Shakedown Cruise

Our first true cruise was great fun! We happened to be on the GH city dock (Jerisich) with a group from the Day Island Yacht Club. As we passed by one of the boats on Saturday morning, I saw a small hand-written sign that said, “For Sale By Owner.” We were intrigued, as we happen to know a couple looking for a boat. It looked to us like something they would be interested in so I texted the info. Sure enough, Steve and Tracey paid us a visit and took a look at this sweet 1990 Carver. Sounds like it may become Stay Awhile II! Stay tuned…

Early Saturday morning, kids from the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Club were hard at work. We’ve watched them countless times and I usually mention them in this blog. This morning, however, they all lined up next to us. By the time they were ready to take off, there were over 40 of them! I don’t even know these kids but I feel proud of each and every one of them every time I see what they accomplish in these incredibly thin and tippy little boats.

We took the dinghy for another ride. While we were on a walk before that, we’d seen a sailboat having some kind of difficulty right outside of the harbor. We didn’t think too much about it, nothing seemed urgent. When we got out there in the dinghy, they flagged us down – they had run out of gas earlier. They were able to get to shore – not sure how this all went down…they had a small plastic raft and somehow borrowed oars from a guy on shore. Anyway, they filled two gas cans but couldn’t get them back to their boat (I had seen the two cans sitting on the beach as we went by). They asked if we could retrieve the gas from the shore…and return the oars. We were happy to help, and I must say, having a robust dinghy, and one that can be beached, made a big difference in this situation. We delivered the gas cans, wished them safe travels, and went on our way.

ToG all they way at the end of Jeresich dock

It was a bit chippy in the bay on the return home this morning. We pulled into our new slip at the marina – moved from R8 (36-ft.) to R5 (40-ft.), so same dock but on the north side. This should be a lot better. It’s still not ideal, as we haven’t figured out how to avoid having a line you have to step over/around to get on the swim step. We hope to get a dock step to make boarding easier.

Weather depending, we hope to get out again soon.