...and then

I was still in shock from the yacht's sticker price as I finished vacuuming. My next chore was putting the freshly laundered sheets back on the beds. (My sisters will be proud of me...vacuuming and laundry all in one day - it's a long-running family "joke" about my housecleaning ability or lack therof.) Anyway, I digress. As I'm tucking in the bottom end of the top sheet, I hear a motor out on the water...and it's coming closer. So I look up...and see...a float plane motoring in.

Now, floatplanes are pretty common in the San Juans. We see many during the day. But they're going into Deer Harbor, or out of a private dock area. This one, well, this one was coming straight at the house.

My first thought, since the guys had taken off for Desolation Sound in the morning, was that there was a problem and one or more had taken the floatplane back. I come from a family who has lived through too many late-night phone that bring bad news...I guess I tend to over-react a bit when something out of the ordinary happens. And certainly a floatplane - now tying up to the mooring ball in front of the house! - was out of the ordinary.

So, I watched...and, well, of course, I took pictures.

The thing is, all he did was wash his windows.

And sit there for about 20 minutes. Then he untied the plane and flew away.

So first a 180-ft yacht goes by, then a floatplane land just outside the house...I was just waiting for what was going to happen next.

Sunday happenings in the San Juans

After the guys took off last Sunday, I decided it was time for a bit of housecleaning. I started by vacuuming in our bedroom. I happened to glance out the window. There was a large yacht motoring by so I decided to grab the binoculars and see if I could find name.

There it was...the Huntress. Wow. I thought it deserved a picture...it was as close to something like this as I'm going to get.

So, I decided to Google it and see what I could find out. Here's the link...it's a charter just in case you're interested in a "staycation." Of course, there a clause that says the "Huntress is not available or offered for charter to US citizens or residents while in US waters" so you'll have to fly somewhere else to start the charter...but really, if you can afford the price, you can afford to fly somewhere else to pick it up, right? Go ahead, check it out. I'll wait. Really, it's worth it.

http://www.centralyachtagent.com/yachts.php?id=492&d=1&uid=171&psize=

A mere $295,000 a week for 180 ft yacht and a crew of 14. Do you think if we all pitched in, we could afford an hour?

World of the weird on the beach

There are so many weird things in nature..and on the Cedar Cove beach...like this weird orange arm and hand that Randy assures me is an anemone. It's like something out of some old science fiction movie.

And this keiten...it has a lot of mud on it here. Without the mud, it looks like something out of Jurassic Park.

And these are growing under the dock with the mussels.

And then there's Mr. Crabface. I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.

There is also much beauty... like these flowers and buds. I love taking pictures of these.

I love the chaotic look of seaweed and kelp at lowtide.

And the wide variety of shells just stuck...well, stuck everywhere.

And how can you not love the look of oysters. Seriously. Especially when they're grilled with a bit of butter and garlic...mmmmm.

...and then there's a good-looking yeller dog!

It's difficult for me to choose which I find most interesting. But this anemone ...

I don't care what Randy's says, it still looks like a little orange hand sticking down. And it makes me wonder where the rest of the body is. I wouldn't want to come across this in the dark.

They're off

The guys sailed off this morning for Desolation Sound. They'd hoped to be underway by 10am...well, Randy was the last one up at 6:45...they were pretty anxious to get going! Here's the Google Earth map Ray made for me...the starting point is the yellow pushpin in the lower right corner. Desolation Sound is in the upper left corner. It's about 155 miles, according to Ray. But don't ask me if that's nautical miles, road miles or air miles...I have no idea.

So, with Jim acting as the short-order cook, he whipped out walnut pancakes for everyone while the others readied the supplies, including the chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies I'd made yesterday. By 8:45am, they were loaded up here at the house and headed for the dock. Ray rowed Dan and the guy's gear out to the boat...

Then, returned for Jim and Randy... Joanne and Bill came down for the send-off and brought 2 bags of cookies for their journey - the guys definitely won't go hungry! By 9am, they were loaded and had untied from the mooring ball, headed for Desolation Sound.

Here's wishing for fair winds and following seas!

Log Raft

We took the RIB out for a short ride the other night and watched a log raft pulling out from around Crane Island and into the channel.

It never looks like the raft is very big (long) when you first see it.

As it comes around the corner, it gets bigger. In case you can't find the tug...

Then, suddenly it appeared to be coming straight at us.Even Charli got a bit scared (notice the tail ... that's never a good sign).

I think she's ready to go back to the dock and home!

We moved...and it started its turn into the channel.

Here's the final length. In case you can see it, the tug is at the far right and the end of the raft is at the far left...now that's big.

Why I love Photoshop

While we were out on Ed/Cheryl's sailboat Sunday, I was taking pictures.

I know...surprise, surprise, she took the camera! Sorry, but I can't help it. It's just something I do.

I went with the normal Program mode on the camera but obviously something was set wrong. I didn't notice that, however, until we got home and I downloaded the photos because it was too bright on the boat to review photos. Please understand I didn't spend a great deal of time on these. I cropped them and did the autocorrect selection...Photoshop did the rest.

See for yourself...before Photoshop:

After Photoshop:

Before Photoshop:

After Photoshop:

Before Photoshop:

Afer Photoshop:

Here's a picture of me that Randy took...Truly, darker is better in this case!

Finished!

Just a quick post to show off the entrelac scarf I finished this weekend...I really, really like it now that it's done. I'd been a little skeptical when I was knitting it that it might be too dark.

So the challenge goes out to my sis-in-law Mary to get hers started! The pattern from Aunt Jean is pretty easy to follow...and rest assured both Jean and I would give you any help you might need!