glad to hear folks are OK.

hey howdy.

Surprisingly, It's raining in seattle. We don't even get a cool storm name. Just the wet. :)

Morning.

ugga. I sooo need coffee.

I removed it and readded. but it still does the same. It knows to link to my account, but no data is syncing. odd.

ok, if we created a profile on the boaters.com site using a regular login, is there anyway to have that information appear on the Facebook app? I've tried but it seems to want to create a whole new profile.

We are thinking about buying a user PWC to bring along for next season. Could be fun for the teenage kids to have some mobility.

Naturally, I would want to get one that isn't overpowered, and is easy to tow. (we rarely go over 10 knots)

Yes, most of this summer was getting them used to being on the boat, handling lines, being safe, etc. With this trip, it opens the option for doing longer trips with them.

The puget sound is one of the best places in the world for boating. there are so many places to go, and a lot of it is sheltered enough to allow for novice boaters to get a good feel. But there are some rough spots too. I will just try to avoid those in the future. :)

This trip was just right. Good luck on yours!

Yes, one of my good buddies is an instructor, I have just been to lazy so far. :)

That's impressive. Sadly, I still need to learn to sail.

The next day, we headed out after waiting for the quick morning rain to stop. There was a bit more wind, and the water had a few more rolling waves once we were outside Agate Pass. But it was mostly uneventful out to the locks, but this time we had a much longer wait. Over an hour later a huge stream of ships came out of the locks, including a gigantic barge and tugboat, several big sailboats, and to my surprise the Virginia V, the real ship that I saw the model of in the store. That was surprising.

In the locks again, we were tied up to some very new, 90 foot megayacht, crewed by a guy in Hawaiian shorts, and his wife, who knew a lot less than us about how to handle lines. This should have been my clue that this was going to be less than optimal. We were all tied down, and once the doors closed and the lock started to fill, I headed to the bow to watch the lines there. It took a while to notice, but apparently the megayacht “captain” fired his engines back up, so he could use his maneuvering thrusters. This kept him from actually having to manage his lines with actual body strength. Of course, this totally filled the lock with Carbon Monoxide fumes, and all the people in smaller boats were choking, but the lockmasters didn’t notice, and once we got to the top it was too late. We all had monstrous CO headaches once we got out of there.

From there we slowly worked our way out back into the lake, Stopping for a pumpout again, and watching some fool in too large of a sailboat almost smack into the Montlake Bridge with his mast. He was too close, and it didn’t open when he wanted it to, so he had to reverse quickly, but had traffic backed up behind him. So he turned sharply, and almost smacked the side of the cut. He ended up sideways in the cut, blocking all traffic, until the bridge was open. We finally headed for home, and stopped once again to make a little dinner of sausage and cheese. We were hot, and we were tired, but it was a very successful cruise.

Once out of the locks, I was able to hail the harbormaster at Shilshole, and get our spaces on the guest dock. All of Shilshole has gone through a full remodel, and the place is immaculate. H Dock has the guest spaces and the fuel dock as well. Each slip has a post with full power, water, and Cable TV. Normally, the Cable TV would be superfluous, but with the Olympics on, it was appreciated. We were able to grill chicken on the BBQ, break out some Bordeaux, and have a great dinner, watching the sun set over the breakwater, and watching the Chinese finish cheating their way through women’s gymnastics.

I used to have a really nice collapsible bucket. I say “used to” because the crew saw little fishes swimming near the dock and tried to catch some with the bucket. It had a short little rope attached so you could haul it back in, but apparently it needed a float attached to the end, just in case someone threw it too far and the rope slipped from their hand. Lesson Learned.

In the morning, we had a quick breakfast, and left under no wind with clear skies. The water was like glass heading out, and we were going straight across Puget Sound to Agate Pass. We timed the tides to hit as close to slack as possible, since Agate Pass can be really fast when at full tide. We were still against the tide a bit, but aside from a few bumps as we entered, it was no real problem. From there we slowly meandered our way into Liberty Bay, and on to Poulsbo.

Coming into the public marina, we saw that the wooden breakwater was covered in Harbor Seals, and the water was filled with little jellyfish. The Harbormaster gave us two slips on F dock, and we went around the back side to tie up. The wind was starting to pick up, and was blowing us to the side, making mooring difficult. Naturally, there was a huge crowd of people on the dock, drinking and watching us. Advice was freely given. It took me three approaches to get the timing and direction of the wind correct, but I managed to get the boat to slip into the fairly narrow slip without smacking anything, earning me a round of applause from the group watching. They helped us tie down, and we were in.

Poulsbo looks like a kitschy little Norwegian town stuck in a fjord somewhere, and was the home to Norwegian immigrant fisherman (they liked the whole fjord look.) In fact, we were lucky enough to land for the 100 year celebration festival, so there were events, music, lutefisk, the works. Walking around town there was a street fair and dance scheduled for the evening. It was the perfect time to be there.

We took the dinghy out and drove past the seals to get a few pictures. They were bored with us for the most part, since we were not offering any food. The girls got to hold a non-stinging jellyfish, which I thought was a bit gross, but they liked it. It was hot enough in the afternoon that I put the top up just to give us more shade, which helped a bit.

Dinner was BBQ veggies and Lamb, more wine, and more wine. We took a nighttime walk around the city to see the dancing and look at the shops open late. There was a great little Nautical gift shop that had Brass lamps, pirate stuff, cigars and model ships. One of them was the old Mosquito Fleet ship, Virginia V. I thought that one was pretty neat, since I have seen that very ship on Lake Union, and it is one of the few remaining original ferries from the old mosquito fleet. After that, we had some wine. For some reason, falling asleep was easy.

Well, I had a delightful little case of food poisoning last Wednesday, and 24 hours and 5 pounds later, we were scheduled for our trip out to Poulsbo via the boat. I was nervous that I wasn’t going to be well in time, but got lucky. That and a half-bottle of Imodium AD kept us to plan. The plan meant leaving at 3 on Friday, and going through the Locks , staying at Shilshole overnight. This was our first family overnight cruise, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

We left closer to 3:30, but that was fine. I had estimated a two-hour drive out to the locks, and an hour to go through. Shilshole is just outside the locks, so that last leg was not a worry. Lake Washington was a bit windy and choppy going out, not real bad, but annoying. Once we got into Montlake cut, we were sheltered from the wind and things calmed down. We had a nice slow cruise from there to the Lake Union Gas dock across from the Police Station.

This was actually a pretty impressive setup. A huge gas dock, Pumpouts on both ends, water hoses ready at each mooring (enough for 6-8 boats at once) and a nicely stocked mini-mart. We filled up with Gas, used the pumpout, and topped off our water. When we were done, Guenaddi called us from his boat, he was running behind us, but was only a few minutes away at that point. He finally caught us in the Fremont Cut, and we stopped at the Ballard Bridge to swap a few fenders, and get our friend Adam over to our boat. This gave us a balanced crew on each boat, and made going through the locks easier.

From there we went to the waiting pier for the Large Locks (the small ones are under maintenance) and tied up. We were pretty lucky, and only had to wait about 15 minutes before the light went green and it was time for our group to head in. The number of fish that jump in that area are really amazing, both in size and frequency. But with the fish ladder there, it isn’t surprising. The locks were no real trouble, we got placed next to a larger boat, so we didn’t have to manage our ropes against the wall, (which is pretty green and slimy). The boat next to us was a 50 foot, 1968 Chris Craft, beautifully restored. The captain and his wife were experienced, and were very helpful to Yulia and Adam as they worked the lines to tie us up. We chatted with them a bit and with the tide high, it was a short ride down.

If you ever get the chance. I will highly recommend it. You really appreciate home more when you leave it and come back.

I write about a lot of my travel on my blog in this section: http://mhanch.spaces.live.com/?c11BlogPartBlogPart=blogview&c=BlogPart&partqs=cat%3dTravel

WARNING: My blog contains foul language, stories of drinking, and liberal politics. if you find these offensive, you will be offended.

Everyone else should go to the starting page for the travel section (back arrows are in the upper right corner) and read forward.

You can also read about our harrowing trip to Heriot bay, which was an unmitigated disaster of poor planning, and why I am totally neurotic about boat planning now.

I was in Beijing a few years ago. It is pretty nice, but has that 1980's Soviet feel to it in a lot of places. (I used to live in Moscow in 93-94). Interspersed with the brand new construction was old Soviet era apartments and vehicles, quite interesting. I'd be happy to go again.

I did get to see the Badaling section of the Great wall, and climbed up to the Chairman Mao Plaque, and went to the Forbidden City, but would love to spend more time there.

It depends on what kind you get. I got ones that have a normal base but a unidirectional led grid:

1156-PCB-W24 White LED Lamp 12VDC 1156 Base with 1-1/2 inch square circuit board With 24 Super White LEDs, 48 lumens Designed for overhead lighting in boats, campers, box trucks, etc.

that worked fine. but YMMV

OK, I got the bulbs, and they fit fine, but are polarity sensitive. I will need to rewire some of my fixtures to get them to work.

Really bright for almost no power consumption.

It would be really nice if you could get the mail in a daily digest format. The number of emails for new captions can be large.

Also in the mail tool on the site, it would help to have next/previous message buttons, instead of having to return to the index.

Actually, i will have to check, but i think that you mau also fly a burgee from the starboard or port spreader/antenna, depending on other flags flows and masts available.

Sweet. I'm going to go find my markers and click on them repeatedly! :)

Oh wait, you mean other people....

That would work too. But if the author is gone or not paying attention, it may take some time.

You also could have users rate each marker, with negative ratings leading to some superuser getting notified, or an automatic removal.

Also, having the ability for other users to edit parts of the core description would solve this as well. That way if a phone number at a marina changes, once any user catches the mistake, they can correct it.

Yes, being able to sink or eliminate bad markers would be good.

I would really like to see "dock" available, as well as "pumpout" and "Fuel"

Well? What do you all think of these, I have read some good things, and found a site that seems to have some good deals: http://www.superbrightleds.com

At $7 each, it seems reasonable to try. What do you all think?

[img]http://www.theboaters.com/app/vault/photos/originals/user46316_1319248340.jpg[/img]

Another idea.

Here is another that uses the header colors:

[img]http://www.theboaters.com/app/vault/photos/originals/user46316_1264488346.jpg[/img]

Thanks for getting that up Boris!

Can you add images to threads?

Something like this is what I am thinking:

http://www.theboaters.com/users/mhanch/photo?photoId=38161

In case it doesn't show, I love flags.

I'm sure each country has some set of rules, but generally, the information from Chapman's Piloting is universal.

From Chapman's:

Flag etiquette can be arcane and boggling. We surveyed Chapman’s Piloting and our flag maker for guidance and came up with some general recommendations for boaters:

Courtesy and National Flags

As a gesture of courtesy, cruisers should fly a foreign nation’s flag when they enter and operate in its waters.

Rule No. 1—There are no real rules. Customs observed in various foreign waters differ from each other. We’ve seen cases where not flying or flying a courtesy flag improperly causes some awkward moments; you may be regarded as impolite, but nothing more. In others, it’s local law to fly the flag. Officials can—and do—impound passports or assess fines until the proper flag—which, of course, can only be purchased locally at great expense—is flying on board. If in doubt, inquire of other cruisers and observe other craft from your country for guidance. Do not fly a courtesy flag until your vessel is properly cleared by customs and immigration. Until clearance is complete, fly the yellow Q (quarantine) flag. On a mastless powerboat, the courtesy flag replaces any flag that is normally flown at the bow. If a powerboat has a mast with spreaders, the courtesy flag is flown at the starboard spreader. On a two-masted powerboat, the courtesy flag displaces any flag normally flown at the forward spreader. On a sailboat, the courtesy flag is flown at the starboard spreader. If the sailboat has more than one mast, the courtesy flag is flown from the starboard spreader of the forward mast. Courtesy flags are usually Civil Ensigns—not the national flag of the country. Not every country has a civil ensign. However, most former British colonies do; it is usually the red variant of the flag. It’s considered a horrible breach of etiquette to fly the blue national flag. So, if the flag that we catalog doesn’t look exactly like the national flag that you remember, it’s probably a civil ensign.
Don’t fly a foreign courtesy flag after you return to U. S. waters. It may show that you’ve ’been there,’ but it’s not proper etiquette. Generally, the vessel’s national flag is flown from the stern (or leach) when a courtesy flag displaces it. It’s better form for U. S. vessels to fly the U. S. flag (the “stars and stripes” with a full complement of 50 stars) at the stern or gaff or leech, rather than a Yacht Ensign. If you want to fly a Yacht or USPS Ensign, do so from the port spreader on a sailboat. If there are multiple flag halyards available on the starboard spreader, the Yacht or USPS Ensign is flown there, inboard from the courtesy ensign. Any citizen of any state may fly the flag of that state unless doing so is specifically prohibited. It should be flown at the main masthead in place of any private, yacht club, or officer’s flag. On a mastless boat, a state flag flies from either the bow or radio antenna.
No flag—state, heritage, Confederate, pirate, gag, or otherwise—except for the vessel’s national flag, should EVER fly from the stern of your vessel. This is considered a place of honor, for the vessel’s national flag and no other. Sizing Flags

Chapman’s recommends the following:

The flag at the stern of your boat—U. S. Ensign, Yacht Ensign, USPS Ensign, or vessel’s national flag—should be one inch on the fly for every foot of overall vessel length (e. g. 48” flag for a 48’ foot vessel). Other flags—club burgees, private signals, or courtesy flags—should be ½” for every foot of overall vessel length.

Good point.

I would also add that most folks could use a quick read on how to properly fly flags;

http://www.usps.org/f_stuff/etiquett.html

When I go out I see all kinds of improperly dressed boats out.

Since this site is basically a big virtualYacht Club, has anyone designed a burgee that we could purchase? As always, a great way to find folks on the water, and probably not a bad way to advertise the site.

The more teaching, the better. I like the hard questions. However, I would like, when the answer is "none of the above" for the Correct/Incorrect page to give the actual answer.

Lobster? Everyone knows that Dungeness Crab is vastly superior. :)

Of course, we have no Lobsters here is Puget Sound. Good Octopus, though.

Love the new features!