Elliot Bay

Elliot Bay, a photo by Southworth Sailor on Flickr.

This being the last week before I go back to school, I decided to take advantage of an unusually windy morning and head to Elliot Bay. The wind was moderate throughout the morning and I made it to Alki lighthouse in a couple of hours. Getting past the point and into the Bay provided a challenge because of the weakening wind and contrary current. Once in the bay, I headed for the city waterfront as I had never sailed that far into the bay. Fortunately, traffic was light; but unfortunately, the wind died. I motored back out to the sound and the late afternoon wind really picked up providing a delightful sail home. My GPS recorded 24 miles of ground under my hull for the day. Who knows how much water!

patio project

finished product, a photo by Southworth Sailor on Flickr.

After years of suggestion from Esther, we finally decided to tackle a flagstone patio for our front yard. We often use the area in our attempts to enjoy the sun, but avoid a prevalent north wind off the water. I was reluctant to make a patio here because of what lies beneath (part of the septic system:) I assumed it would be a three to four day project. One day to excavate, one day to level the sand, and one or two days to lay the flagstone. Right! more like eight days! The first two days went as planned, but placing the stones was an extremely tedious process of guess and check, cut and chisel, and then get lucky once in a while. In the end, we were quite pleased with the result. Now we'll see how it holds up.

A Short Trip North

Vancouver bike ride, a photo by Southworth Sailor on Flickr.

We brought the girls to Lynden this week and celebrated Esther's birthday and John and Kay's anniversary in Greenwood style. On Monday, Esther and I went up to Vancouver for the day. It had been three years since we had been to the city. We rented bikes near Stanley Park and rode about 20 miles around the park and city using the sea wall and designated bike lanes. We went around Stanley Park and False Creek, then to Grandville Island and back over to Gastown and Canada Place. We ended the day with some very spicy Thai food and got back to Lynden in time to help tuck the girls in bed. Tuesday was spent picking blueberries, fixing the sewer leak and cleaning out the pen for the arrival of Elvis and Elron, the new Greenwood goats. Wednesday evening we all enjoyed the feast that Marti and Jenny prepared in honor of Esther and John and Kay.