Come along with Scott & Ally on their boating journey in Florida!
Tag: Boating Journey
Boating Journey
Boating Journey is a boating blog by Ally and Scott Helfen. They live in the Pacific Northwest and purchased their first boat in May 2017. Scott and Ally have documented their experience of purchasing their first boat and the lessons learned thereafter.
In their blog, they share their adventures cruising to different ports and destinations in the Pacific Northwest. Ally shares her favorite recipes she makes while entertaining on their boat.
Their journey also documents what it’s like to live on board in a marina. Scott and Ally’s dream is to sell their home and live on a boat.
Since selling our boat in September, Scott and I wanted to give you all an update on our boating life. This will actually be one of the shortest blogs I have ever written, as we shared our update on our YouTube channel (see below).
Here are the facts:
Our lease on our new apartment (which we rented only temporarily) expires April 30th.
The plan has always been to move onto a 50-55′ liveaboard when our lease is up.
Now we are struggling to find moorage for not only a 50’+ boat, but a marina that will accept liveaboards.
Financing – here’s the weird part. Banks will not loan you money for a liveaboard, only for a pleasure craft. Obviously, we can afford a $250,000 boat, as it would be less than our rent, but we can’t tell the banks that.
So where do we go from here?
Well, my life will be (and is) completely consumed by work (Lake Union Sea Ray) as we get ready for the largest boat show on the west coast (Seattle Boat Show) in January. Then Scott and I leave in March for our sailing trip through the Leeward Islands in March. So between now and April, we have to figure out what we are doing. I guess that’s the fun part of being a bit of a nomad.
We no longer have pets, our cars are paid for and we live a pretty simple life. So whatever we decide to do, it will work out just fine.
Scott and I are keeping our eyes open for liveaboards as we move into the new year. In fact, one of my yacht broker’s at work suggested we look for a 2003 Sea Ray 480 Motor Yacht. This is an awesome boat, but the closest one is in San Diego!
So if you know anyone who has this boat for sale in the PNW, please let us know! In the meantime, we are calling all of the local marinas to find out if they have liveaboard space. Please keep your eyes open for moorage too!
Be sure to follow our YouTube channel and all of our social media channels for future updates! Cheers, Scott Ally
Last weekend Scott and I wanted to get out and enjoy Fall, so we headed to Snow Lake Trail at Alpental on Snoqualmie Pass. It is about a forty-five minute drive from Seattle and the scenery was beautiful!
To get to the trail head, simply follow the signs to Alpental ski area. We arrived about 10:30am and the parking lot was packed!
There were some serious hikers in the lot, with their walking poles and gear. Only wearing tennis shoes and sweats, I got a bit worried. The hike is about 7.2 miles round trip with about 1100 feet elevation. As soon as you leave the parking lot, you start inclining right away.
Note the switchbacks towards the end of the trail – they are many of them and it’s a hike up!
A moderate hike
That was the description on the Washington Trails Association website. The trail starts out with a mild incline through the woods.
Because we have had such a dry summer, the trail was pretty clean. However, if we had any amount of rain the day before, the trails would have been really muddy.
I will say there were a lot of dogs and elderly people on the trail, but it was extremely rocky and I wouldn’t recommend it for either. Soon after you begin your ascent through the wooded part of the trail, the trail turns pretty rocky. You really have to watch your step, so you don’t twist an ankle.
But the vistas are gorgeous has you ascend up the mountain.
How long does the hike take?
The hike took us about two and half hours to get to the top and two hours to get down. We hike slow, so you could trim some time off of that.
Just as you approach the summit, you will come across some stairs.
These lead to the summit and rocks overlooking Snow Lake.
The guide says the trip is 7.2 miles round trip, but my Fitbit only said 6.3 miles. We think this is because the trail continued down to the lake. It would have been great to go see it, but that would have meant we would have to come back up!
We got to the top, now we have to get back down
While the views and vistas were amazing, the hike itself wasn’t that relaxing. The trail is so rocky that you really needed to watch every step you took, as to not twist an ankle.
At the end of the day, it was a fun hike. Just be sure to wear comfortable shoes and honestly, walking sticks would be smart too. Below is Episode #24 with our full tour.
If you are new to our blog, you are probably wondering why we are talking about hiking when this is a boating blog. Well, a month ago we sold our boat and now we are taking the winter off. We’ll start shopping for our next boat come February. In the meantime, we’re exploring sights around Seattle and the PNW.
Please be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. #BoatingJourney @BoatingJourney
When Scott and I moved to Downtown Seattle, we knew that we would be exploring the city and we’ve been amazed at how many things there are to see around Lake Union.
Our apartment is on Dexter Avenue and we face east. Directly across from us is St. James Cathedral and above it, is Volunteer Park. Neither of us have ever been to the park, so we decided to explore it.
Volunteer Park
Volunteer Park is a 48 acre park that includes a conservatory and the Asian Art Museum. The history of the park is fascinating and told by different placards in the water tower observation deck. In 1885 the city had planned to make it a cemetery, but that was overruled and it became Lake View Park. By 1909 the Olmstead brothers began adding improvements including gardens, a children’s pool and a performance stage. The Olmstead brothers were dedicated nature and creating parks throughout the city. It’s pretty cool that they were so committed about nature and ecology back in the 1900’s.
There is plenty of parking inside the park and there are walkways throughout. We parked and headed towards the Asian Art Museum. Unfortunately it is closed for renovation and will open next summer.
The photo above is actually the children’s wading pool. I wouldn’t recommend using it today. Scott and I then headed towards the Water Tower Observatory. The water tower is reportedly haunted and I will tell you, this is the last place I would want to be at dusk or at night!
There are stairs that take you up both sides and it’s a climb!
What’s really cool about this water tower is that not only is it still being used today, but that they enclosed it in brick to make it look better! That’s a lot of work just for a water tower. Remember what our water tower looked like in our driveway of the house we just sold? LOL
History of Seattle Parks
Once you get to the observation deck of the water town, you have a 360 degree view from Bellevue to Seattle. You can also read about the history of the planned parks in Seattle by the Olmstead brothers.
The statement above is so true!! It’s one of the reasons we love living in the Pacific Northwest.
From the water tower observatory, we walked the grounds to enjoy some fall scenery.
The conservatory was closed, so we didn’t get to go inside. Right outside the conservatory, is a statue dedicated to Henry Seward – who knew his importance to Seattle? So fun!
If you haven’t visited Volunteer Park, I highly recommend it for a fun afternoon!
Borealis Light Festival
The following weekend, MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) hosted the Borealis Light Festival. This was an international contest and it was one of the coolest things we’ve seen in a long time! It’s too bad it wasn’t here longer. We tried to capture as much footage as we could, which you can watch on our next YouTube episode.
Stay tuned for our next blog and we’ll update you on our boat search and hopefully our plans for the Spring! As always, thank you for following us! Be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Since selling the boat two weeks ago, everyone keeps asking us, “no boat, so what now?” We wish we had a definitive answer, but we don’t. What we can tell you is, we are trying to figure that out and hope that soon we’ll have an answer.
If you recall two years ago, Scott and I were at the Annapolis Power Boat Show, looking for a liveaboard. After the show, we decided it would be in our best interest to buy a weekend cruising boat first to make sure we like spending time on a boat. As we began our search back then, we realized that finding a slip was an issue. Luckily, we were able to secure one at Elliott Bay Marina, a month before we had found our boat.
Fast Forward to Today
When Scott and I sold our boat, we were given lots of advice on what to buy next. Remember, we sold our home with the intention of moving onto a 50-55′ boat. That’s why our lease in our new apartment is only for one year (with only 7 months left). Wow, we’re right on track, so let’s start shopping! Not so fast……..
Turns out that plan has a HUGE hiccup in it. We have checked with our own marina and all of the other main public marinas in Seattle and all of them have a 3-5 year waitlist for boats over 50 feet! Guess we didn’t think about that, even though we kept hearing “you better get on a list”. On top of all of this, we love Elliott Bay Marina and we don’t want to leave, but they also don’t allow liveaboards. Great, now what, you ask? Just for kicks and giggles, we asked about the availability for 40′ and 46′ slips at Elliott Bay. Those are 3-4 months on a waitlist. Just to be safe, we are on the waitlist for those.
Basically, we have three options.
We can buy a 37 – 43′ boat and keep our apartment for another year. But that wasn’t originally in our budget or plan.
We can hope that we find a liveaboard that comes with a slip already.
We don’t buy anything
The last option sounds so drastic and not part of any of our original plans. However, one thing Scott and I have agreed upon and that is “we will not buy a boat simply to get a slip in our marina”. If we find the right boat and we feel really great about it, then we’ll know it was meant to be. So we are searching every day and of course, with me working at Lake Union Sea Ray, everyone there knows I’m searching for a boat too.
So no boating journey?
Of course not! Remember, this blog started in 2013 long before we had a boat. Scott and I are committed to staying very active on the water some how or another. This includes kayaking, sailing on Lake Union, chartering a boat to the islands, canoeing, you name it.
We’ll also continue to share tips, videos, books, recipes and vacation information along the way.
Exciting Sailing Trip in the Caribbean!
Just this weekend Scott and I booked an exciting trip in the Caribbean. We have never been on a cruise (and have no desire to either), but we have heard wonderful things about Windstar and Star Clipper. There are many charter companies in the Caribbean and we’ve talked about finally signing up (but that seems risky not knowing the other four passengers). So we opted to go the larger group route!
We booked an 8 night Leeward Island Cruise for next March and we used our BoatUS membership for a discount! The vessel, Star Flyer, is 360′ long with a 50′ beam. Unlike a formal cruise ship that typically has thousands of guests, this vessel only holds 170 passengers with 72 crew. It also doesn’t have fancy restaurants, casinos or theaters. Instead, it is set up as a casual sailing experience in a more intimate setting.
The itinerary will visit the Leeward Islands (funny, our apartment complex is called Leeward) and the only island we have visited before is Antigua.
Once we get more information about the trip, we’ll be sure to share that with you. I’m a bit nervous about getting sea sick, as there will be a lot of movement up and down on the boat (especially our room, as it is up front). The booking agent recommended that we take Bonine as it works much better than Dramamine. Guess we’ll find out!
In our next YouTube episode, we’ll sit down with you all and talk more about our plans and what we have on our agenda.
Thank you for following us! Please be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel and also follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Until next time! Cheers, Scott and Ally
This past weekend, Scott and I attended the Annual Boats Afloat Show 2018 on Lake Union. Sadly, it will be the last Boats Afloat for awhile, as the marina and businesses are being re-developed by Vulcan. We first attended Boats Afloat seven years ago when we got the bug to buy a catamaran.
This year was a bit different for me, as I worked the show for the first time. Remember, I just joined Lake Union Sea Ray as their Marketing Manager. One of my job responsibilities is to decorate the boats and make them look top notch. Not only am I lucky enough to be immersed in boating and marketing, but I’m also part of a fun and dynamic team!
Boats, Boats and Boats – What are we looking for?
This boat show is unique and one of the largest floating shows on the west coast. It featured over 225 boats including cruisers, sport boats, fishing boats, trawlers, yachts, dinghies and sailing boats. After attending the show for so many years, Scott and I decided to focus more on what we might be looking for, not what we were dreaming of. (But I captured some of that too!)
I worked on our Sea Ray 510 Fly yacht for a couple of days. Yes, I could work here every day!
Lake Union Sea Ray featured eighteen boats including our Boston Whaler, Sea Ray, MasterCraft and brokerage boats. While I might be a bit biased, I did feel we had one of the best selections of boats for every lifestyle.
Sea Ray 350 Sundancer CoupeBoston Whaler 320 VantageSea Ray L590 Yacht
The Hunt for a Liveaboard
Looking at a Trawler
Our dock neighbor Jules has been telling us over and over, that we need to look at trawlers. As most of you know, I do not like trawlers. Of course, if someone were to give me a 55′ Selene or Fleming, then I might reconsider! But those are way out of our price range. Scott and I did look a Selene during the show.
Everything inside was gorgeous, but it just isn’t my style at all. It would be similar to those people who love a really old house versus a super modern house. You just know what you like and what feels right. This is the type of boat that is rugged, yet comfortable and designed for ocean crossings.
Yes, the engine room is adjacent to the master stateroom, but at least you can stand up in it!
Okay, Let’s look at one more
We also checked out a 1998 57′ Nordhavn Trawler. Keep in mind, that both Selene and Nordhavn are highly rated trawlers.
Enter the galley and the first thing I noticed was the boat had a Thermador stove / oven!! Now we’re talking.
It did have a large settee for entertaining too.
And the master stateroom was very roomy and comfortable.
The dream boat
One of the fun things about attending a boat show, is you can tour some of the big yachts. Nowadays, Scott and I don’t waste our time waiting in line for a tour. But on Saturday, there were no lines for Conundrum, so I couldn’t resist. This is a 2007 67′ Regency Yacht and the sales price is only $1,395,000. We could certainly live on this boat! I took a video of it, but no photos. So be sure to watch our tour on YouTube.
We did look at a 2017 70′ Ocean Alexander and it was only $3,195,000. It was beautiful and the door hinge would definitely keep the water out if you capsized!
Here’s another hinge on a trawler!
Scott checked out this trawler. I told him, don’t get any ideas! While it is not my style on the outside, the inside was gorgeous, including the galley.
Other vendors
One thing I always do at boat shows, is visit with the other vendors besides boat sales. I stumbled upon a company called Color Glo Marine.
Basically, if your vinyl is worn out, they will match the color and restore it. In the photo below, he had just restored the left corner of the bench yesterday. It used to look like the middle square!
This year, Boats Afloat had a live band playing and the mood was more festive than in years past. We really lucked out with the weather, as it stayed dry almost the entire time.
What about a Sailboat?
Scott and I still plan on retiring on a catamaran, but we did look at a monohull at the show, just to see what it was like. This sail boat was a 2019 Jeanuneau 490 and it had lots of space. We also liked the fact that the deck was pretty roomy and comfy. To give you some perspective, this 49′ boat new is $519k.
Okay, so we looked at boats – now what?
Great question! I will say that I was a bit distracted this show, as I was working it and not thinking about finding our next boat. But we did use the show to try and open our minds to a trawler – that didn’t happen.
We do have a plan (sort of) and we will share that with you in our next blog. The new owners of Kokomo will be moving the boat from Elliott Bay Marina this week and over to her new home on Lake Washington.
In the upcoming blogs, we’ll also share some of our favorite drink recipes and how life has been living in the city in small apartment. So stay tuned!
Watch Episode #23 below for a full tour of the boat show!
Thank you for following us! Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Cheers, Scott and Ally
Scott and I are embarking on a new journey. This week has been bitter sweet for us, as we said goodbye to our first boat, Kokomo. As we mentioned in our last blog, we accepted an offer on our boat and we closed on the sale, just a few days later.
On the day of closing, Scott and I headed down to the marina to meet the new owners, Lesa and Mike at the boat. Everything about this transaction has not been your typical process. Normally, the broker handles everything from beginning to end. But we met Lesa and Mike the day they made the offer. They had been following our blog (love!!) and were excited to meet us.
We arrived to the marina around 5:15pm and noticed our yacht neighbors, Doug and Jules were not yet back from Canada. They go out for a few months each summer and we wanted to be able to say goodbye. I texted Jules and found out they were coming home in just an hour! Yay. While we were waiting for Lesa and Mike to arrive, I stood on the bow, watching for Jule’s yacht, M/Y Undaunted.
A few minutes later, I noticed coming from the west side of the marina, a very slow moving radar! In the year and half we have been at the marina, we have never had the opportunity to see M/Y Undaunted leave or arrive. It was pretty cool to watch them perfectly dock their boat and using only their engines, not thrusters!
The hand off to the new owners
Soon after, Lesa and Mike arrived to take possession of Kokomo. We took time to show them everything we left for them and where everything was on the boat. They seemed really “giddy” and it reminded me of when we got the keys. Scott and I took one last photo with Kokomo and then with Lesa and Mike.
Scott and I are not only a bit sad about saying goodbye to Kokomo, but we really hate leaving the marina. We’ve made so many friends and they have been so great to us. Plus, the beauty of the marina is something we’ll miss terribly!
Enjoying a Sundowner with Friends
While Lesa and Mike spent time checking everything out on Kokomo, we were invited over to Doug and Jule’s yacht for a glass of wine. What a treat, as Jules opened one of our favorite wines from Garrison Creek Cellars. Jules has boated her entire life and has given us such great advice in looking for our next boat. We watched an amazing sunset as the four of us reminisced about boating stories and our journey that started at Elliott Bay Marina.
Scott and I will be back to the marina and hopefully by Spring. There’s so much to share with you about this and that’s for our blog. As we walked away from the docks, a lone heron sat perched on a rock in the water. A somber ending to a great boating journey.
What’s next and what will the blog talk about?
Our next journey is a big one, so there’s plenty to share. Remember, we sold our home to temporarily live in apartment, to move onto a boat. But we are finding out, it’s not that easy. So be sure to follow us and see what happens next. In next week’s blog, we’ll take you on a tour of the Boats Afloat Show. Cheers, Scott and Ally
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Our boating blog is all about our boating journey and now we are officially boatless in Seattle! Last week, Scott and I accepted an offer from a fantastic couple for our boat Kokomo. It was important to us that we find someone who will take good care of her and really enjoy her the way we have.
They plan on mooring it on Lake Washington and our broker will help them go through the Ballard Locks on the way to her new home. This happened so quick and it looks like we’ll be closing as early as this Tuesday! Since the moorage is paid for this month, we told them they could keep it in the slip if they need time to move it.
Now we have to get it ready for possession
When we bought Kokomo a year and half ago, I shared all of the details and steps in buying a boat. That included not only the documentation and financing, but also buying all of the supplies for it. Here’s that blog.
Luckily, selling the boat hasn’t been as time consuming, but we definitely had to take care of things. We sent our broker all of the documentation including our receipts from the haul-out and our survey. I also made copies for the new owners, as our previous owner kept detailed maintenance records.
Then I had to notify Elliott Bay Marina that we were leaving, as they require 30 days notice. They are sad to see us go and we know we’ll be back sooner than later (I’ll talk more about that later).
What stays and what goes?
We told the new owners that almost all of the supplies, would go with the boat. This included the bedding (except our pillows), all of the galley dishes, utensils & pans, the bbq, cleaning supplies, first aid kit, emergency kit and life jackets (except our inflatable ones).
We had been storing extra cushions and carpets at our storage unit, so we grabbed all of that and headed to the boat last Saturday. Then we had to remove our personal items and food. Turns out we had a lot more stuff than we realized!
What’s next?
Everyone keeps asking us “what happens next?” This is a loaded question really. As I mentioned in our blog about liveaboard marinas, buying a boat that needs moorage is the same dilemma as “what came first? the chicken or the egg?”.
Why do I say that? Well, you can’t buy a boat without having a slip for it and you don’t want to reserve a slip without a boat. Marinas in the Seattle area (especially Elliott Bay Marina) have long wait lists for boats over 50′. Scott and I are not looking for our liveaboard yet. Ideally, our next boat will be around 38′-42′. Since Elliott Bay Marina has a 3-4 month waitlist for 40′ slips, we got on the list right away.
At the same time, we’ve talked about taking the winter off, so we don’t have to pay for moorage. But if we found a boat we could enjoy during the winter, we would definitely buy one before winter. It’s all very complex! Next week is the Boats Afloat Show on Lake Union and so we’ll check out a few things while we’re there.
Saying Goodbye
Oddly enough, it was very somber to clean everything out and say goodbye to Kokomo. This boat gave us some amazing journeys and memories that we’ll never forget.
It’s amazing to realize how much fun we had with family and friends in just eighteen months!
Even with broken fingers, Randy had a great time!
So stay tuned for our next journey! Next weekend, we’ll give you a tour of the Boats Afloat Show! Thank you for following us. Please be sure to subscribe to our blog and YouTube Channel.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
Going through the Ballard Locks and touring Lake Washington
Scott and I have never toured Lake Washington on our boat. Last year, this same weekend Scott and I went through the Ballard Locks for the first time. It was a cool experience, but not that fun of a day as Seattle was engulfed in smoke and ash.
One of the things I wanted to do this summer was go back through the locks and enjoy Lake Washington. So this past weekend, we invited our friends Dave & Kathy to join us. The weather was great and not too hot. The Ballard Locks are about 30 minutes from Elliott Bay and the entire round trip, including lunch took about 7 hours as we only traveled 7 knots the entire time.
We left Elliott Bay Marina around 10:45am and as we approached the entrance to the locks, we had a red light, which meant we had to wait. The locks are made up of two locks: Large and Small. Last year we went through the large locks and we were tied up with two boats and there were about twenty boats in the locks with us.
Going through the large locks for the first time 2017
Going through the Locks Again
We only waited about twenty minutes to get into the small locks. We entered with one sail boat and we were the only boats inside the locks. Unlike the large locks, where you need 50′ lines that you throw up to the handlers, the small locks have moving walls. You simply wrap your bow and stern line around the cleat number they assign you and tie it off back at your own cleat.
Once everyone is secured to the wall, they close the gates and begin to fill up the locks. The wall moves up with your boat and you want to keep all hands and fingers away from the wall. Be sure to make sure your bumpers are at the widest point of your boat to protect it (not dock level).
The small locks fill up in about ten minutes and then the handlers will instruct everyone on who can leave first. Since there were only two boats, we all quickly exited and began going towards Lake Union through the Fremont cut.
Going through the Fremont & Montlake Cuts
The speed is limited to a no wake zone through the Fremont Cut, Lake Union and the Montlake Cut. This actually made it a very pleasant trip.
Going under the Aurora Bridge
It was fun to see everything on Lake Union from the water (versus our apartment). There is so much activity on the lake ranging from Pirate Ship tours, to electric boat rentals and party boats. Lake Union is lined with yachts on all sides too.
Going under the Montlake Bridge
Each time a sailboat with a tall mast (like the boat above) goes under a bridge, they sound their fog horn to have them raise the bridge. Most of the footage I took of our trip to Lake Washington was video, which you can watch on our next YouTube episode at the end of this post.
Lunch in Kirkland
The four of us decided to cruise the north end of Lake Washington around Hunts Point and check out the beautiful homes.
Now it was around 1:45pm, so we decided to head to the Kirkland City Dock to tie up and have lunch. Luckily, there were only a few boats on the dock, so there was plenty of space.
We had a great lunch at Cactus and I had an awesome watermelon froze’.
Time to head back
After lunch, we headed back through the Montlake Cut to the locks. Since it was Labor Day weekend, we were not sure if we would have a long wait to get back out. There was a lot of traffic in the cut and as we came around the bend into Lake Union, a giant old ferry was headed right for us! Turns out this boat, Hiyu, is available for rent! How it fit through the Montlake Cut I don’t know!
Just as we passed the ferry boat, we also passed by my new office! Drum roll……I’m so excited to be joining Lake Union Sea Ray as their Marketing Manager. I get to combine my two passions – boating and marketing and I couldn’t be happier!
We arrived to the locks around 4:30pm and just as we arrived, so did the Argosy “Good Times” tour boat. They get first dibs on the small locks, so we had to wait for them to go through first. This took about a half hour. We went in with two other boats and it was a piece of cake!
What a great day!
Scott and I couldn’t have asked for a better day! Great weather, great company and our boat Kokomo did awesome!
This is what boating in the PNW is all about. The beauty of our surroundings and the magical scenery makes everything worthwhile.
As many of you know, our boat Kokomo is for sale and we do have a tentative offer on it. We will be doing a sea trial with the buyers. So stay tuned on our next chapter! (I have to save something for the next blog! LOL)
Here’s Episode #20 of our trip through the locks:
Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Please subscribe to our blog and YouTube channel to stay up to date. Thank you for all of your support! Cheers, Scott and Ally
This past weekend Scott and I took the boat out for a quick spin on Elliott Bay then it broke down inside our marina! More on that later in this blog. Originally, we had hoped to take it through the locks with friends and spend the day on Lake Washington (Thank God we didn’t do that!). Due to the smoke and haze from all of the forest fires, we decided it wouldn’t be that great of day on the water. So we have been staying in and making dinner at home.
Since it had been a couple of weeks since we had been on the boat, we wanted to clean it and take it for a ride on Elliott Bay, just to keep the engines happy. The waters were so calm – my only caution, is you have to watch for logs! Going across the bay towards West Seattle, there is always a trail of logs (that’s where we hit a huge one last year).
We were almost to Alki Beach, when we were surrounded by logs, so we turned around and traveled towards Harbor Island and Downtown Seattle. Just as we were crossing in front of Harbor Island, a huge freighter was coming in at full speed. It was time to get out of his way and head back to the marina.
Returning to the marina
Scott and I have the same routine (as I’m sure other boaters do) when we come back to the dock. We’ll pull into Smith Cove just outside Elliott Bay Marina, lower our fenders and then head slowly into the marina. We had just entered, when the starboard engine died. (X marks the spot).
To give you some perspective, here’s a photo of what that fairway looks like. This is exactly where we were when the starboard engine quit.
When one of our engines die, an alarm goes off. He immediately attempted to restart it, but it wouldn’t start. It sounded like it was choking – or not getting enough gas. This makes me think it might be the fuel line. Okay, back to the drama! Now we’re in the middle of a busy fairway and we’ve lost an engine AND our power steering. There’s no way, we are going to attempt the “S curve” back to our slip on one engine and no steering. Notice the rocky breakwater wall!
Drama in the marina
Scott managed to turn the boat around and head back to the cove. There we decided to try dock it on the “yacht” dock, the outside of N. Since we have stern drives and no rutter, it was really hard to steer the boat. Scott did a great job approaching N Dock and then lining up the port side to the dock. My job was to catch a cleat with the pole. That sounds easy, until you are traveling fast and trying to stop a 11,000lb boat!
Yes, I did have my Crewfit 35 Sport USCG Life Vest on – safety comes first. As I hooked the cleat, the force nearly threw me overboard so I let go. Great! Luckily, the pole floats and we had another. I knew there was no point in attempting it again without help. At this point, I called the office at Elliott Bay Marina and Jordan the harbormaster answered. I have been working with Jordan on another project, so it was a bit embarrassing to call him about our situation. He immediately sent out a dingy with two dock guys to help tow us to N dock and get the boat secured. A big Thank YOU to the guys for being so quick and helpful! (Again, another reason we love Elliott Bay Marina!).
We also didn’t have a bad neighbor! Check out
Who do you call now?
If you are a smart boater, you have towing insurance with Boat U.S. The first thing I signed up for when we bought Kokomo, was the Unlimited Saltwater Towing Membership – $149/year! Trust me, it’s worth every penny! They asked where we were, what slip were we in and then said they would be here in an hour. Trust me, he arrived exactly 60 minutes later!
While we were waiting, we were entertained by all of the harbor seals. In addition, we could see how rough the waves get when docked on N Dock. Our boat was bobbing wildly. Remember the story about the boat that exploded during a wind storm?
Tim pulled up and told us he wanted to check out our slip first and then come back for us.
When Tim returned, he needed us to turn the boat around. He grabbed our bow lines and I kept the stern lines loose, but secured. Then he secured the port side to the tow boat and Scott jumped on board to the bow. Once we were ready, I jumped on the stern and pushed us off. We both had poles, ready to push off any objects.
Slowly, he moved us into the marina and towards our slip. Tim had called the dockmaster and had help waiting for us at our slip. I tried to video tape the whole event, but I also needed to be safe. So I only got a little bit of footage. The entire feat was truly impressive. Not only did he tow us through the “S curve” fairway, he literally brought us directly into our slip, where we threw the lines to the guys on the dock. In about 5 minutes, we were secured!
Fixing the boat
First thing on Monday, we called Paul, the mechanic who worked on it last Spring during our haul out. He said it sounded like a fuel line issue, but he was booked until September 1st. Since the boat is for sale, we can’t wait that long. Scott then called Lake Union Sea Ray and they sent out a mobile technician on Tuesday to check it out. Lake Union Sea Ray is one of the only Mercury service departments in the area.
Scott called me at work with the news and said it wasn’t good! I braced myself for the bad news and grabbed my checkbook. What do you think was wrong with the engine? Well, to find out, be sure to watch our YouTube episode below. Such is life of a new boater!
We have some more exciting news, so stay tuned for our next blog for a full update. Until then, have a great week and thank you for subscribing to our blog.
Cheers,
Scott and Ally
Be sure to like us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube @BoatingJourney
While Scott and I haven’t prepared too many meals lately on the boat, I have put together some of my favorite recipes. These would all be very easy to make and perfect for a day on the water.
Many times, I will prep the meals at home first for a few reasons. If it involves rinsing the ingredient, I don’t like to use the water on the boat. In a pinch, I will use bottled water. While the water is safe to drink, something about a 17 year old water tank, that had been sitting on the hard for two years grosses me out.
Secondly, our galley isn’t that big. It’s perfect for small meals, like breakfast and lunch, but trying to chop a lot of vegetables is cumbersome to me.
Breakfast
Speaking of breakfast, one dish I always make is a frittata. We have an Xpress Redi Set Go Cooker , that works great for frittatas. It’s awesome for toasting bagels, cooking omelets, grilling chicken – you name it! Scott and I love this gadget! And yes, if you click on the link above, you can buy it from us.
Usually after a day of boating, Scott and I like to have a cold salad, especially on a hot day. Normally I make these at home, so they can have time to chill and blend all of the flavors. Plus I don’t have to rinse the quinoa with water on the boat.
My newest two favorites have been my Lemon & Garlic Cousous Salad. I will make a big batch of it and take it to work for a couple of days. It’s so easy too!
My other favorite is fairly similar, which is a Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Cucumbers & Bell Peppers. Both salads hold well for a few days. As you can see, I love to use cucumbers and bell peppers in a lot of my salads for crunch and flavor.
Entertaining for a Crowd & Dinner
One thing I truly enjoy doing, is entertaining family and friends. This past summer, I made a BLT Dip for my family over the July 4th weekend and it got gobbled up! It tastes exactly like a BLT and it feeds a crowd.
When it comes to having people over for dinner, I like to prepare fairly easy meals. This way I can spend more time with them, versus in the kitchen. For a pasta recipe, one of my favorites is Chicken Pasta Primavera with Spring Vegetables. It’s hearty and delicious.
For a more elegant meal, I typically will make a seafood dish. I recently made Cod with Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic Sauceand it was amazing. Even if you are not a fan of cooked tomatoes, you have to try this. You can serve it with mashed potatoes or buttered noodles.
For more tasty ideas, be sure to visit our RECIPEpage. I try to share a new recipe every few weeks. It’s been hard this summer, as it’s been a bit too hot to cook. But there will be plenty more on the way! Stay tuned!
Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube @BoatingJourney
Cheers, Ally
#BoatingJourney #KokomoSeattle #GalleyRecipes
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The statement above is so true!! It’s one of the reasons we love living in the Pacific Northwest.
on – safety comes first. As I hooked the cleat, the force nearly threw me overboard so I let go. Great! Luckily, the pole floats and we had another. I knew there was no point in attempting it again without help. At this point, I called the office at 
, that works great for frittatas. It’s awesome for toasting bagels, cooking omelets, grilling chicken – you name it! Scott and I love this gadget! And yes, if you click on the link above, you can buy it from us.
