Weekend!
Friday night Just had a wonderful dinner of fresh salmon from the farmers market cooked on the BBQ. Looking forward to a great night's sleep aboard and lots of sailing and swimming the rest of the weekend! Saturday The sun came out fairly early on Sunday. Here's a panorama view of the Columbia River Gorge from our anchorage. Sunday Had some traffic on the river on way back to the marina in the form of a house!
Not very neighborly
So we were only away from Webfoot for less than a week - five days to be exact - and someone hit our raised outboard and broke a big chunk off our propeller. There is even blue paint on the prop! We just had the prop at the shop to get serviced. Now we have to buy a whole new one. Why would someone hit a boat that hard and not leave a note? I'm quite disappointed [...]
We struck Gold!
Well not really, but we harvested our first golden potatoes! Back in March we planted our potatoes in a garbage can. I had nearly forgotten about them, since they are off in a corner of our yard but Captain Mike apparently has been paying attention. This morning he pulled out our first homegrown potatoes!
July 4th Downtown Blues Fest
The past few years we spent the 4th in the San Juan Islands. This year we went to the islands earlier in the year and spent the 4th right here in Portland. From our marina on the Columbia we headed down river and then up the Willamette to downtown Portland. To get there we had to go under a total of TEN bridges! No wonder Portland is sometimes called the Bridgetown! We were able to clear 8 [...]
Life on the River
I spent my formative years living within a few miles of the ocean in San Diego. In the summer we went to the beach to cool off. Now I live in Portland, Oregon which is a few hours from the ocean. It has been a tough adjustment period and after nearly five years here, there are a few things I still haven't gotten used to. There is an inordinate number of fountains in downtown Portland. I've always [...]
Our Summer Home
We finally did it! Rather than having to spend 3-4 hours setting up before going sailing we got a slip in a local marina! This summer we will be able to head down to the boat after work and go for a sail - just like all the other people we always envy on those perfect summer evenings. Of course this means we will not be traveling as far as usual but since we will be busy [...]
San Juan Islands – Day 4 – Clark Island
This is the last part of a four part series of our sailing trip to the San Juan Islands over Memorial Day weekend. Day 1 - Launch, Bellingham to Matia Island Day 2 - Matia Island to Friday Harbor Day 3 - Friday Harbor to Rosario, Orcas Island Day 4 - Rosario, Orcas Island to Clark Island Our last full day vacation was upon us and we just couldn't bring ourselves to leave Rosario without enjoying the [...]
San Juan Islands – Day 3 – Rosario, Orcas Island
This is part three of a four part series of our sailing trip to the San Juan Islands over Memorial Day weekend. Day 1 - Launch, Bellingham to Matia Island Day 2 - Matia Island to Friday Harbor Day 3 - Friday Harbor to Rosario, Orcas Island Day 4 - Rosario, Orcas Island to Clark Island Since it seemed like the cold and rain was going to stick around we were looking for a place to go [...]
San Juan Islands – Day 2 – Friday Harbor
This is part two of a four part series of our sailing trip to the San Juan Islands over Memorial Day weekend. Day 1 - Launch, Bellingham to Matia Island Day 2 - Matia Island to Friday Harbor Day 3 - Friday Harbor to Rosario, Orcas Island Day 4 - Rosario, Orcas Island to Clark Island On Friday I woke up to a wet and cloudy day. Captain Mike had already been up for some time and had gone for a run [...]
San Juan Islands – Day 1 – Matia Island
This is the first part of a 4 part series of our sailing trip to the San Juan Islands over Memorial Day weekend. Day 1 - Launch, Bellingham to Matia Island Day 2 - Matia Island to Friday Harbor Day 3 - Friday Harbor to Rosario, Orcas Island Day 4 - Rosario, Orcas Island to Clark Island We towed Webfoot up to Bellingham from Portland, this being our third trip (second with this boat) to the islands [...]
Privacy Concerns
We've been sailing aboard Webfoot without any privacy for a year now. At anchor it's not a problem but when we are at a public dock everyone can see inside. Especially at night when the lights are on. I finally replaced my aging sewing machine for a fancy computer-aided model and have been busy sewing. I've never made much more than pillows and the occasional baby quilt but now I'm ready to broaden my horizons. Last weekend [...]
Nutty Cookies
Beware: These are healthy cookies! Did you think you would ever hear those two words in one sentence? Well, these cookies really are good for you! They are made of nuts and egg-whites. And they even taste good! The other captain requested them to have after dinner tonight, so I figured they must be good enough to post. We use the left-over egg yolks the next day in our omeletts. Nutty Cookies 1 1/4 cup coconuts or [...]
Boat Projects
A friend of mine recently asked why the heck I was not out on the water yet. It is a friend that does not own a boat, so I tried to explaining that we still have projects to complete. They looked confused because we had been "working on the boat" all winter. It is hard for someone to understand all the little things that add up to projects on a 26' boat. Another friend of mine - [...]
Waterfalls, bald eagles, seals, and a 5 knot current
The boat finally left the driveway! After months of working on the boat, making updates and waiting for winter to be over we went on a sort of shakedown/relaxation cruise. Since we currently have the mast lying in the driveway awaiting the install of a new LED anchor light we took Webfoot out as a motor boat. We just couldn't wait any longer. The forecast was for a beautiful weekend and we took advantage. Saturday took us [...]
Webfoot’s New Gas Tanks
If you read the earlier blog about our adventures in the San Juan Islands you know that we had some problems with our aging gas tanks. They are located in the cockpit in open compartments on both sides of the steering station. Due to their size and shape they are partially exposed to the environment causing the plastic to break down quite rapidly.We replaced one tank by necessity during our trip to the San Juan's last summer [...]
Warmer weather and protein pancakes
This weekend we had our first breakfast of the year on our deck. It's finally warming up! And to celebrate the occasion I made Protein Pancakes. They taste great topped with honey or fresh fruit. Full of energy from our hearty breakfast we spent the rest of the day scrubbing and waxing the boat. Protein Pancakes Ingredients: 1 cup cottage cheese 2 egg whites 1 egg yolk 1 tbsp flour (soy or other) Beat the egg whites [...]
San Juan Islands Sailing, 2009
Last summer we took a week to sail around in the San Juan Islands. This area is the perfect destination for our small sailboat as it is well protected. We trailered Webfoot to Bellingham, which is about a four hour drive from Portland. We had been to the San Juan Island the year before with our much smaller (19') Potter and knew what to expect in the summer months. The area is nearly devoid of wind this [...]
Homegrown Mushrooms
As we do every Saturday, we went to the farmers market this weekend. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and the market was buzzing with activity. We bought some fresh lamb, honey, lettuce, and tomatoes (yes, we can get tomatoes in April). We were about to buy some fresh mushrooms when I noticed an odd looking clump in the mushroom guy's display and asked him about it. It was a mushroom growing kit. Of course I couldn't [...]
Composting Head
Note: This was the head on our previous boat, Webfoot, a MacGregor 26. While we no longer have a composting head we are happy to answer any questions, so feel free to send us an email. When we purchased Webfoot it came fully equipped with a used(!) porta-potty. Some of the parts were missing, so the blue liquid (also kindly included) would slosh out if the boat rocked too much. Luckily for us, the compartment that holds [...]
Why did we choose Webfoot?
This is a question that I have wondered about many times while spending yet another Saturday working on the boat in the driveway. It was around this time last year that we were narrowing our choices of boats to replace our beloved West Wight Potter that we had sold down the river the previous fall. The old saying that the happiest day of owning a boat is the day that you sell it or is it the [...]