Since making the decision not to leave Portland and head up to the Puget Sound this year, we have been making good on our promise to ourselves to start really using the boat and having some fun!
Vacations are for Sailing!
Brenden had two weeks of vacation left for the year which we were saving for use for the great migration north. Since that didn’t happen, he decided to take those two weeks of vacation in pretty quick succession so that we could enjoy the end of summer aboard Mosaic.
The first week that he took off was August 13-17. We made good use of it with 2 sailing lessons aboard Mosaic with our amazing Captain Stephen Frankland of Agwe Sailing. We did a lesson on Monday of that first week and again on Friday of that week. Happily, with that refresher, we’re feeling that we’re ready to start taking Mosaic out by ourselves to gain more of that sailing experience aboard our own boat. Of course, there are just a couple projects that we need to bang out before we really feel comfortable taking her out on our own. More on that, later!
Heeling under full sail during lesson #2
Rachel at the helm during lesson #1
Brenden at the helm during lesson #2
Government Island Trip #1: Aug 14-17
We also managed to squeeze in three nights away from the home slip up at Government Island during that first week of vacation. We visited the East Dock which is the same one that we visited last fall for the eclipse. Serendipitously, we were joined one day by the famed ‘other boating family’, as Evan calls them, that we had met during the eclipse weekend last year. Eric and Imwa, a great couple with a big power boat, have a boy that is the same age as Evan and a girl the same age as Kali. The kids get along great and can spend hours hanging out playing in the sand and water.
Our marina neighbors, Spice Packet, can be seen tied up behind us on the opposite dock
This was also the trip that Brenden realized he had picked up a nasty infection in his leg and we almost had to bail on the trip in the middle of the first night after a phone call to an advice nurse and being advised to get him to the doctor as soon as possible. His symptoms settled a bit and we decided to wait until morning when he could take the dinghy to a nearby marina and then take an Uber to see a doctor. He was prescribed a couple different broad-spectrum antibiotics and given strict instructions to go to the emergency room if his condition worsened. Thankfully, the meds worked and we didn’t have to cut the trip short!
The kids greet Brenden as he returns from his dinghy adventure to urgent care
Monitoring the infection on Brenden’s leg
We also took a dinghy trip to neighboring Ackerman Island, if I’m remembering the name correctly, and enjoyed playing in the warm shallow waters.
Government Island Trip #2: Aug 24-26
We were stoked and had so much fun that we headed out the next weekend for another couple nights up at Government Island. This time we stopped at West Dock to check out this location as we’d never been here before.
We had to dock nearly in the dark but made it there for a beautiful dusk.
Brenden and I got up for sunrise
Government Island Trip #3: Aug 31-Sept 3 (Labor Day Weekend!)
For Labor Day Weekend, we were much more concerned about finding space on the dock to tie up. We decided that we like East Dock better so that’s where we headed. Again, we had to tie up in the dark and there were definitely a lot more boats there that night than the previous trips, but it was not overly crowded and we were able to dock without issue in front of the 85-foot power catamaran from the neighboring marina at Salpare Bay.
This was a particularly fun trip as we got to be out there for three nights and we had friends and family come join us aboard. Our buddy Brian came out on Saturday evening. We found a little park that could be reached via car and we were able to take the dinghy over to pick him up. He stayed with us through the rest of the weekend.
On Sunday evening, Brenden’s parents Scott & Tamara also joined us for a BBQ and ended up staying overnight. It was pretty cool to actually have 7 people sleeping aboard Mosaic.
We’re definitely heading into fall now and the water level here at the marina is unpredictable and low. We’re planning to head out again this weekend for another couple nights at Government Island and would like to start exploring some other places soon by starting to anchor out when we go on our excursions.
It will soon start to turn colder and the wet season will set in. I’m not ready for that … But, on the flip side, we do have to get through it in order to come out on the other side to reach the spring when we leave this dock for good and head North!
As always, thanks for reading and remember to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for frequent updates and more pictures! Cheers! ~Rachel