Gig Harbor Labor Day Random Thoughts
We were at Arabella's Landing in Gig Harbor over Memorial Day weekend and there were quite a few interesting boats, including several tugs that had come from the tugboat races at Olympia's Harbor Days.
We arrived into Gig Harbor was during an epic rainstorm - the water was just boiling with rain (rare in the PNW). I actually used my wiper (one pass) for the first and only time this summer (I might have mentioned previously that I'm a fan of forward-raked windows!).
A short while later the Reliable came into the marina and maneuvered smartly into their slip. That evening the skipper came over to my boat and we ended up talking for quite a while before going back to his boat for a tour. Can you guess what he wanted to talk about? His first question was "how do you get your wife to go boating with you?". It turns out his wife is a bit reluctant (I had already noted the lack of railings on the aft deck).
OK, take a look at his tug. 1942 steel Army tug, built by Burger (yes, the yacht builder) and powered by an 871 - which he used to win the tugboat race! The tug is in fantastic shape and has been modernized a bit - he even added a head. It's in the engine room outboard of the engine and under the side deck. It is, of course, a bit warm in there under way...and you have to wear ear protection as you squat next to the "screaming jimmy". I think I identified another Wife Acceptance Factor.
Also in the marina was the West Wind (which we talked about a couple of months back). He also came by for a tour of the Reliable, and though the West Wind has been in his family for something like 25 years he is indeed selling it because they don't use it enough.
On the way out of Gig Harbor we encountered the Joe coming in, and our next destination was Dock Street Marina (at the Tacoma Museum of Glass) where we arrived on Labor Day evening and had pleasure of the outside 60' slip and a very quiet marina.
Heading back into the locks the next day we encountered the Lady Washington coming out - I haven't seen her on the water before. And when we rose to the top of the large lock, we encountered a Samoyed that turned out to be our Keili's grand-daughter! What a small and wonderful world it is.
Everything wasn't perfect though - despite a completely benign weather forecast it was blowing like snot in Lake Washington as we made our way home!
We were at Arabella's Landing in Gig Harbor over Memorial Day weekend and there were quite a few interesting boats, including several tugs that had come from the tugboat races at Olympia's Harbor Days.
We arrived into Gig Harbor was during an epic rainstorm - the water was just boiling with rain (rare in the PNW). I actually used my wiper (one pass) for the first and only time this summer (I might have mentioned previously that I'm a fan of forward-raked windows!).
A short while later the Reliable came into the marina and maneuvered smartly into their slip. That evening the skipper came over to my boat and we ended up talking for quite a while before going back to his boat for a tour. Can you guess what he wanted to talk about? His first question was "how do you get your wife to go boating with you?". It turns out his wife is a bit reluctant (I had already noted the lack of railings on the aft deck).
OK, take a look at his tug. 1942 steel Army tug, built by Burger (yes, the yacht builder) and powered by an 871 - which he used to win the tugboat race! The tug is in fantastic shape and has been modernized a bit - he even added a head. It's in the engine room outboard of the engine and under the side deck. It is, of course, a bit warm in there under way...and you have to wear ear protection as you squat next to the "screaming jimmy". I think I identified another Wife Acceptance Factor.
Also in the marina was the West Wind (which we talked about a couple of months back). He also came by for a tour of the Reliable, and though the West Wind has been in his family for something like 25 years he is indeed selling it because they don't use it enough.
On the way out of Gig Harbor we encountered the Joe coming in, and our next destination was Dock Street Marina (at the Tacoma Museum of Glass) where we arrived on Labor Day evening and had pleasure of the outside 60' slip and a very quiet marina.
Heading back into the locks the next day we encountered the Lady Washington coming out - I haven't seen her on the water before. And when we rose to the top of the large lock, we encountered a Samoyed that turned out to be our Keili's grand-daughter! What a small and wonderful world it is.
Everything wasn't perfect though - despite a completely benign weather forecast it was blowing like snot in Lake Washington as we made our way home!
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