On Sunday morning a strong southwesterly breeze whipped through the tops of tall pine trees overhead and rain started to fall as we came closer to the end of our hike to the old schoolhouse and museum on Stuart Island. We picked up the pace near Prevost Harbor and as we moved through the trees, I caught a glimpse of a large, 70-foot powerboat at the state park dock that hadn’t been there just a few hours earlier.

When we walked up, the boat’s owner was going the opposite way with his dog and we stopped to exchange pleasantries. He had just come from Friday Harbor and said he clocked wind gusts in the 40 to 50 knot range. I told him we were waiting to leave for Roche Harbor until late afternoon when the wind was supposed to lay down , and he eagerly replied. “Perfect timing! You guys should come over to watch the Seahawk game with us!”

Soon after, Porter and I were hoisting our Seahawks flag when our new friend’s wife stepped out on deck to make sure we were indeed coming over. We don’t have a TV aboard and with no cell service I was resigned to the fact that we wouldn’t be seeing the game — not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But oh how fortunes change for the lucky mariner!

I don’t need to do a full recap of the Seahawk’s amazing comeback, but suffice it to say, with a fake field goal touchdown, improbably onside kick recovery and multiple touchdowns going the way of the home team in Seattle, it was truly one for the ages. Just minutes after Jermaine Kearse’s game-winning touchdown catch in overtime, and with my heart still in my throat, I clambered aboard Yahtzee, fired up the engine and gave a wave goodbye to our new friends.

Then, as we headed west over the top of Stuart Island towards Haro Strait, the wind abated and the sun broke through the clouds to illuminate double rainbows against South Pender Island to the north. Porter and I watched in awe from the cockpit and Jill poked her head out of the companionway to exclaim, “Taste the rainbow baby, Beast Mode!” (A clear and comical nod to Seahawk running back Marshawn Lynch’s appetite for Skittles and to the incredible game we had just witnessed.) “Go Hawks!”