Okay. Now you are caught up to where we are. I deliberately left you hanging at the end of the last blog to find out where we are. If I had told you then you would know all the stuff in the blog before you finished the sentence. Do you like my attempt at mystery? Well…I’ll work on it. J Yes, we are still in Portland – and will be here for awhile longer. 

I thought you might like a few statistics of our summer cruising. It seemed that the overall theme for the summer was “Go, Go, Go” – and did we! 

Round trip distance from Portland – 1758 nm
Times we moved – 63 moves (includes anchoring or tying to a dock)
New places we visited – 14 new places
New experience on the water – electrical storm
Number nights at anchor – 52
Number of nights at the dock – 74
Average cost per night at the dock – $44
Number of medical/doctor visits – too many – which contributed to the higher than average number of summer nights at the dock. We aren’t complaining now, as it was worth it all.
Number of friend/boater rendezvous – 25 (some for several days)
Engine hours (each engine) – 239
Shortest Cruise – 1 hour
Longest Cruise 17.5 hours
Average Cruise length – 3.8 hours
Average fuel consumption – 1.7 gallons per hour/per main engine
Average throttle speed – 1500 rpm
Newest favorite appetizer – Raincoast Crisps w/ Boursin cheese
Newest favorite voyage meal – Fried rice w/halibut 

Fall is always beautiful here in the northwest. I have had the opportunity to go to the farmers market on several occasions. My favorite purchase are the beautiful local cut flowers.

While Bruce was off in Hilo tending to his parents, I stayed aboard D/V. It was a good thing I didn’t go, as the day after he left I came down with a nasty head cold. Fortunately, he was gone and didn’t catch it, and I didn’t have to do anything but sit, moan, and chase my runny nose. The temperatures got well into the 90’s during this time. I couldn’t believe it – a bad cold in “bad” heat.  This was the first time I had been in such toasty temperatures for a couple years. We didn’t have our sunscreens up, as you just don’t need them in the Inside Passage. It sure got toasty aboard, but cooled off each night.

A new uncharted mountain has been discovered in Portland, OR. No, really! This one has gone unnoticed by the cartographers. Maybe it is because it is not a sleeping volcano. Yes, it’s called Mount Salpare. Okay, maybe not, but I do feel as if I am climbing a mountain, instead of a gangway, each time I ascend to the street level. Mount Salpare is even steeper than last spring due to the lack of rain and less water being sent down the river from the dams. We have had some rain recently and so the gangway has leveled – but not much. To give you an idea of just how steep, notice our dock master standing at the top of the gangway. Notice the different waterline levels.

An osprey couple moved into the marina last spring. They built a nest on the huge crane at the top of the gangway. It was fun to listen to the little peep peeps as we would walk back and forth. I was excited to see that at least one Osprey was still in residence, when we returned this fall. I got a great picture of him feeding on one of the neighboring marina pilings. What I didn’t get a picture of, was our car, that became the bulls eye, for Osprey doo that landed all over our car one night. I discovered it just as I was headed to an appointment and had no time to stop and go through the car wash. I did have to get the windshields and windows clean enough to see out. Oh! Was that a nasty job! I have now tempered my enthusiasm for Mr. Osprey and I do not park where the crane might, with the help of the wind, end up directly over the car! 

We have had some stunning sunsets since we returned. 

Just about the time we were planning our escape south to warmer climates, we encountered another health issue that could not be ignored. Bruce ended up, one more time this year – making it the fifth time – under anesthesia getting hernia repair surgery. He is doing well, but with the recovery time, we have no more weather windows to get us south. Therefore we will spend another winter in the Pacific NW. We have been encouraged with assurances we will not get another winter like the last one. Well, regardless, we are here. 

This will end our 2009 Cruising Season. Though it didn’t go as we had planned, it went well because we got to spend time away from the docks, on the water, with friends. And, after all, isn’t that what cruising is about? Meanwhile – you will find us At Home Today – in Portland.