Cruising on the MV Lillian Belle: Nov 12 and 13th Swantown Marina Olympia, WA

Olympia, Washington

Swantown Marina

Olympia, Washington

November 12^th and 13^th

Boat Names…Willi Tipit?...Lightly Salted…Mixed Emotions

It was a dreary morning as we left Gig Harbor at high tide right at six-dark-thirty. Our cruise through Tacoma Narrows was smooth as could be and there were no other boats insight. That’s how we like it! We even had to turn on the windshield wiper because the rain was pretty steady.

Along the way on islands and peninsulas, we passed by rows of large coastal homes and many stately hillside homes. Even the marina we are staying in is surrounded by impressive houses resting sweetly along the water’s edge. Would be nice!

The marina squeezed us in this afternoon when we arrived 4 ½ hours later. At first I was told there were no spaces available because the yacht club was taking up 50 slots. After I mentioned that Geoff had been renting a parking space for his car from them for two weeks, she found an end tie far from the guest moorage. As we approached the dock, the current was taking us in a bit too quickly, and I knew I had to get on the dock fast and make a quick wrap of the line. So instead of stepping off from the stern, I positioned myself midway on the rub rail and hung onto the railing.

I had to wait until we passed the 3 foot tall power hook-up in order to safely “dismount”, but just as I began to step off, the boat started drifting away from the dock. I managed to get one foot on to the dock while still clinging to the railing but could not balance myself well enough to get the other foot down. Lucky for me, the boat drifted back just enough for me to plant the other foot where it needed to be. You are not supposed to do that…always walk off the boat…but sometimes, with this baby, you have to take a leap of faith…literally.

We can see the dome of the capitol building from our dock which is a lovely sight. When I checked in, the marina manager presented me with a gift bag with all kinds of goodies in it as well as information about the city. A very nice welcoming, indeed.

Dave and I stayed in Olympia once when we were heading up to the boat. We really enjoyed our time here and are looking forward to revisiting some of our favorite spots. Best of all…the sun is now shining!

We have been “at sea” for 10 days now (11 for the guys), and we are all a bit weary. It’s like driving in a car for long distances…it can make you very tired even though all you have been doing is sitting and gazing out a window (and maybe whining a bit). Our time aboard the boat on long trips is spent looking through binoculars searching for buoys, crab pots and other boats or studying the GPS screen and charts…constantly. With Geoff here, my responsibilities have been cut in half, but once he leaves us in Olympia, I will not have the luxury of being so relaxed. David needs me to once again be completely focused on all tasks and that’s what a good co-captain does! I better rest up!

After a short nap we headed downtown to have a look around. Went into some antique shops, galleries and gift shops…we seem to have developed a pattern. We spotted a pub Dave and I had discovered the last time we were in town and it seemed the perfect time for a beer. The McMenamins Pub (formally SPAR tavern) is a chain but the company buys up and restores historical buildings in the Pacific Northwest. There are several in Portland. The one in Olympia has a very classy and old town designed interior with several curtained booths. They also have great fries.

We decided that going to a movie sounded like a fun plan so Geoff treated us to “Last Vegas” with Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline. It is a “Hangover” movie for the over 65. There were many funny as well as poignant moments throughout the film. We all give it two thumbs up!

David found a “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” restaurant on the internet and we thought we would try it out for dinner. It is called Fish Tail Ales. The beer was quite good, but David had high expectations and his crab cannelloni just didn’t seem to measure up to the Food Network’s Guy Feiri’s high rating. There was also a Tuesday Trivia game going on with loud rock music so we did not linger. That kind of noise is for the young.

When we were leaving the boat this afternoon, David was closing the door that gives us access through the bulwark to the dock, and it fell off in his hand! He spotted a welding shop during our drive downtown today and first thing Wednesday morning, he and Geoff plan to haul it there in hopes of getting a quick repair. We are so lucky it did not fall off and into the water all the times we have swung it open while docking on this trip.

Next day….

The men took the part into the shop to be welded early this morning and dropped it off. David spotted a local policeman and asked where to find a bakery (“not a doughnut shop”)…he directed them to a French bakery called The Bread Peddler. I was surprised with a variety of breakfast delights when they returned to the boat.

Having Geoff’s car here has been a nice convenience for us. We drove out to the Olympic Air Museum and walked around there for about an hour. There were definitely some aircraft on display that I had never seen up close and personal before including a Blackhawk which looked like it had been through some tough times.

We found another pub for lunch, picked up the welded hinge and drove back to the boat. Geoff has just left for home, and David is all ready working on repairing the door. We need to shove off at 6:00 in the morning in order to hit slack tide in the Tacoma Narrows again. Ugh! No more slacking for me now that Geoff is gone. Haven’t decided yet where we will end up tomorrow but there are lots of choices. Stay tuned.