time to learn! To be honest, I wasn’t nearly as nervous about flying the drone as I was learning to dock our boat.

We picked a small park at our marina to practice the basic maneuvers, then I flew it slightly over the water and marina. Though it can fly out of range a mile, I would never do that. One hundred yards is far enough for me. LOL!

What kind of drone to we have?

This isn’t our first drone, in fact eight years ago I bought Scott a drone which I thought was high quality and expensive at $500! But drones and cameras have come a long ways in the past eight years. Knowing we needed to have better quality videos, Scott decided it was time to invest in a good drone (plus our DJI Action and Pocket cameras). He spent hours researching and talking to other YouTubers and he decided on the DJI Mavic Air Fly More Combo. It came with tons of accessories and I’m still learning what they all are. (This page does include affiliate links).

The hardest part of learning to fly the drone, was that the screen is hard to see in the sunlight. If anyone knows of screen guards, etc that we should be using, please let us know. The controls were pretty easy – forward, backward, side to side, up and down, turn left, turn right. There’s a small dial on the front and that controls the angle of the camera. Our camera has a setting that won’t allow it to crash into anything.

When we took the drone out to film me docking, Scott couldn’t land the drone back into the boat, because we had the wrong setting on and it refused to land on a moving object. As a result, he had to land it on the dock and go fetch it. Over all, I think I did great – be sure to watch our YouTube channel / video (link below) and see how I did.

Family visit on Camano Island & a sad goodbye

The next weekend, we headed up to Camano Island to my family’s place at Tyee Beach since we hadn’t seen them in person since Thanksgiving! We stayed outside on the beach and practiced our 6′ apart distancing.

It was a somber day, as we finally decided to finally spread some of Mac’s ashes in Port Susan, where he loved to swim. Scott could throw the stick for hours and he would be in heaven. The funny thing is, he wasn’t a very good swimmer.

Since my family didn’t have the boat out on the water yet, we decided to spread his ashes at the shore line. It’s been three years since we said goodbye and it was still gut wrenching. Everyone raised their Corona beer (how ironic) as we toasted to our fur baby and shed a few tears.

Birds eye view of the beach – LITERALLY!

They have a family of bald eagles that live up in the trees behind the house. They are always looking for fish or crabs on the beach. Imagine our surprise when we were all hanging out talking about Mac, when an Eagle swooped down and grabbed (something?!). It was pretty cool and for the full footage, be sure to check out our YouTube video at the end.

I then flew the drone over the beach to practice my skills and check things out. It’s really beautiful up at Camano and especially on a calm sunny day! I only took video, so the images below are snippets from the footage. I’m still learning how to go back and forth from photo to video on the camera while flying.

Hoping for good times ahead this summer

These past few months have been so surreal and we’re all still trying to figure things out. We’re in the process of re-booking our bare-boat charter to the BVI’s this week and we’re also looking at other boating adventures. That’s why this blog and channel have always been about. To share our love for being on the water with all of you. As marinas slowly open up, along with popular destinations, we’ll see where the water takes us. Until then, stay tuned.

May 17, 2020June 3, 2020

Boating is finally open!

Scott and I have been spending our weekends cooped up on the boat at the marina during this quarantine. Due to the shelter order, we were not allowed to venture out and go boating. Some boaters did choose to go out and anchor, but some of the them got flack for leaving.

On May 5, 2020 the governor finally opened up recreational boating and allowed fishing to resume! Plus the weather forecast for the following weekend was hot and sunny – we’re talking mid 80’s! Scott and I both took Friday off and planned to get away for the weekend on the boat.

Where do we go?

The photo above was taken up north by Whidbey Island years ago on our old boat. We have been itching to go anchor somewhere and learn the ropes. But we’ve always wanted to have Ben and Maria on board, so we can practice for the BVI’s. By Thursday, I noticed most of the boating channels we follow on Instagram were heading out early Friday.

The more we thought about it, we decided it was not in the best interest for us to leave the first weekend that boating was open. Too much traffic and we would be better off working on the boat (sad face). But wait! It gets better and in fact, everyone who left for the weekend ended up being jealous of us. More on that later.

Weekend of boat projects

When you own a boat, you never run out of projects. Since the weather was warm and sunny, we tackled some serious cleaning projects on the boat. Another item on our to do list, was to replace the spot light that got ripped off last year. How did that happen? Well, our slip neighbor’s boat stuck out into the fairway too far (almost 5′) and their dinghy was hanging up by the davit about 6′. When we pulled out, the spotlight on the bowsprit got caught on their dinghy line and the force pulled it off, leaving the base on. We ended up using white flexi-tape to reattach it until we could get it fixed.

Looking at the photo above, you would assume, that to remove the spotlight, you would simply undo the screws. Nope, of course not. Turns out that when Bayliner produced this boat, they mounted the spot light on the top portion of the bowsprit, THEN connected the bottom portion, so there was no way to access the spot light.

We finally gave up trying to figure it out and called Emerald Harbor Marine to fix it. They ended up having to destroy the old one and mount a new one. Looks great, don’t you think?! A good tip, if you don’t already know this, is be sure to turn your spot light around (if you don’t have a cover) so that debris doesn’t break the glass while underway.

Friday evening happy hour

We invited my brother-in-law, Kurt and his girlfriend, Stacey down on Friday evening for happy hour. Kurt wanted to take another look at the dinghy engine to try and troubleshoot it. He was the chief engineer on the ferries, so he knows his stuff. We’ve all been quarantined for 60+ days, so we felt comfortable having them down. We still kept our distance and “air hugged” each other. That’s probably the hardest part of this social distancing.

If you recall from our last blog, we have had troubles getting the outboard on the dinghy to start. We replaced the fuel, fuel filters, spark plugs and cleaned out the carburetor. At first, the engine would start, but not stay on without the choke. We assumed it was the carburetor, so that’s why Scott took it apart to clean. But after all that, we couldn’t even the get engine to start.

So this time Kurt and Scott took off the outboard cover and sprayed CRC Jump Start into the carburetor as they were starting it. It finally started and Kurt realized that the idle was set too low. Once he adjusted it, it stayed running! Woot!!

This calls for a celebration. Time for happy hour and some food! We use the propane tank housing as a counter all the time. Works great!

You’ll never believe what happened next!!

The four of us were relaxing in the cockpit when we started hearing screaming. We didn’t pay much attention to it, until our neighbor Miguel, shouted over to us that there was a gray whale off our stern in the fairway! Yep, you heard that right. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get this week’s notification, of when we upload the video. It was crazy!

All of our boat neighbors who left for the weekend, were so bummed they missed out! It was about 30′ long and he just casually swam away. That was definitely a first for us and I think Elliott Bay Marina too.

Next day – time to test out the dinghy!

Keep in mind, that we’ve only used the dinghy twice since we bought the boat. We took one trip around the marina last summer and then we tried to go for a ride last Fall and it died on us just feet away from the boat. Since the weather was hot and we were home bound, might as well get some kind of boat ride in.

We grabbed the oars and pushed off, as our neighbor Miguel wished us luck.

Time for Ally to learn to fly the drone

Since it was a beautiful sunny day on Sunday, we decided to have me learn how to fly the drone. I get a bit freaked out when the drone heads out over the water, but that’s why we bought a drone. Scott did a great job explaining how things work. Now I just need practice. We’ll have the footage on our YouTube channel in upcoming episodes – so be sure subscribe!

Now was the extent of our first hot and sunny weekend. Let us know what you think? Should we be out boating now? Is it too soon? We’d love to hear from you. If you thought the whale sighting was awesome, be sure to check out our next blog and episode for more awesome encounters! Next Blog

April 21, 2020May 2, 2020

Boat life during self quarantine

April has been one of the driest Springs in many years and unfortunately, due to the self quarantine orders we haven’t been able to enjoy the weather. Scott and I have a list of projects we need to tackle on the boat, but with me being unemployed right now, we’re not spending any money.

Last week, we decided to stay on the boat for a few days to regain our sanity. We have no neighbors right now at the marina, so it was not only safe but actually a bit lonely. That’s been one of the hardest things about the quarantine, is the lack of socializing. Boaters are pretty social people and we love to mingle on the docks and share cocktails. Not these days.

But first, check the water pressure pump

Once we started staying on the boat a few months ago, we would be awaken in the night by the sound of the water pressure pump. Scott and I didn’t think anything about it, until a couple of other boaters we follow @MVWhyKnot and @Seabits_Steve both mentioned that they found leaks from this sound. UH OH.

So, we tore apart our bed to check and see if everything was dry. Sure enough it was.

Next, we checked the water heater – all was dry there too. After talking to a few people, the culprit is most likely the check valve on the actual water pressure pump and so we’ll probably need to replace that soon.

Day trip to Des Moines for diesel!

We found out earlier in the week, that Des Moines M arina was selling diesel for $1.74/gallon! That was worth the trip and so we headed out Thursday late afternoon. At 10 knots, it took us about 1.5 hours and it was a very comfortable and gorgeous trip.

By the time we arrived, the winds had kicked up a bit and there was a slight wait for the fuel dock. On top of that, it’s was not easy to navigate around the marina as we had to turn around at the end of the fairway. Luckily, we got in right after that.

This photo doesn’t do it justice, as there are no boats around. Imagine, a boat on all three docks plus more waiting near the breakwater and lots of wind.

As we headed back home, I texted one of our friends who lives in Burien and told her to look out for us. She then texted us a couple photos back! That’s one way to practice social distancing.

By the time we got back, it was time to relax and watch the sunset. It was a gorgeous night to be on the boat.

Scavenger hunt on your boat

I suppose you could arrange a scavenger hunt during the quarantine on your boat, but that’s not really what we did. Instead, I decided to go through all of the storage spaces and see what the previous owner left us. Wait until the video comes out and you’ll see everything we found!

I was amazed by everything we found including a macerator, impeller, anodes, filters, etc. It pays to go through the storage areas when you first buy a boat or even a year later.

While I worked on the inside, Scott gave the boat a much needed bath. Soon it was time to relax and enjoy our cocktails during high tide. With pollution being down, we were able to see the topography of Bainbridge Island.

Saturday evening on the boat

Scott and I hosted happy hour on the boat Saturday night, in true self quarantine fashion with three friends who you probably recognize from some of our trips (Randy, Matt and AJ).

Trying to support our local restaurants at the marina, we ordered dinner from Palisade Restaurant Saturday evening. Known as the place to go for special events, it’s surreal that they are now only serving curbside during the quarantine.

Celebrating my 50th birthday a few years ago 😉

While we continue to support both Maggie Bluffs and Palisade, we are disappointed that the last three times our orders have been wrong, missing or not very good. We understand it’s difficult to work under these conditions, but this is also a great time to wow people who have never patronized their establishments before.

Both restaurants are offering a limited menu and last weekend we ordered the Crab Louie and Stuffed Prawns, which would be fairly easy to carry back and eat on the boat.

This is a tough week for us, as we were supposed to be flying out for our bareboat charter trip to the BVI’s. Hopefully, we can reschedule that trip, sooner than later.

Cheers, Ally & Scott

April 14, 2020April 23, 2020

Dinghy issues & learning to dock a yacht

The weather was great last week, so why not check out our dinghy issues and learn how to dock a yacht? Like everyone, we’re going stir crazy during this COVID-19 quarantine. It doesn’t help that the weather turned nice and this is when we should be out boating. On top of that, I (Ally) was temporarily laid off at the end of March and I’m not one to sit around the house.

After a week and half in the condo, we needed a change of scenery. So many of our fellow boaters are venturing out to secluded anchorages and we want to head out too. But first, we have a few projects to tackle, including getting the dinghy engine working.

Engine troubles

The last time we used the dinghy was last Fall, when we went out for a marina cruise and the engine died just five feet from the boat. You can see the footage of that scene in our Bloopers Video that we just posted. We assumed that the issue was our battery, as it hadn’t been charged.

After charging the battery for a few days, Scott climbed in to start the dinghy. Unfortunately, the engine wouldn’t turn over. After sharing our story on Instagram, a number of people recommended we check our fuel.

The following weekend, we drained all of the fuel and filled the tank with brand new fuel. It was great that you can drop off your hazardous materials at the marina office for disposal.

Unfortunately, swapping out the fuel didn’t work. Scott then changed the in-line fuel filter – turns out we do have another fuel filter attached to the engine. We didn’t change that one, because Scott doesn’t think it has anything to do with the issue. Still wouldn’t start.

Could it be spark plugs?

The next option was to change the spark plugs. While we were able to buy the spark plugs at West Marine, we couldn’t swap them out until we bought a special wrench for these specific spark plugs (18mm thin wall). Scott eventually found one on Ebay, so we had to wait for that to arrive.

The following weekend, he replaced all of the spark plugs AND sprayed Sea Foam (fuel cleaner) into the fuel tank. Once again, we waited with anticipation to see if it would start.

The good news is, it finally starts. The bad news is, it won’t stay running without the choke being engaged. We did talk to Monkey Fist Marine and a few other people, who all believe it’s the carburetor. This could be a very expensive job (at $150/hour to rebuild one) or to just buy one and have it installed. The catch? We have three carburetors on this dinghy engine. Ouch!

Our next plan of attack is to move the dinghy over to the dock and remove the manifold. From there, Scott can try cleaning out the jets, replace the gaskets and add a carburetor and choke cleaner. Fingers crossed.

Next project…..cleaning the lazarette

Ever since we bought the boat a year ago, I have been wanting to clean the lazarette. While it is used to store stuff, who wants to see a grimy storage unit every time it’s opened up? I figured this would be a fairly easy job and allow me to spend some time enjoying the sun. Boy was I wrong! This thing was filthy and had years of grime and green algae gunked on.

First, I attempted to sweep the gunk out. That didn’t work well, as I really needed a hand broom for the nooks and crannies.

Instead, I filled up a tub with Dawn liquid soap, grab a sponge and went to town. This was a back breaking project – I don’t know how boat mechanics do it. The spaces are tight and I was careful not to step on anything important (our water maker and diesel heater are down there). Eventually, the lazarette was spotless!

After finishing up our projects, we got ready for a cruise on the bay for the evening. While it was a short cruise, it was nice to be out on the water and enjoy the scenery.

Time to practice docking

The weather was nice and calm Saturday morning, so we decided to head over to N Dock so that I could practice docking the boat. I only docked our previous boat once and that was a twin screw stern drive engines.

They (whoever “they” are) say, never have your spouse try to teach you how to dock a boat. We don’t speak the same language when it comes to stressful tasks. In this case, Scott likes to use “no no no” or “eh eh!” which tends to stress me out. Finally, I told him the best way to communicate with me is to simply say what I should be doing (i.e. port side reverse, starboard forward, neutral). That seemed to do the trick. Still, trying to dock a 24,000 pound yacht for the first time is not a task I take lightly.

How did I do? Well, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for notifications for our next video. We’ll have the entire drone footage included.

Enjoying the weekend at the marina

Though we can’t socialize and mingle on the dock like normal, it was still nice to enjoy the beauty and calmness of the marina. There was a super low tide (-1.66) on Saturday and it was crazy to see how far it was out. The rock formation you see, is normally under water.

Normally on a warm sunny day folks are enjoying outdoor dining outside of Maggie Bluffs, but due to the shelter order they can only offer curbside service. So we ordered lunch and a bottle of wine in support of our local marina restaurant. They also have a limited Palisade menu, which we’ll order from next weekend.

That evening, we made a nice dinner on the boat (Asian marinated pork chops with stir fried veggies) and watched the sunset fade over the Olympic Mountains. There’s truly no better place to be than on your boat, especially during these stressful times.

We all still have three more weeks of isolation. We’re heading back to the marina this weekend to keep working on the dinghy. Scott and I might even take the boat out to anchor one night – we’ll see. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon and we can begin enjoying life on the water again. Until then, stay safe and healthy.

Cheers, Ally & Scott

March 27, 2020March 29, 2020

Our Catamaran Charter to the BVIs is Cancelled

In our last blog, we were somewhat confident that our bareboat charter trip to the BVIs next month would still happen. Who knew then, how drastically things would change over the next seven days as we dealt with the COVID-19 virus. While it has been the topic of the world, Seattle was not shut down yet. In fact, my office was still open and working as normal.

Then we got the notice from The Moorings, that the trip was officially cancelled. The four of us were definitely sad and disappointed, but it is the only solution to keep the islands safe. Being down and out about the cancelled trip, Scott and I decided to spend it on the boat and enjoy the sunny weekend.

Once again the sunset was amazing. Watching it and enjoying our cocktails, our worries seem to disappear, if only for a moment. We called Ben and Maria to talk about the cancelled trip and figure out what’s next. That’s when we decided that the four of us should head out of town on the boat for Saturday night to get away from it all.

Scott and I made a nice dinner on the boat and relaxed the rest of the evening (again, who knew then that there will be plenty of relaxing coming up?!)

Off to Port Orchard

I called Port Orchard and they had plenty of space. We left Seattle about 11am and I navigated us the entire way (until it came time to make the narrow entrance into the marina).

When we approached the narrow opening, another boat was leaving!

It was a perfect trip through Rich Passage and as we arrived, the fog lifted, blue skies appeared and sun came out to greet us! The marina wasn’t kidding about dock space – it was just us and two other boats.

We’re here, now what do we do?

The four of us headed into town and decided to get some take out at The Brickhouse to support them. This is normally a bustling restaurant and bar with live music. It was a bit surreal to have no one in there. I love this sign that hangs outside the bathroom door – it’s perfect for what’s going on right now.

We headed to the north end of town and walked along the shoreline. There we discovered a memorial dedicated to the US Navy and an actual torpedo!

The walking pathway runs along the main shoreline of Port Orchard, offering plenty to see along the way. We lucked out enjoying warm sunny weather.

All alone in Port Orchard

We pretty much had the marina all to ourselves.

The boat in front of us, appeared to be vacant and had an eviction notice on it. We weren’t sure what it was? Half sail, half power. Part metal, part wood. Strange.

The tall ship was beautiful and the crew were all busy working on the mast. Be sure to watch our upcoming video for the up close drone footage.

While it was only a short getaway, it was nice to be away from it all. Just a week later, the state issued a 14 day shelter order. Here in Washington, many of our boating friends and followers, actually headed out of town during the order. The question now remains, is that considered a quarantine? Can they go to the marinas? Cruisers around the world are also in limbo or stuck and can’t get into countries they’ve traveled to. No one knows the answer or what the future holds; all we can do is take this day by day.

I am now temporarily laid off and working on projects around the house, while Scott is working from home. Let’s just pray that this will end soon and life can go back to normal. The four of us hope to reschedule our cancelled trip before the end of this year. We have a lot of things going on with us, but with the current pandemic nothing is happening yet. Until then, stay tuned.

As always, thank you for following us! Be sure to follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram @BoatingJourney, so you can see our stories and get current updates on our progress. Also, check out our YouTube channel at @BoatingJourney and subscribe for future episodes. Cheers, Ally & Scott

March 17, 2020March 18, 2020

Trying to stay positive amidst the chaos of the world

Everywhere you turn these days, you run into “the virus.” It follows you and you can’t escape it. How do we stay positive and not get stressed or depressed? That’s the question for all of us. We’re all worried about getting sick, about the economy and what the future holds. My solution is to try not to play into it as best as possible.

A year ago this month, Scott and I took an amazing trip through the Leeward Islands aboard the Star Flyer with our close friends Ben and Maria. It was on that trip that we decided to book a bare boat charter and visit the British Virgin Islands. None of us had ever done such a trip, nor visited the Virgin Islands. To say we’ve been planning this trip for a year, is an understatement. But it’s very possible, for health and safety reasons, it might be cancelled.

When the four of us met last month to talk about the trip, we had no idea what lie ahead for us. I was busy training for the Big Climb, Maria was learning to pack so she can carry on and we were trying to figure out how to provision our groceries. How ironic that we can’t even find toilet paper, hand sanitizer or paper towels here in Seattle right now.

I remember hearing about some guy coming from China who might have the Covid-19 virus a few weeks ago – but I didn’t think too much about it. That was, until the news broke that the virus was killing people here in our own backyard. Scott and I are not the type to panic or freak out. We understand the severity of the situation and seeing how fast it spreads, it makes sense to shut things down.

Feeling hopeful

All we can do is stay positive amidst this chaos and look for the light at the end of the tunnel. I do believe that our trip will happen and it will be epic. It’s unproductive to worry about what we can’t control; we can only do our best to stay healthy and follow the CDC protocol. It can be difficult to not worry every day, when all you see on the news, social media, in your in-box, television, etc. is “Coronavirus UPDATE”.

The Moorings has kept us updated regularly and so far, the trip is still on. I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason, so if it gets postponed, then it was to keep us safe. The question still remains, “how do you stay positive and not let this virus news get you down?” I will admit, it’s difficult and some days it’s hard to shake it. Then I go back and reminisce about past Caribbean trips and I feel better! Scott and I live for trips like this and we’d move to the Caribbean in a heart beat if we could!

Positive Vibes

I’ve always loved the term “positive vibes” and it has more power than you realize. It actually means the feeling that someone or something gives you. So, positive vibes means the positive feelings that you get from someone or something. A person should be always concerned about the positive vibes of something , while the negative side gives you nothing in return (per quora.com).

Imagining the four of us on our catamaran, in turquoise blue waters, cocktail in hand and Caribbean music playing makes my worries disappear. So I keep envisioning this as often as I can. It’s one of the ways I stay positive these days.

Don’t get caught up in the media

That’s my motto today and one of the reasons I decided to write this blog. We’ve all been inundated with emails from every company talking about the virus. I really am not worried about catching it from Wayfair, so I’m not sure the reason for sending me three emails this week? LOL! Instead, what did resonate with me, was a beautiful email I received from Star Clippers yesterday. As a professional marketer, they are doing things right. Looking at this inspiring email, makes me want to explore the world, not sit in fear.

What are you doing to stay inspired and not feel depressed about the world today? We’d love to hear from you!

If you look back on history, we’ve tackled other serious medical situations (Zirka, SARS, H1 N1) and we came out okay. Yes, this one is much worse. But with all of the precautions in place, I feel comfortable that this will soon pass. I keep envisioning the four of us cruising the beautiful blue waters around Tortola soon!

In the meantime, stay positive and share your inspirations with others. You never know how many people you can lift up by doing so!

#BoatingJourney

March 11, 2020March 11, 2020

Finally boating after two months at dock!

Scott and I spent last weekend on the boat, so we could go boating after being landlocked for two months at the dock. Seattle has been experiencing some crazy, wild weather and Friday was one of those days. Not in the mood to deal with another wind storm, we opted to wait until Saturday to head to the boat. We had plans to go out and practice anchoring with our friends (who we’re chartering a bareboat with in BVIs) Ben and Maria on Sunday.

The weather was nice and dry at the marina when we arrived. But if you look closely at the photo above, you see a huge squall right in front of Scott. Wanting to catch the sunset, we quickly unloaded our gear and made a sunset cocktail. We were not sure if we would be able to see anything, because of the high tide, but we lucked out!

Crazy wild weather in Seattle

As we watched the amazing sunset, we couldn’t help but notice the darkness that was coming over West Seattle into DT Seattle.

Yet, it remained perfectly dry at the marina the entire time.

They had so much hail in West Seattle, it was still there the next day. My co-worker sent me this photo while we were watching the sunset!

Keto on a boat?

Since Scott and I both need to lose weight, we decided to try the Keto diet and we’ve been on it for a whopping week. Surprisingly, we’ve done pretty good eliminating carbs (with the exception of wine…LOL). I wanted to make something easy to cook on the boat, but also Keto friendly and I came up with Zucchini Lasagna. I used jarred marinara (look for one with low carbs and sugar) and then it just had a few ingredients. Slicing the zucchini was easy – be sure to follow my recipe and try to dry out the zucchini before you bake it.

We’ve only used the oven twice before and every time it FREAKS me out. The fact that you have to turn on the gas on the propane tank, then turn on the LPG in two places, then light a burner to bleed gas into the solenoid to the oven so that you can then use a lighter to light the oven, IS CRAZY. Obviously, I didn’t do it. LOL! This is a dumb question for cruisers – but do you actually use your oven when you are out crossing the ocean?

The lasagna tasted great. The only issue I had was it was a bit watery. Zucchini is mostly water, so you really have to be patient to release any moisture before cooking.

Good morning Elliott Bay Marina!

The weather forecast for Sunday was perfect. Winds were SSW 5mph, sunny and dry. We planned on leaving the marina around 11am and head to Port Madison to practice anchoring. While waiting for Ben and Maria to arrive, we decided to check on our anodes using our waterproof OSMO Action camera. We’ll have to go back and try again to get better footage, as we weren’t sure where we were under the boat. But by the quick check, all looks good.

Props still look shiny thanks to Prop Speed

While we were down there, we also got some close ups of the kelp crab hanging out on the piling.

After we played around with the OSMO Action camera, we then decided to fly the drone over the marina. The first flight didn’t record, so we sent it back up again. This was only our 2nd time flying it, so I think we did pretty good. Scott said, he was getting some disturbance from either airlines or another drone and was having some difficulty controlling the direction. At one point, it spins too fast in circles. LOL We’ll include the footage in our next YouTube episode, or you can check it out on our Facebook page.

Heading out to anchor on our own!

Since we have never anchored overnight and only anchored once last Fall, we needed to head out to practice anchoring with Ben and Maria. We’ll be completely on the hook in the BVI’s, but we haven’t ever moored or anchor, so we need all the practice we can get. In some ways, anchoring in the PNW can be harder (I think), because we can’t see to the bottom of the sea bed, it is muddy and full of kelp. At least in the BVI’s we can dive down and check the anchor if we have to.

Scott and I were trying to decided where to go and he suggested Blake Island so we can practice mooring and anchoring.

Then I reminded Scott that we don’t have a mooring line, nor do we have any idea how to catch a mooring ball. Better brush up on that on YouTube. So we headed off to Port Madison again for lunch.

The weather was perfect and we cruised over in about 40 minutes going about 9.8 knots. When we arrived, we headed north of the barge buoy which had about fifteen sea lions on it. The last thing we needed was for them to come over for lunch!

We anchored in about 30′ of water, which was actually tricky where we were. There’s a slight shelf off of Port Madison and as you approach the shore, it gets very shallow, then suddenly deep again. So you have to find the right spot to anchor. We noticed right away that the winds were blowing us towards shore and into deeper waters.

Ben and I were on the bow and using the foot windlass I started to lower the anchor, giving Scott arm signals as to the direction of the chain. Once it caught, we could tell right away, because the chain went taught. We then let out about a total of 120′ – we were the only ones in the bay, so we didn’t need to let out our full 5 to 1 or 7 to 1. Another successful anchor!

Time for lunch!

Once we knew the anchor was holding and secure, we headed down to the salon for lunch. You would have thought we had another party joining us with all of the food we brought!

The entire time we were eating, I kept looking behind us to the transom to see if one of the sea lions had jumped aboard. A guy in Olympia had his small sail boat destroyed by them!

The hardest thing I think I will need to get used to, is the swinging and swaying. I’m constantly looking around the entire time. Perhaps when we’re surrounded by crystal blue turquoise waters and not a bunch of noisy sea lions, I’ll be okay with it!

After a nice lunch, we headed back. We could see the weather was starting to turn over Seattle and we didn’t want to get stuck in it. So we kicked the engines into full (almost) throttle and headed back at over 18 knots!

The four of us still have a few things left to tackle for our trip to the BVIs including provisioning on-line with The Moorings. Hard to believe we only have 51 days until we leave! This has been a year in the making and we couldn’t be more lucky to being doing this epic trip with such great friends. We’re hoping to get together for one more review before we leave – stay tuned!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram @BoatingJourney, so you can see our stories and get current updates on our progress. Also, check out our YouTube channel at @BoatingJourney and subscribe for future episodes.

As always, thank you for following us! We have some exciting things planned for this summer, so stay tuned! Cheers, Scott and Ally (Watch our full episode on YouTube – see below)

#BoatingJourney #BoatingLife

February 27, 2020February 27, 2020

Why we only vacation in the Caribbean every year

Here on the West Coast, most people travel to Mexico or Hawaii for their tropical vacations, but Scott and I only vacation in the Caribbean each year (except for one time we went to Mexico). It does take us a full day to get to our destination, but it’s worth it in the end.

It all began when we honeymooned in Antigua in 2003. The tropical warm breezes mixed with the smell of rum, sounds of steel drum bands and the mesmerizing turquoise waters got us hooked. On top of all of that, it was also the people from the islands that drew us in. There are definitely parts of the islands that are poverty stricken and many of the workers you encounter at your hotel, restaurant or taxi come from these neighborhoods. Yet, they are eternally happy around everyone and that’s what makes visiting the islands so memorable.

What Caribbean Islands have we visited?

Scott and I have been to Antigua four times, always staying at Sandals Resorts. Sandals is an all-inclusive resort chain with great resorts to vacation at in the Caribbean. Antigua’s capital, Saint John’s is a great city for shopping – be sure to check out their huge Farmer’s Market!

When we owned The Wine Alley, we always closed the first week of January to take our vacation. One word of caution – if you visit The Bahamas in the winter, remember that Nassau is pretty far north and it can be chilly in January! The islands are beautiful and visiting the pigs in the Exumas is on my bucket list.

Jamaica has been another favorite island for us and we’ve stayed all over the island. I think we have been there five times with White House being our favorite.

White House is on the west side, near a 500 acre wildlife refuge park (watch out for bugs on the uninhabited beach), Negril is great for beach activities and food, Ocho Rios is famous for Dunns River Falls and Sandals at Montego Bay is literally across the street from the airport!

Keep in mind when visiting anywhere in Jamaica (except Montego Bay), that it can take a couple of hours to get to the hotel. But in true Jamaican fashion, the drivers always take care of their passengers along the way.

Our most unique island visits

A few years ago, we decided to pick a brand new island to visit and we selected the Dominican Republic (not to be confused with Dominica). The Dominican Republic shares the island with Haiti. We stayed at a five star all-inclusive resort, which was beautiful. The waters of Dominican Republic are so insanely blue, they are blinding. There’s great history on the island, starting with Christopher Columbus. However, their sanitation system (lack of) and the tip expectations from everyone we encountered were a big bummer for us. I’m sure it has changed since then.

Then last year, we took an epic sailing cruise aboard the Star Flyer, which is part of the Star Clipper fleet. This journey started in Sint Maarten and headed south to Nevis/St. Kitts, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Isles des Saintes, Antigua, St. Barths and back to Sint Maarten. Be sure to watch our three part series on YouTube for the full footage!

Caribbean sailing ship — On board Star Flyer, outside of Nevis

US Virgin & British Virgin Islands

With all of our Caribbean vacations, it’s hard to believe that Scott and I have never traveled to the Virgin Islands. To say we’re excited about our upcoming bareboat charter with The Moorings in the BVI’s is an understatement. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been researching where to anchor, where to visit and eat. The charter is only for six days and then we will spend two nights on St. Thomas. This will give us a chance to explore the island over a day and a half. Both islands are still recovering from Hurricane Irma and after seeing what Sint Maarten looked like, we’re prepared.

We’ve mentioned in a few blog posts and YouTube episodes, that if you have chartered in the BVIs before, please share with us any advise you have. This includes provisioning, places to visit, what to wear, etc. We know we have to have a flexible schedule & itinerary based on the weather forecast, so we want to have our options lined up.

Time to practice anchoring

This weekend the forecast is decent and the four of us (Scott, Maria, Ben and I) are planning on heading out to practice anchoring. We had hoped to stay over night on anchor, but since we’ve only anchored once, it’s best we do a day anchor for lunch first. The weather can turn ugly in the PNW and the last thing we need to do is drag anchor and run around.

As always, thank you for following us! We have some exciting things planned for this summer, so stay tuned! Cheers, Scott and Ally

#BoatingJourney #BoatingLife

February 16, 2020February 16, 2020

Surviving Seattle’s Rainy & Dreary Winter

I’ve lived in the PNW for most of my life and it seems we never get used to Seattle’s rainy weather. With the gray skies, dark streets and wet roads, it’s a chore to get anywhere when it’s pouring down rain. Scott and I did spend one blustery night on the boat a few weeks ago, but I have to admit that the boat is the last place I want to be when it’s cold and rainy. In some ways, I am a fair weather boater. I enjoy spending time on the water and soaking up the sun. Fighting gale winds and 4’ seas are not my thing. But I digress. Back to surviving Seattle’s dreary winter.

Since we know we’ll spend almost all of the nice weekends this year on the boat, we need to take advantage of the bad weather days and get some things done. Believe it or not, Spring is just 35 days away and we’re hoping for great weather this year. We’re done with Seattle’s dreary winter!

Planning for our BVI trip

Last weekend, we tackled a list of projects and accomplished a lot. We headed up to Snohomish (where Ally and Ben went to High School) to meet Ben and Maria for lunch. When the four of us get together, we always have such a great time. Typically, we’re crying from laughing so hard! I can only imagine what it will be like in the BVIs!

The four of us discussed our provisioning options and determined we still need to do a little more research. The Moorings offers provisioning, including packages. However, our concern is that we won’t need everything included in a “package” and it would be a waste of money. We’re better off buying our supplies ourselves at the local store and where prices are very competitive. For me, it’s not necessarily about the pricing. I just don’t know if I want to haul around a bunch of groceries on the day we’re leaving. In talking to other cruisers, it looks like we can easily hail a taxi and get back to the marina with our groceries.

We also discussed the cruising itinerary. Up until this past weekend, we had only glanced at the options. The must sees are Norman Island, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda. Everyone is telling us to visit Anegada, which is about a 26 nautical mile trip from Tortola. We wouldn’t stay overnight there, so it’s a day trip only. With only 5 days cruising, we’re considering scratching Anegada and spending more time at Jost Van Dyke. Weather will also be our guide as to where to go, so we have to be flexible. After meeting for lunch, we agreed that we need to do more research on the places to visit.

Over the next few days I spent time scouring YouTube and Instagram trying to see what the different anchorages & mooring fields offered. In hindsight, we should have planned on 7 days to get everything in, but we also wanted to spend time on land to explore. As we get closer to our trip, we’ll share with you what we’ve decided to do. If you have chartered in the BVIs, please share with us your advice and feedback.

Stairs, Drones and Power Washers

Imagine our surprise on Sunday morning when we woke up to bright sunny skies! I’m training for the Leukemia Big Climb on March 22^nd (climbing 69 stories / 1350 stairs), so we headed up to Richmond Beach Park, where they have 180 stairs. I climbed them five times, while Scott was planning on getting the drone up in the air. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get it to connect so we didn’t get footage of the beautiful views. I managed to capture a couple with my camera phone. It was actually great to be enjoying the outdoors, since we’ve been cooped up during this dreary winter.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Big Climb event is dear to my heart, as three of my close friends are battling this cancer. If you want to support my fundraiser, you can donate on my Big Climb Page at: DONATE HERE.

Spending the day at the marina

It was still early the in day, so we headed to the boat next to flush the watermaker and check on the lines. But when we arrived, the sun felt amazing and everyone was on their boats cleaning them. Knowing our starboard side (north side) was covered in algae, Scott decided to power wash it and take advantage of the great weather. The port side, which faces south, is perfectly clean!

I couldn’t believe how much algae grew in just a few months!!

When I entered the salon, I heard the smoke detector beeping – yep, time for a new battery. I walked over to the fuel dock and luckily they sell the 9 volt batteries individually. Turns out they were almost sold out because everyone was coming back to their boats to discover that their detectors were beeping too.

What was also crazy at the marina, was the water was murky and full of silt. We assumed it was due to the wind storm, but instead it’s due to heavy rains over the weekend that washed sediments into the Duwamish River. It has been over a week and the water is still murky. Hopefully it cleans up soon.

Just a little vitamin D will do the trick!

Scott did a great job getting the algae off. Don’t worry, this power washer is mild and the boat does need waxing already (we had a few people caution us on using the power washer). In fact, the marina was full of boat owners power washing their boats. We did happen to trip a fuse, so use caution when you plug in higher watt usage items.

Working on the boat, we also noticed that we need to remove all of the outside caulking and replace it. Algae has started to grow under it and that’s a project for another sunny day. While cleaning algae might not sound fun, it felt great to be on the boat and soaking up some sun. Let’s be honest – most of us buy a boat to spend warm sunny days on them, not cold rainy days. Just spending a few hours in the sun, boosted our mood and spirit. It was also great to have the boat shiny and clean again!

Over the next two months, we plan on anchoring with Ben and Maria to hone in our skills. Let’s hope we have warm sunny days to make the task even better. The countdown has begun – only 75 days until we’re in paradise! Knowing we have sunshine coming our way, keeps us motivated and uplifted.

As always, thank you for following us! Find us on social media on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram @BoatingJourney. Be sure to also check out our YouTube channel at @BoatingJourney and subscribe for future episodes.

Cheers, Scott and Ally