June 27, 2009
How many of you have a front porch with a some comfortable chairs? I know it is the “thing” to furnish front porches, patios, lanais, aft decks, etc., with inviting and, more importantly, really comfortable chairs to sit on and relax. Do you ever sit on yours? You know, the kind of relaxation where you just sit. You just let all the bad air out of your lungs and purge all the noise of the day – and Just Sit. Right about now I hope this picture is causing you to emit a sigh just envisioning such a scene. More than that, it should make you go find that place at your home and Just Sit.
In all our voyaging around Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, BC Gulf Islands, and islands further north, we see more porches 
and patios than you can imagine. ALL of them have wonderful water front views. Most of them have any number of chairs, some looking more comfortable than others, and almost without exception no one is Just Sitting. Oh! I think of all those porches and patios, and all of them “wasting” their views and the peace that comes from sitting. When I see those front porches I think of all the owners and how sad it is that they are too busy to Just Sit. When I see all those front porches I envision me sitting on that deck or porch. I can already feel the sun shining down on me, my feet slipping out of my sandals, I let out all the busy air, and inhale all the clean, fresh waterfront air, and a feeling of pure pleasure comes over me. Life is good.
Though this should come as no surprise to you, we are back in Blind Bay. We have projects and we have appointments on Monday and this is a good place to be. Oh, how happy I was this morning, here in Blind Bay! There! Right there, on that darling front porch of the red house, there were people sitting in the chairs! Finally! I have waited and waited just hoping someone would just sit and enjoy. It was early enough, they were in their robes and whatever, sort of hunkered over a nice hot cup of coffee (it was a little cool this morning) and they were Just Sitting. I am still so happy just thinking about the happy porch and the people!
Captain and I have spent most of the day at one project each. Captain has repaired and rebuilt our dinghy davit winch. He is in the process of putting it back in service right now. We will be back in big dinghy action very shortly. I spent most of my time cutting out fabric for my latest fun projects. I love seeing all the colors I selected, then cutting them, and putting them together to make a new whole. It is quite satisfying, really. I still have all the sewing to do, and that will be another project day – at anchor – somewhere along the way.
Meanwhile, projects are finished for the day. Our aft deck, with a couple of comfy chairs, is in the lee of the boat, and calling to us. After all – I’m Home Today – Just Sitting.
Roger and Elise wanted to give the Crew a chance to experience Seattle, so we split off for a couple days and they went to Bell Harbor in downtown Seattle, and we went to Poulsbo, in Liberty Bay and anchored. We really enjoy going into Liberty Bay. It is a great anchorage and an easy dink to shore. There are all sorts of really neat shops at the top of the dock to browse through. They have a couple great book stores and a wonderful quilters’ store just at the head of the dock. We needed to stock up on a few provisions so we made the hike to Albertsons. As in most harbor towns, Poulsbo is built on hills. So, it truly is uphill both ways – well, yes there are some down hills, but it is the up ones I notice the most. I managed to finish my sewing project, a baby blanket and booties for a new little one in the family. 
beautiful pass and it is dangerous if not traversed on the proper current. So, our departure from Oak Harbor was planned in order to make the near slack currents at 1:30 pm. In general all traffic is moving in the same direction through this pass as all want to go through with the current when it is closest to its slack period. It was bit worrisome when we found a big charter cruise boat blocking the exit, looking as if to enter from the opposite direction. Indeed, they did just that. Their engines are more robust and designed to take the tourists where ever the sites are and so they did! They actually passed us and CUTTHROAT, then turned around somewhere up stream and returned out Deception Pass. 
Our destination was Blind Bay for the evening. We met on D/V for spaghetti. Blind Bay has always rewarded our stay with some awesome sunsets. CUTTHROAT left us the next morning to head into British Columbia, Canada, for a few days. We plan to rendezvous with them in time for July 4th. 
there will be other years and what I chose is already going strong. The Olympia Farmers Market has a reputation far and wide. And I will do my part to spread the news. It is really great! Among all the fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, fresh meat, jerkies, salsas, and so many other wonderful arts and crafts, they start out the season with several nurseries offering their bedding plants – flowers, shrubs, trees, veges, herbs, etc. I had decided I was going to expand my summer greenery with a pot of herbs. I have a combined pot of cilantro, rosemary, chives, basil, and Moroccan mint (for mohitos!). One of the venders had a lettuce six pack of mixed lettuces and I was hooked. So, I now have lettuce, herbs, and flowers! I love my little garden.
Earlier this spring I found some dishes that I thought would coordinate with what we already had. The more I thought about them the more I really liked them. In fact I just LOVED them. 
So on our last trip to Portland they were on our check list. I am very happy with them. In fact, I think they show off my first grown lettuce salad quite well.
that we found ourselves topside, soaking up the sun (instead of doing projects), enjoying the day, counting our blessings, and talking about what is to come in our future. One thing we know is that we are fortunate. We have the luxury of time and serenity to contemplate the world, and manage to find quiet in spite of all the turmoil. 
Bruce pointed it out. In fact it doesn’t look like a rock from the southerly side. It looks more like the side of the rock wall that extends south from Cape Flattery. In fact, though I took pictures, I didn’t believe it was a rock until we got north of it and could see it from that direction. Pretty impressive when you get the “full picture”. 
We would not do it in darkness, though Captain has found the GPS and the radar to be right on going through. It is a very short stretch, as you can see the Strait of Juan de Fuca and then you are IN the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I am posting this picture that shows Cape Flattery on the right and Tatoosh Island on the left. Though I took several pictures of Tatoosh Island, none of them do justice to the thousands of birds nesting and hanging out on the island. There were murres, cormorants, gulls, puffins and many more I couldn’t identify.
This is not an unusual experience or request. Most boaters, by now, should know that it is standard procedure. We always do our very best to be compliant with our boat and safety procedures and equipment. They found us to be totally compliant and were very complementary about our vessel. They told us it was a pleasure to visit such a fine specimen of a boat. Why thank you, very much! They went on their way and we headed on to the anchorage in Neah Bay.
young ones. They were pretty far away, but we think of them as OUR eagles and so they got their picture taken. The anchor is down and we are ready for dinner and an early night. It was a long day, even though easy, and we must move on tomorrow to Port Angeles. It wasn’t long after our anchor was down that M/V NIRVANA came in, too. We were both underway early and pulled into Port Angeles just in time to see the fuel dock guy head to lunch. So we just tied up to the fuel dock and waited. As soon as he returned we refueled and moved to the transient/guest dock, and NIRVANA did the same. It was a very quiet night, and then off again to Port Townsend, where we planned to stay a couple days.
