Cruising on the MV Lillian Belle: Nov. 14th and 15th Shilshole Marina Ballard, WA

Almost sundown at Shilshole Marina

Shilshole Marina

Ballard, Washington

November 14^th and 15^th

At 5:30 a.m. I reported for duty and at exactly 6:00 a.m. we headed out of the marina heading north. It all went very smoothly with lots of green and red lights flashing on buoys showing us the way. We were about a half hour late from our goal reaching the Tacoma Narrows after slack tide, and our 7.1 knots dropped to 5.4 as we cut through the currents. As soon as we ran the Narrows and survived once more, we both relaxed.

I had some great shots of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge as we cruised beneath it, the only problem was…I forgot to put my photo card back in my camera after loading my pictures on my computer! Drat! I hate when that happens. I got a few good shots looking back at the bridge but they’re just not as dramatic.

After 7 ½ hours of cruising we found our next destination in Ballard, Washington. The Marina is next to the Ballard/Chittenden Locks that lead into Lake Union. The Shilshole Marina is advertised as the largest facility for pleasure boats, and as we approached the marina, the masts of the hundreds of sailboats docked there looked like teeth on a comb. The marina is just north of Seattle, and Ballard is supposed to have a lively nighttime music scene. We will definitely be checking that out.

About an hour out of Ballard our GPS shut down. The radar was working fine but that’s all. It was just a little worrisome. We have all the charts we need but we are so used to relying on that navigation screen especially when approaching a harbor. Luckily, about a half hour later, it just kicked back on. It’s a mystery.

When I called in to the Shilshole Marina to ask for guest moorage, I was told that they had many large fishing boats on the guest docks because one of the swing bridges was being repaired preventing them from getting to their home ports. She gave us a number of a slip that she believed would work for us. We rarely tie up in a slip because it is easier for us to execute a dock tie. We found the assigned spot, but we were going to have to maneuver into a narrow space next to what looked like a million dollar boat. David did not feel confident about making it in smoothly so asked me to call the marina for another location. He turned the Belle around 180 degrees while I got on the phone and called for another slip.

Theresa, at the marina office, was so kind and understood our situation and found another location a few docks back which meant that David had to make another 180 degree turn. Imagine a marina filled with high-end boats and a breakwater of huge boulders both of which you definitely want to avoid as you make a “20 point turn” with a 58 foot boat with no bow thrusters and one propeller. David did an exceptional job but he was definitely working hard and sweating bullets.

As we were heading for the second slip assignment, we heard a voice from behind us. Theresa was standing on an end dock yelling to us asking if that spot would be better. “Oh, you bet! We’ll take it!” yelled back David. This meant that we had to make another complete circle to head back in the opposite direction! With Theresa’s help, we landed the Belle sans insurance claims. It took a pretty stressful hour from the time we entered the marina to the time we finally tied up. Phew!

When we finally got up to the Marina Office to pay our moorage, I walked in and a lovely lady wearing a big smile asked, “Are you Pat?” When I said, “Yes” I realized that from her vantage point she would have been able to watch our entire “performance”. When I asked her if she had witnessed our arrival she said, “We were rooting for you!” If nothing else, we are always entertaining!

We were in need of a celebratory beer so walked down to Rays Boathouse and had a pint along with some clam chowder. I tried Pumpkin Spice beer for the first time and the waitress served it with the glass rimmed with cinnamon. What a surprisingly pleasant taste!

That evening while playing a rousing game of Bananagrams, the lights suddenly dimmed. David checked all the circuits and switches and discovered a secondary bilge pump that was smoking! Once it was dealt with, the power was back to normal. It will be a huge greasy project for David tomorrow when he has to deal with the pump problem.

Friday….

Yep, David is down below right now elbow deep in oil messing about with the broken pump. Fortunately for us, losing the pump will not effect the operation of the boat, but the oil mess that David is dealing with is not fun. He should be pretty well covered by the time he surfaces.

Once we were both scrubbed and “polished” we took the marina free shuttle to downtown Ballard. This town is a suburb of Seattle and has become a bedroom community with residents enjoying public transportation to downtown Seattle. Ballard has many historical brick buildings which have been nicely renovated into restaurants, pubs, business offices and shops. We were told that 20 years ago, Ballard was a pretty rough place with some tough seaman roaming the streets at night looking for a fight. There is still a viable shipyard adjacent to downtown but apparently, the workers are much tamer. We passed by a portion of the locks as we rode in and were told that the fish ladder for migrating salmon near the locks was quite the popular tourist attraction this last summer. Some day we hope to use the locks and cruise into Lake Union.

We had a nice time strolling the streets of Ballard even in the rain. We came upon what we thought was still the Public Library Building but after studying it for a time, we realized that the bottom floor had been turned into an Australian/New Zealand pub called Kangaroos and Kiwis (maybe it was the tecate beer neon sign in the window that gave it away). Of course, we had to check it out. David was hoping they would have some Bundeburg rum but no luck. I had brought some to him when I returned from teaching in Australia in the 70’s and at one time, he could get it at a bar in Murphys but no more. The pub had a “Ladies Lounge” and the women’s restroom was labeled “Shielas”…brought back memories for me.

After more walking, we found an English pub and stepped in for lunch. They were showing the World Cup matches on the various TVs mounted on every wall. We watched the England vs Chile match and the Scotland vs USA…England lost and the USA tied Scotland…zip to zip. Once the games ended, the place emptied. David had a conference call and went outside to take it. He was outside for an hour in the freezing cold dealing with a business issue. He was a bit blue when he came back in.

The weather has changed dramatically since we left at 11:00 this morning. The winds are gusting through the marina and the huge yacht on the other side of the dock from us is bobbing up and down…we are rolling a bit. That same “neighbor boat” was being scrubbed today by a marina cleaning service…we were envious. Probably would scare the young man to death if he had to tackle our boat!

We are in for the night…no nightclubs for us…just too cold and windy.