Yesss! We made it! The drive train is A-OK and we're not only back on the water, but free to go!

As happy as Mabrouka and I were to be properly motorized once again, once we got outside Shilshole Marina, we couldn't resist the lovely wind. Though it was pretty brisk out and occasionally got us wet with some of that nice Seattle liquid sunshine, we loosed the sails and had a couple of well-heeled tacks up wind to Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. The new mizzen sail, by the way, trimmed very nicely. The only problem was that it shamed the main and the genny into embarrassed blushes with its creamy new complexion. Well, a good scrub has been in order for those sails for some time.

After settling Mabrouka in at the empty Tyee YC outstation dock mid-morning, I called a taxi to get me to the next ferry back to Seattle so I could collect my car and help a friend run an errand. Looking back from the ferry terminal toward the Tyee dock across the bay, I noticed my friend Len's boat was moored up there too. Giving him a call, I discovered my new found peace and quiet would soon scatter to the winds.

There'd been a barrage of Tyee emails in the preceding week about a Memorial Day rendezvous with Tacoma Yacht Club and assuming, silly me, that it was in Tacoma, I'd disregarded them. WRONG-OH! Instead I'd landed myself literally right smack-dab in the middle of it. Not only that, but it was expected (and turned out to be) the largest TYC gathering in history. I didn't get the actual count, but by Friday evening something like 20-25 boats were booked for the dock that I'd tied up to all by my little ol' lonesome just that morning.

Not only that, but the weekend would experience the lowest tides of the year and a float plan had been arranged with excruciating effort by Bill Wassmer, our Fleet Captain, taking everyone's length and draft into account. Mabrouka, with her 50 foot length and 6-1/2 foot draft, didn't figure into it. I was relegated to anchor out in the bay.

Although it meant delaying my plans for dock-side projects, I was not displeased to be displaced to a less rambunctious location. I enjoy all my Tyee friends and always have a great time, but I find that large groups of people wear me out quickly these days, ...a downside of having lived alone for so long. With this arrangement I could have as much peace and quiet as I wanted.

That being said, we had a great time with Memorial Day celebrations. Joint activities at Tacoma YC's outstation next door included a dinner on Saturday evening with BYO BBQ and some fun entertainment plus a moving Memorial Day service honoring our veterans on Sunday morning. We had cocktail hours, dock parties, and pot lucks at our own club. There was also a decorated dinghy parade and a quick-and-dirty boat building contest/race, toy boat style.

Well, that's all done now. I moved back to the dock Monday afternoon and hung out with a few stragglers, the last of whom departed late this morning. I've got my peace and quiet at the dock now and, to be honest, find it a little lonely. Come back everyone. I didn't mean it!