Our spring and summer in Canada was largely spent lazily hopping from anchorage to anchorage, with very little in the way of an actual schedule. I had work to contend with as we explored, but that is always part of how we make life aboard Yahtzee function.
After getting back to the States, though, we had an assortment of appointments arranged and schedules to plan to that weren’t our own. Our pace picked up and the feeling of being rushed slowly crept up. Ahhh! Why does everything have to move so fast, to be so over-scheduled and why do things years in advance have to be planned now? The simple answer is that, for us, they don’t. But we roll with it anyway.
Fortunately, throughout our relatively frenetic pace of life recently, we’ve been able to reconnect with great friends, make new ones, and are looking forward to seeing more friends and family in the coming weeks.
This connection with friends and family is something that we definitely miss while we’re out for long spells by ourselves. And it also makes the opportunities to meet back up that much more fun and memorable. Also, coming back to a busier schedule makes us appreciate not having one even more.
Our stop in Fisherman’s Bay with SV Shearwater, Cambria and Tuwamish brought delicious food, laughter and a chance to experience the laidback pace of life on Lopez Island — something we could really, really get used to.
Meeting new cruising friends aboard SV Shearwave at Spencer’s Spit was a treat. And hanging with the rest of the Three Sheets Northwest crew at the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend was great fun. As was meeting new folks at the TSNW happy hour.
Cruising for a week with our good friends aboard SV Arrow was something we’d looked forward to for a long time, and it was really special to see the four kids connect again. The eight of us are like one big cruising family and there’s something about watching boat kids reunite that is immensely gratifying to be a part of — like true best friends or siblings they don’t skip a beat after not seeing each other for while, picking right back up where they left off.
As we swung through Seattle we got to catch-up with land-based friends while spending a weekend inside the lake. And Jill and the boys enjoyed a day with our Seattle family (who she used to nanny for) while I worked on a big project aboard Yahtzee. Speaking of Yahtzee, she even got a well earned deep clean inside and out.
Then before leaving the city we had a nice visit with our friend Emily and picked up a new member of the crew; a little sailing and rowing dinghy that we can use as another option for getting to shore and to teach Porter (and eventually Magnus) how to sail. Sweet!
Of course, we’re off again, this time heading heading south to get some much needed time cruising the South Sound and to meet up with family in Olympia…so stay tuned.
Oh, and we saw whales, too…