Looking for an Apartment in Seattle

This weekend we went looking for an apartment in Seattle

So much has happened since Scott and I went looking for an apartment this past weekend! We had our floors refinished last Thursday – Saturday, so we spent the weekend in Bellevue.

Friday, we toured seven apartments, all mostly on Queen Anne and Belltown. Apartments aren’t what they used to be anymore. As we looked at each one, we considered the location, the view, the amenities, the price, the size and the configuration. Friday we looked at some really unique units, but unfortunately none of them fit our exact needs.

Looking at Lake Union Apartments

Saturday, we decided to change tactics and look at apartments in the Amazon district and overlooking Lake Union. While we prefer a western view, we have that view from our marina at Elliott Bay. Two of the apartment complexes we looked at were at South Lake Union and were very nice. But they overlooked the base of the Space Needle and all of the cranes. One of the units, had a gourmet kitchen including a wine fridge.

One thing I do recommend when looking at so many apartments, is to not only take a lot of photos, but take a walk thru video slowly! Unfortunately the video of our apartment was too fast. This way you can revisit all of the units you looked at later.

We found our new home!

Scott and I hadn’t really planned on finding our new home this weekend, but we did. Just like when we bought our boat, we knew it was the right one. Ironically, the complex is called Leeward. It’s ironic, because we love the Leeward Islands.

The complex is brand new and barely occupied, so we are the first tenants in our unit. We looked at about seven units, until we picked this particular one. There were a few that had better views, but we didn’t like the kitchen set up. It’s very common in Seattle to feature a kitchen along one wall and have one big open space. That’s just not for us. Here’s an example:

Finally, we found a corner unit, with a balcony and a fantastic kitchen! We need to take better photos, so more will come later.

Yes, our unit has a nice view of the city and lake, but the best views are from their roof top deck, which we will be sure to utilize often! I can already see us enjoying a glass of wine and lounging by the fire pit.

Fantastic Amenities

Most of the apartment communities in Seattle have great amenities AND they love dogs! At our complex, their doggy run is actually on the rooftop.

Half of the entire second floor is one huge amenity room that is over 100 yards long. Here they have created an “outdoor feel” space for tenants to enjoy during the winter. They have bocce ball, ping pong, full kitchen, darts, picnic tables, stage, kegerator and much more. We’re excited to meet new friends and mingle!

Why did we sign so fast you’re wondering? Well, they had some awesome move-in deals, that we just couldn’t pass up. They are holding our unit for the next 60 days, with no price increase – that’s unusual in Seattle!

What’s next?

Well, now that the house is completely updated and ready, it goes on the market this Thursday! We have listed it with the Brazen Group Luxury Real Estate and our open house is this weekend! Everything is happening so fast and we are really excited.

Also, we hauled the boat out last week, but we have not yet heard back from the boat yard regarding any mechanical work estimates. So we will keep you posted there too. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to stay updated!

Thanks for following us! Cheers, Scott and Ally

March 8, 2018

Hauling Out Our Boat

Hauling Out Your Boat for the First Time

For any new boater, hauling out your boat for the first time is nerve racking to say the least. Scott and I had met with Seaview Boatyard at the Seattle Boat Show in January and took advantage of their “boat show special”, which was 1/2 off the haul out and 20% off labor. When you are talking $110/hour for labor, 20% is a big savings.

We scheduled our haul out a month ago, not knowing what the weather window would give us. Thank God is was dry and sunny. We did have northerly winds at 10mph, which made the journey from Elliott Bay to Shilshole Marina a bit wet and choppy.

Our brother-in-law, Kurt joined us on the trip, as he is familiar with hauling out and the boatyard.

Prepping for the trip

Since we couldn’t take the dinghy, we had to remove it and secure it to the dock. Then I drove to Shilshole, dropped off our truck and Kurt drove us back to Elliott Bay.

The tricky part about this trip, is that we have a broken prop and we didn’t want any vibrations that can ruin our shaft. So we traveled at about 6 knots all the way there.

Arriving at Seaview Boatyard

It took us about 30 minutes to round the point and arrive to Seaview. They had told us to call the office if the sling wasn’t out, so that’s what we did. Soon, we noticed they were putting in another boat, so we waited about 10 minutes in the fairway. There was no traffic, so it was not a big deal.

After they put the sail boat in, they waved us in. We didn’t have any fenders out, since we were heading straight into the slings. But with the northerly winds and a broken prop, it became a bit challenging. As we approached the piling you see on the far right of the photo above, it became apparent to Kurt we might hit it. He was on a bow and quickly attempted to push us off. I was on the stern and didn’t get to the starboard corner in time before we hit it. Thankfully, it struck our toe rail and didn’t do any damage.

When you pull into the slip, they have you shut off your engines and they quickly secure the boat with the slings. Kurt shut off the power and we locked up the cabin. I was waiting for them to tell me to step onto the dock from the Port side, when he told us to get on the bow, climb over our railing and reach for the ladder (that was 10′ above the water) to get on the dock! Remember, I’m short and this was not an easy or non-terrifying feat for me. LOL.

Up and away Kokomo goes

The three of us got on the dock and they quickly brought up our boat and wheeled her to the hard. What a sight that was!

What do the props & stern drives look like?

A few months ago, someone on Facebook posted the photo below and I was terrified that is what Kokomo would look like!

Luckily, Kokomo looked surprisingly clean! We dock our boat on our Port side and 85% of the winds come from the north. This means that the current, winds & debris are coming at our Port side and simply collecting there. We think this is why our Port side stern drive looks much worse than the Starboard side.

We expected that our anodes would need to be replaced and sure enough, they do! What are we talking about??

From Google: “The way we counteract galvanic corrosion is to add a third metal into the circuit, one that is quicker than the other two to give up its electrons. This piece of metal is called a sacrificial anode, and most often it is zinc. In fact, most boaters refer to sacrificial anodes simply as zincs.”

The three of us then spent some time with Andy, the manager at Seaview to go over what we wanted to have done. This includes:

Pressure washing
New anti-fouling paint
Cleaning and waxing the entire boat
10 Point Inspection including the trim tabs, anodes, seacocks – but no engine
Replace both propellers
Replace the anodes

We are also having a Mercruiser mechanic inspect the stern drives and make sure we are in tip top condition for boating season. This should all take about two weeks or so. What will all this cost? Not sure yet, but we will be sure to let you know!

Yes, this is also the time we should be having our open house and getting ready to move into our new apartment. Crazy lives we are living right now!

Our Bayliner is 32′, but in this photo it looks like a huge yacht next to Scott!

We captured the entire journey on video, so that we could share this with you all too.

Stay tuned for our next update! Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and share with other friends & boaters.

Thank you for following our journey! Cheers, Scott and Ally

March 5, 2018March 13, 2018

Keep up with us!

Keep up with what’s happening this week

The next few weeks are going to be very hectic for Scott and I as we get closer to putting our house on the market. We’ll do our best to keep everyone up on what’s happening here on our blog. As we mentioned last week, our lives are very crazy right now.

We have two big things happening:

Prepping & putting our house on the market
Hauling out the boat for paint & engine work

House Update

Last week we had all brand new carpets put in by Empire Carpets and they were fantastic! The team was efficient, friendly and did a great job. On top of that, the entire project was very affordable. If you are looking for fast and quality service, I highly recommend Empire today!

Later this week, we are having the floors refinished, so stay tuned for those photos and update.

When it comes to prepping our home to put it on the market, I have been really picky about everything. I want it to be pristine and perfect. So over the next week, we’ll refinish the floors, clean up the yard, deep clean the house and make it picture ready! Yesterday, we toured three homes and two of them were between $800k-$950k. I was shocked as to how grungy they were. I would be embarrassed if anyone came into our home with it looking the way these did. So hopefully, I do a good job on my own house.

Moving stuff to our storage unit

Now that we have our storage unit in downtown Seattle, we’ll be making many trips to it. Right now, it’s actually FULL of boat stuff, from carpets, to beds, to bedding, coolers, bbq…..you name it, it’s there! It will be nice when we get the boat in service and we can free up all that space. Check out our fun video from our second load to the unit:

We looked at a couple of apartments yesterday, because we had some spare time. One of them was about 560sq ft (YIKES), right above the viaduct (noisy!), expensive, but the views were amazing. Don’t worry, we’re not moving in there.

Bellevue Staycation

This week, we are celebrating our 15 year wedding anniversary AND having our floors refinished. Since we have to move out for three days, we’re staying at the Marriott Courtyard in Bellevue. We plan on touring about ten apartments on Friday and Saturday, as we want to lock in our new apartment in a week or so. Yes, things are happening fast!

Hauling Out

This Wednesday we are hauling out the boat to Seaview Boatyard. Thank God the weather is forecasted to be sunny at 51 degrees. Whew! We don’t have to go far, but we still will be moving with a broken prop. Scott and I will need to unhitch the dinghy and tie it up to the dock. The trip should take about 20 minutes, if all goes well.

Be sure to subscribe to both our blog and YouTube channel to follow the day’s events. We will also share our stories on Instagram and Facebook. So stay tuned and keep up with us! New adventures await.

Cheers,

Scott and Ally

February 26, 2018March 5, 2018

Our Crazy Lives

Our Crazy Lives Right Now

Things are moving at a very hectic pace, making our lives crazy! Now that we have officially decided to put the house on the market (still interviewing realtors though), we are now frantically getting things prepped!

Rooms are empty and things are getting packed. Our carpets are being replaced this week, which means everything (nick nacks, electronics, etc) need to be removed. We figure, since we’ll have to have the house staged a bit, might as well start packing that stuff! This is truly exhausting.

Then we are having our floors refinished next week, which means we have to leave the house for three days. Since it’s our 15 year wedding anniversary on Thursday, we’re venturing up to the Marriott in Bellevue for a staycation. Of course, I would have rather gone somewhere tropical, but this is more practical.

We had a garage sale last weekend and sold most of our big stuff, including our generator, freezer and some furniture. What we didn’t sell, we are donating to Northwest Center, which is now about ten boxes of stuff! After we sell the house and know where we are living, we will most likely have an estate sale for the big furniture.

Storage Unit

Moving out of a four bedroom home into a two bedroom condo, means we will have to rent a storage unit. The last time I needed to rent a storage unit was in 1999! Yesterday, we looked at two Public Storage facilities near the boat and Queen Anne. The first one we didn’t like as it was old and unheated. The second one we loved! Friendly, warm and newer. So we signed on the dotted line and secured our unit. Fun times!

All of the boat gear, including bedding, cushions, carpet, etc are all stored in our garage. Since we will need that space for other items, I am hauling all of that stuff and more belongings down to the unit today. I’m hoping I can do it in less than four trips!

House Listing

Everyone is anxious to know when we are going on the market. We want to make sure everything is in order and so it may not be until March 23rd or 30th. Again, we’re not in any rush and so we want to make sure everything is done properly and with thought.

I do wonder if the new owners will like the landscapers though? We certainly don’t need to get any Moss-Out when you have this guy chowing down on moss for hours!

Hauling Out

To add more chaos to our crazy lives, we are hauling out our boat Kokomo next Wednesday, March 7th! We are moving it to Shilshole, to Sea View Boatyard first thing in the morning. Hopefully we won’t have any troubles with our broken prop.

I will share with you all of the details and updates about that in our blog. We are having the bottom painted, the upper cleaned and waxed and some mechanical work being done.

Needless to say, our lives next month are going to be crazy! Add to that, I am interviewing with a few companies. Of course, I work best when I’m under pressure, so this is normal for me.

So stay tuned for more updates on our boating journey & adventure!

Cheers, Scott and Ally

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February 22, 2018February 27, 2018

Downsizing – Now It’s Getting Real

Downsizing Part 2 – Things are getting real

In my last post, I shared that we had looked at some apartments in Seattle and started to clear out clutter as we begin downsizing from our home. A lot has happened since that post!

Over the past few weeks, I have been purging everything in this house. Family photos and memorabilia have been divided up. Bedrooms and closets are completely cleared out and our kitchen has only the items left that we are keeping. As you know, we entertain A LOT and so we had over 36 plates, 40 wine glasses, 24 martini glasses and platters galore! Yes, we are having a garage sale this Saturday and anything we don’t sell, we’ll give away to Northwest Center.

Purging all of your belongings is emotional, whether we want to admit it or not. So many of the items we are getting rid of have great memories, but then I ask myself, “when was the last time you used it or looked at it?” That’s when you know it’s time to let it go.

Then I packed up the things we are keeping, but don’t anticipate to use over the next month. But just this week alone, I went to grab a platter or utensil, only to realize I packed it already. Some folks have asked me why we are already packing if our house isn’t listed yet. If you know me, you know I’m very organized and a planner. Since I’m not working right now, I want to take full advantage of my free time and do what we can.

Looking at more apartments in Seattle

The apartments we looked at last time were listed on www.apartments.com and they all had fabulous amenities, but the actual units were very stark and industrial. For us to move from a large home to an apartment, it’s character that’s important to us, versus size. These apartments also were very expensive – almost $3000/month! That’s because you are paying for huge gyms and theater rooms.

The other day I found two apartments on Craigslist and decided to check them out as they were different and much more affordable. Both are located in the Queen Anne neighborhood. These didn’t have any amenities, which explains their price. The first one we looked at was a townhome apartment. The bedrooms were downstairs and the living area was upstairs. It was definitely unique and had beautiful views of Elliott Bay, but in the end, it wasn’t for us.

The next unit that Scott and I looked at was a penthouse in a building that only had sixteen units. What I really liked about this unit, is how “homey” it felt. It has a very large master bedroom, large kitchen, fireplace and also great views. Unfortunately this unit won’t last long and we hope something similar to it comes available when we are ready.

Yes, the balcony is tiny, but we plan on spending all of our sunny days on the boat. Elliott Bay Marina is only five minutes away. So fingers crossed that we find this jewel again.

Meeting with Realtors

Now it’s time to interview realtors and find out what our options are. As you may or may not know, our home is one of a kind for our neighborhood. It’s open and perfect for entertaining, but what makes it very special is the view. Not only do we have views of Downtown Seattle and the Olympic Mountains, but we also can see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. We will definitely miss the views, as they never get old.

With the views, you also get wildlife and lots of it!

Back to the realtors and listing our home. In this process we want to take our time to meet with different real estate professionals and see how they can best market our home. In addition to this task, we are also thinking about refinishing our floors and installing new carpet. This week I have been busy meeting with companies & getting quotes. Ugh. We are also going to work on the landscaping, so to say we have our hands full is an understatement.

Everyone is asking us “when when when?”. Since we are not in a rush to sell, we are going to take our time to decide what to do. I remodeled my first home myself and am considering doing some of this work. We’ll keep you posted and let you know when it’s finally for sale. Just know that we are closer today than we were a few months ago to finally making the move! Stay tuned for the next update.

Cheers, Scott and Ally

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February 12, 2018February 13, 2018

Downsizing to Live on a Boat

Downsizing our Home

Scott and I have been working on downsizing our home for the past year. You will recall that two years ago we were making preparations for me to move to Belize and we began removing clutter. That project is never ending.

Since I have not been working these past few months, we decided to take advantage of my time off and really concentrate on prepping the house and downsizing. Are we selling our house you ask? The answer is yes, but we don’t know when. Obviously, we want to take advantage of the market and so we are monitoring it carefully.

We’ve all read stories about couples selling everything they own to move onto a boat. In fact, just this week a young couple sold everything, bought a boat and two days later it sank. Unfortunately, they were not experienced sailors and the romance of the journey lead them down the wrong path. Scott and I plan on taking baby steps towards living on a boat, to make sure we can do it.

Moving to an Apartment or Condo

Before we decide to make the jump to a 50′ boat, we have decided to move to Downtown Seattle and live in an apartment or condo. This will really tell us if we can live in a very small space with limited storage. Not knowing what was out there, we toured four complexes a few weeks ago.

Ideally, we are looking for a two bedroom, two bath, but we did look at one bedrooms too. If you haven’t looked at apartments lately, it will be a shock. I haven’t lived in an apartment since 1990.

Queen Anne Neighborhood

The first one we looked at was way too small and not anything we would want to live in. Next we ventured to Expo on lower Queen Anne. Scott and I loved that it had all of the amenities and numerous restaurants below the apartment complex. They also had a fabulous roof top deck, so you could enjoy the outdoors during the summer.

Instead of doing “studio” apartments, the new thing now is “one bedroom suites”, which have a glass door enclosing the bedroom and a 3/4 wall separating it from the living room. This would be great for a single person, but not a married couple accustomed to living in a big house.

The bedroom above, is directly across from the kitchen.

Scott and I were surprised that all of the apartments we looked at, offered full size amenities, such as washer, dryer, dishwashers and refrigerators.

So did we find anything we liked? Actually, we did like the two bedroom, two bath unit at Expo. The key will be if these units are available when we are ready to move.

Ballard Neighborhood

From Queen Anne, we set out to view a new building in Ballard called Leva. The apartments in this building were very simple and it was obvious you would need to use your furniture to create the different living spaces.

Many people are reminding us that living in a 950 sq ft apartment is going to be a shock, but that is the point. It’s better to move to a very small space on land & see how we like it, before we invest in a boat.

Removing Clutter

First on my list is tackling my photo albums and family keepsakes. Since we don’t have children to pass them on to, I have been dividing everything up for other family members. Not only do I have over twenty photo albums of my own, but I had my parent’s and my grandparent’s albums. So I have been scanning photos for almost a month. As weird as this will sound to many, after I scan the photos, I throw away the albums. No need to keep them anymore, as they won’t fit on a boat. The photos I’ve kept to divvy up.

Next we have been dividing up our “stuff” into four (piles).

Keep & Store (we will get a storage unit)
Sell
Donate
Throw away

It’s amazing how much stuff one couple can accumulate over sixteen years. Some of it, we have never touched or seen in that amount of time. At the same time, we are “downsizing”, so we have to look at those items we do use regularly. For example, do we need 12 bath towels, 36 wine glasses & 5 sets of sheets if we’re living in an apartment?

Next we have been painting bedrooms and some common areas. Funny that two of the bedrooms were never painted, so now they look really good.

There’s a lot yet to do, but I am the type of person who wants to maximize my time and so this is what I’m tackling now since I have the time available.

Won’t you miss your house and view?

That’s the question everyone keeps asking us. Until you get to this stage, you can’t understand why we are doing this. Scott and I live in a four bedroom, three bath, three living room, two dining area, etc house and only use a fraction of it. While we will miss our amazing view, we are simply swapping it out for another great view.

So stay tuned for our next update! The next month will be full of big changes.

Cheers, Scott and Ally

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#BoatingJourney #KokomoSeattle

February 3, 2018February 13, 2018

Boat Safety & Comfort

Boat Show Takeaways including Safety & Comfort

At this year’s Seattle Boat Show, Scott and I found ourselves talking to different vendors about safety and comfort. If we are going to keep Kokomo for another year, I want to make some changes to help improve these items.

SmartPlug

I had read about the SmartPlug product and we were thrilled that we got the chance to talk with them since boat safety is so important to us. Basically, this shore power kit, replaces not only your power cord, but also the plug in on your boat. The primary purpose of this is to prevent fires (which is one of my biggest fears). Did you know that shore power delivery systems have remained virtually unchanged since they first came out in 1938?!

After talking to the rep, the installation is very easy. Simply remove the four screws on the old plate, cut the wires and insert them into the corresponding slots for each wire. The key here is to make sure the new plate is sealed tightly!

You can buy the entire kit or the parts separately. If we buy the entire kit with the adapter plate, the cost is about $400 for everything, but Fisheries Supply is offering a great sale right now, for about $275. To me, this is worth the cost and we will be swapping out our cord this year.

Side Note on Safety

A few weeks ago, Scott and I went down to check on the boat and run the engines as we have been doing all winter long. I was down in the cabin cleaning and Scott was up in the cockpit. The engines had been running for about fifteen minutes, as we wanted to get them up to temperature. I decided to plug in the vacuum to charge it and laid it on the counter.

All of a sudden, a very loud alarm went off in the cabin! Scott and I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, so I shouted at him to turn off the engines and I unplugged the vacuum (LOL). We kept looking up on the ceiling and finally we found the culprit. Our carbon monoxide detector was up on the shelf in the galley and had been set off due to the engines running. Turns out the curtains were hiding the detector, which you can now see out in the open.

Moral of the story, is make sure you not only ventilate your cabin well while running your engines BUT also make sure you have a First Alert Carbon Monoxide Detector. It works! Boat safety is your number one priority when boating.

Boat Comfort

Okay, back to the boat show! One of our other goals (if we can afford it) is to upgrade our mattress on the bed. Right now, we have a somewhat thin pad. Here’s a photo I took after “prepping the boat for winter“.

Currently, we use two foam pads on top of the bed to help cushion ourselves.

Even these two pads, don’t make much of a difference. So we talked to two companies at the show.

Friendly Foam

These guys have three locations in Seattle, Bellevue and Everett. You can visit their showrooms and try out different pads. They said I could even email them our dimensions and they would give me an estimate. We plan on visiting their showroom, as I wasn’t comfortable laying on their beds at the show!

King Marine Canvas – Handcraft Mattress Company

The other company, King Marine Canvas is located right near the marina on Commodore Way. Again, you can go into their showroom and check out all of their products. They make both mattresses with regular bedding covers or you can do a custom fabric like the one we have on the boat. Josh, the sales rep was super helpful and friendly!

So hopefully, one of these will fit into our budget so we can finally sleep comfortably on the boat.

Needless to say, since it’s February 2, 2018, we are ready for Spring & Summer to arrive. We are anxious to get the boat ready and spend some time on the water. Stay tuned for our next update!

Cheers,

Scott & Ally

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January 30, 2018February 3, 2018

Seattle Boat Show 2018 Tour

Seattle Boat Show 2018

Last Saturday, Scott and I attended the Seattle Boat Show for the tenth year in a row. This is the largest boat show on the west coast. If you recall from my last blog, we planned on staying the night on the boat Friday and Saturday, to have a “staycation” in Seattle. Well, after the weather forecast came out on Thursday, change of plans!

Wait until you see the video footage I took! We are so glad we did not stay on the boat! We heard from marina neighbors that the waves were crashing over the breakwater wall. High tide was at noon and was 11.6′! With gusts of 40mph, this was a very unpleasant day on the water.

Show #1 – Century Link Field

This year, there were three locations for the boat show. The big show is at Century Link and the other two locations were at Bell Harbor Marina and Lake Union. At Century Link, they have two levels with boats on the lower level and vendors on the top.

While we did enjoy looking at newer boats, we actually had a mission for this show:

Look at Toilets – we need to get one with a macerator
Talk to Sea View Marine about hauling out & working on the boat
Find an Isinglass installer and get pricing (we talked to Sea Marine in Port Townsend)
Look for a propeller company to replace our current ones (there were no suppliers at the show!)

Toilets

That’s a fun topic. Not surprising, this booth was packed! Probably because anyone who has a manual flush toilet has toilet envy to the electronic macerating ones. The sales rep was very helpful and said it is somewhat easy to swap out. The only catch is it needs a power supply. Chances are, we won’t be replacing our current one. Back to “no toilet paper” rules.

I know you are asking the question “So are you keeping this boat?”. The answer is, we don’t know yet. We will either keep Kokomo and invest in it. The boat needs to be hauled out, under painted and have the props replaced. If Scott and I find a different boat that is bigger, more seaworthy and within our budget, we will consider upgrading. Right now, we are researching all of our options.

Fun Surprises at the Show

Meeting Wendy Hinman

If you follow our blog & our Twitter account, you know that one of my favorite authors is Wendy Hinman. Wendy’s first book, “Tightwads on the Loose: A Seven Year Pacific Odyssey” fascinated me! She and her husband are from Seattle and they traveled across the globe on a 31′ sailboat! You have to read it!

I met Wendy years ago at the Seattle Boat Show and last year when I ran into her, she had just released her second book “Sea Trials: Around the World with Duct Tape and Bailing Wire“. The title of the book is not exaggerating! This is another must read. Over the past year, we have tweeted and re-shared Wendy’s posts and when we ran into her on Saturday, she was so grateful! Be sure to pick up her books.

Elliott Bay Marina

Scott and I went on a hunt to find Elliott Bay Marina, as they had some kind of activity. Turns out, you had to make ten basket ball goals in 20 seconds and Scott did it! He won a $10 gift card at the Fuel Dock!

Sea View Boat Yard

Most of our boating friends referred us to Sea View Boat Yard to haul out Kokomo. They have two locations, one at Shilshole in Seattle and one in Bellingham. Scott and I talked at length with the sales rep and got pricing for everything we need to do. Then they had a “spin the wheel” contest and we won “10% off Labor”! Woot Woot! At $105/hour, that saves us quite a bit of money!

Show #2 – Bell Harbor Marina

The boat show offers complimentary shuttle service between all three locations. Our next stop was at Bell Harbor Marina in downtown Seattle. The winds were crazy when we arrived! Again, be sure to watch our video for the full footage. It was so windy, that we were getting a bit sea sick looking at a 39′ Carver that we actually loved.

Touring the brand new $11 million Ocean Alexander 100′ MY

I was surprised that we were able to tour this Ocean Alexander yacht without all of the red tape. It truly was a gorgeous boat and bigger than my house! We included a lot of footage in the video, so be sure to watch it towards the end.

Show #3 – Lake Union

Scott and I attend two boat shows a year at Lake Union, including the Boats Afloat Show. We knew that this location would be mostly either larger boats over 50′ or Trawlers. By the time we got to Lake Union, we were starting to get cold and tired. While we didn’t see any boats that would work for our budget, we did look at two really amazing ocean worthy Trawlers!

Sea Lion – Fraser Yacht

Surprising, this yacht only had one engine, but a great engine at that!

Rock A Bye – Precision Trawler

This trawler was heavy duty! Each of the staterooms had locking air tight doors and this vessel is meant to travel a long ways.

Wrapping up the Show

After six hours, Scott and I were ready to call it a day! The Seattle Boat Show offers multi day passes and honestly, that is probably the best way to view the show. That’s how we attend the Annapolis and Miami shows. There are great seminars during the show, along with festivities for families. The show goes until February 3, 2018, so you still have time to go visit – and hopefully during better weather! Check out our next post, as we cover more on the show.

Boating Journey has a new channel on YouTube! Be sure to subscribe for upcoming episodes. Below is the video for the tour of this year’s Seattle Boat Show 2018.

Thank you for following us and sharing! Until next time! Scott and Ally

January 23, 2018

Life Without Mac

Life without our golden retriever Mac

Scott and I have been so overwhelmed by the outpouring of condolences for the loss of our golden retriever Mac. Last Thursday we said a very tearful goodbye to our boy, who would have been 15 in April. This is the first time in twenty-eight years that I have not had a golden retriever or a dog for that matter, in my home.

Our friends and family have been asking, how are we doing these past few days. Let me tell you, it’s been a tough journey. Scott and I deliberately took a quick trip to Las Vegas to distract us from our sorrows. If you love going to Vegas, this trip was not your typical “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” trip. It’s hard to enjoy the bling and scenery, when your heart is so heavy. Keeping ourselves occupied, we did go see Treasure Island, as I had not seen the pirate ships before.

We stayed at the Bellagio and ironically their courtyard garden theme was “The Year of the Dog” for Chinese New Year.

In fact, everywhere we went in Vegas, the theme was “Year of the Dog”; a cruel irony, but that’s part of life. Unfortunately, just 48 hours we were back home to an empty house.

Grief is like an ocean

There is a quote that says “Grief is like an ocean; it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” ~ Vicki Harrison

That quote described my first full day at home without Mac. As I did chores throughout the house I was constantly reminded of our loss. His fur balls would appear, his leash still hung on the coat tree and the cookie jar was still on the counter.

Scott and I have decided to take a break from having a dog and give ourselves time to grieve for both Maggie and Mac. With that said, we are donating their beds, bowls and toys to the Seattle Humane Society. Gathering up his things, was overwhelming.

My entire home is full of “all things golden”, from coasters, to door mats, to trivets and pictures. Those things are simple reminders of the love we have for the breed and our precious pups. As time moves on, we will slowly replace some of these. Right now, it’s far too painful.

The love from social media

When I posted on Facebook that we were saying goodbye to Mac, I had no idea that over 275 people would react. The number of condolences and kind thoughts have been overwhelming. Mac made an impact on so many people, even those he had never met. Many friends posted photos of their lit candles or memories with Mac. Some left us messages on our Facebook pages. Some cried with us.

Thank you to all of you for your love and support. The love that has come out of this sad moment, has shown me that there is a lot of good in people and life. Never forget that.

Life without Mac, what’s next?

Scott and I bought this house because it had a huge yard for the dogs and we had planned on having children. Now it seems silly to live in this big house all by ourselves.

So this spring, we will most likely put our house up for sale. Are we moving onto a boat finally? Not yet. Most likely, we’ll simply downsize for a year or two.

Scott and I don’t know yet what our boat plans are for 2018. We will either look for the next boat, a 40′-45′ cruiser or keep Kokomo for another year. We’ll keep you posted on that plan.

Seattle Boat Show Weekend

This weekend is the Seattle Boat Show – one of the largest boat shows on the West Coast. There are three locations for the show this year and we are hoping to take lots of videos and share those with you on our new YouTube channel. So stay tuned for next week’s update.

Scott and I are planning on staying on the boat this weekend, so we can finally say we stayed on it during the winter. Again, another distraction from our sadness.

The day we pick up Mac’s ashes and deliver his dog items to the Seattle Humane Society will be extremely emotional. It’s part of life, but it’s never easy. I remember cleaning out my childhood home after my father died and then just four years later, taking care of my mom’s apartment when she died. The best advice I have for myself and Scott, is take each day one at a time. As the quote says, “grief comes in waves”. Take one day at a time.

Thank you again to all of you who left us condolences here on our blog, social media pages and sent us cards. It means more to us than you realize.

Our new chapter is here……….Scott and Ally

January 17, 2018January 18, 2018

Saying Goodbye to our Golden Retriever Mac

Saying Goodbye to Mac

Sadly, Scott and I are saying goodbye to our golden retriever Mac tonight. To say we are heartbroken and devastated is an understatement. Anyone who has ever had the joy of living with a pet understands this. They are more than animals, they are our kids.

When Scott and I met, I had Maggie, my four year old golden retriever. Immediately, we wanted to get a second dog when we got married. Mac arrived in June 2003 and we were so blessed to have such an awesome dog.

He and Maggie hit it off and became best friends for life. Soon after we got Mac, we moved from Bellevue to Renton to a house with a huge yard. They loved to chase each other and romp in the grass. Their other favorite spot was my family’s home at Tyee Beach on Camano Island. Mac and Maggie would swim for hours in the sound, if you would let them.

Life After Maggie

When Maggie was 15 1/2 years old, we had to say goodbye. Suddenly, Mac was living a new life and he wasn’t sure what to do. Maggie was the alpha dog in their relationship and now there was no one around to boss him around.

We spread Maggie’s ashes in the sound at Tyee Beach since it was her favorite place. Scott and I put Mac in the boat (not knowing how he would react) and we motored out just a bit. We had friends and family along the beach celebrating her life with us and it was a very emotional moment.

The Wine Shop Dog

Since Mac had never been alone, we decided to bring him to work at our wine shop. There he greeted all of the vendors and customers at the door and politely waited for treats. He was a great store mascot! We would throw him birthday parties at the shop and one customer gave him a card with $20 in it!

Scott and I sold our shop, The Wine Alley in October 2015 and now Mac was back to being a house dog. He had such a following, that customers insisted we bring him to wine tastings on a regular basis, which we did. In 2016 he started to slow down and getting in and out of a car required a ramp, which meant we couldn’t do as many things as we used to.

Of course, swimming at Camano was still at the top of his list and that is where we will spread his ashes too. He was never a great swimmer, but he learned to love it and it was hard to get him out of the water.

Mac the Boating Dog – Not

When Scott and I bought our boat Kokomo in May 2017, we assumed Mac would LOVE boating with us. Unfortunately, it was not his favorite past time. Probably because it was long walk to the dock and at 14 years old, he wasn’t into it. Once on the boat, he did great, mostly slept or begged for food. I shared a blog post about boating with Mac last summer.

We always made sure he was comfortable and never stressed when we were boating. Mac loved all of the marina dogs he met and he loved that he could dine with us at Maggie’s Bluffs.

And our guests loved boating with Mac. He was always such a great boy to be with.

Thank You Mac

I can’t imagine what our lives would have been without Mac in our family. We traveled all over with him to Mt. Rainier, to camping in Eastern Washington, to visiting Cave B Resort and wineries in Washington. Now he is with Maggie running around chasing her and it comforting to us to know they are once back together.

We miss you more than words can say and your memory will live in our hearts forever. We love you, Mom and Dad

Here’s our tribute video to Mac: