Return to Seattle 2004
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August 10, 2004 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia On August 10, 2004, we loaded Windarra on the Dockwise ship, Super Servant 3. From there we made our way back to Seattle on Windarra with a few stops in between. 8/10, Brisbane River 27 23.290 S, 153 09.147 E, Brisbane River, opposite Fisherman's Island, Coal Wharf This morning we got up and took our showers. Rich and I did a quick run to the Coles at Kippa Ring to get some plastic garbage bags as we were out. Our suitcases are stowed in the car. We checked with some other cruisers to see if any new word from Dockwise. The ship is at the Coal Wharf on Fisherman's Island just inside the Brisbane River. At 11 am we cast off our dock lines and motored the 17 nautical miles from the marina, along Redcliffe and down to the Brisbane River. The winds were light and almost on the nose. By 2 pm we were anchored across the river from the Dockwise 'Super Servant 3'. They have not off loaded yet and you can see the boats on their supports from the open stern of the vessel. There are some super yachts from the US onboard to be off loaded here for refurbishment.
Anchorage on Brisbane River We secured the main sail and put on the sail cover. Early tomorrow morning we will take down the staysail, stow all lines in the lazarette; remove the cockpit cushions, dodger panels and bimini for storage below. The loading is supposed to begin around 8 am. We will probably be one of the last boats on as we will be getting off in Vancouver, the first stop after Auckland.
Dockwise Super Servant 3 before unloading
Windarra loaded on the ship Tonight, our last night on Windarra in Australia, we will enjoy a pasta dinner and a movie. Tomorrow night we will spend at the Boat Harbor Caravan Park in Scarborough in a caravan. On Thursday we hope to come back to the Dockwise ship to see the boat with the water pumped out. Friday morning we fly from Brisbane to Seattle, via Sydney, Honolulu and Vancouver.
Our caravan and vehicle We look forward to seeing our family and friends and wait for Windarra to arrive in Vancouver BC. 8/13, Sydney, Australia This is a quick note. We are now at the Sydney airport waiting
for our flight out. On Wednesday we loaded Windarra on the Dockwise ship and got a
ride back to Scarborough Marina. We stayed at the Caravan Park nearby - even
smaller accommodations than the boat but it had a heater! On Thursday we went back to the ship to watch them pump out the
water, raise the ship and settle the boats on their stands. It was slow, like
watching grass grow. got to go.... 8/14, Seattle, Washington I sent out a quick note from Sydney. When we arrived there we
cleared through Australian customs/immigration/security. After a bite to eat
we caught our 9-hour flight to Honolulu on Air Canada. We arrived at Honolulu and went through US
customs/immigration/security. Since we were the only Americans on the flight
the lines for us were short and we breezed through. From Honolulu we flew for 5.5 hours to Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Here we cleared Canadian customs/immigration/security and then US
customs/immigration/security. It was a lot of walking around, collecting our
baggage, clearing, checking baggage back in, finding the correct gate, etc. Our flights arrived early in Honolulu and Vancouver but we were
late leaving Vancouver to make up for it. Nancy picked us up at
Seattle-Tacoma airport and drove us to our temporary base in Seattle, the
Marvin Gardens Inn (anyone remember the game Monopoly?). We are still a bit dazed from our long trip. After ordering some
Pagliacci Pizza delivered to our rooms we are ready to crash. Hopefully we
will figure out the time zones soon. We will keep in touch via email. 8/17, Seattle, Washington We are still adjusting to the time zone. It is hard to force
oneself to go to bed at a reasonable hour. For Jesse it is even more
difficult since he got his new laptop and is busy setting it up. We are enjoying those things that we have missed being away,
like Pagliacci Pizza, Sushi, Taco Time and other silly things. It is amazing
driving around the Seattle area and seeing the changes but also the familiar.
One thing we noticed immediately was the smell of the air. The Pacific
Northwest smells differently than Australia but it smells like home.
Jesse, Megan, Lauren and Sarah at
Bell Street Pier I still don't feel like we are fully back, maybe this will
change when we are back on Windarra. As we talk to friends and family they mention the position
updates and events that they have read about. I hope to update the website
once we return on Windarra. One thing that many people mention is that they
forward the position updates on to others. Rich and I are curious as to how
many people have been reading them. Could you please help us with this? If
you forward the position update on, please send us a quick email to
svwindarra@hotmail.com, titled: Position Update Forwarding, and include the
number of addresses in the distribution list. I do not want the list (!),
just the number of people it goes to. I will coallate the number and post it
in a position update and on the website. Six degrees of separation? Note: Thank you to all who
responded. I sent the position updates out to 12 people. It was then
distributed out to another 133 people that I know about. It does not include
the many people who received paper copies of the updates and shared them with
friends, family, bridge clubs, co-workers, etc. I hope you enjoyed reading
them as much as we enjoyed writing them. 8/30, Seattle, Washington This is our last night in Seattle. Early tomorrow morning we catch a flight for Philadelphia to check Jesse into Widener University in Chester, PA, outside of Philadelphia. We have enjoyed our time in Seattle, except for a few cloudy moments and a little rain the weather has been good. During our time here we visited Elaine's parents, had lunch with her aunt as well as visiting friends. For those of you we did not see, don't worry we will be back soon and will get together with you then. Jesse spent as much time as possible seeing his friends. We also took him shopping for clothes for school. Cruiser garb will not do for winters in Philly. Sarah also met up with some of her friends. The tendrils of the Matrix are starting to grow around us. Each of us now has a cell phone! Ouch! The ship carrying Windarra has left Auckland, NZ and is on the way to Vancouver BC. We hope we will be able to spend as much time as we planned in the East before returning to unload Windarra. For those of you who
answered my request in the last email to let me know how many people you
forward the position updates on to - Thanks. If you have not let me know yet,
please do so soon, so I can tally the results. Enquiring minds want to know.
I have 71 people on my distribution lists. The responses indicate that
another 41 people get the position updates forwarded to them. Are there any
more? 9/5, Williamstown, New
Jersey We arrived safely in Philadelphia after a long flight via Phoenix. Rich went to pick up our rental car. We had requested a midsize but they were out of those so we got a free upgrade to a GMC Envoy SUV! We are riding around in this monster vehicle, complete with OnStar (which Rich keeps calling LoneStar). Rich was playing with it the other day and had this voice from the speakers asking what sort of help he needed. Jesse could hardly stop laughing. We have been away for a while I guess... The GPS on the boat never talks to us! We took Jesse to Widener to check out the campus and get registered. He met with his advisor and took the placement tests. For his first semester he will be taking Calculus, Intro to Computer Science (programming in C, C++ and Java), Discrete Mathematics, English and PE.
Rich and Jesse walking across campus at Widener Besides visiting relatives and friends we have been taking Jesse shopping for school. Now he has pillows, a blanket, comforter, comforter cover, a fan, a refrigerator, a lamp for his desk, speakers, a printer/scanner/copier combination, a first aid kit, sewing kit, scissors, plus a pile of other necessities. He is bemoaning the fact that he can no longer carry all of his possessions on his back on a dead run. He needs a cart too. We assured him that he was still on the light side and not to worry. I guess living on a boat for three years has had an effect on him. Tuesday we get him moved in and classes start on Thursday. We are waiting to hear when the ship will arrive in Vancouver. Tomorrow we will call the Dockwise rep in Canada since it is not a holiday there (Labor Day). The hope is that the ship is late and we will be able to stay and use our reservations. Otherwise we will have to scramble and get some other tickets earlier. Ah boat schedules, never on time or when you predict... 9/16, Vancouver, BC, Canada N 49 16.363, W 123 07.929, False Creek Yacht Club To catch up a little bit... On Tuesday, Sept. 7 we packed all of Jesse's possessions and took the bridge across the Delaware River to Chester, Pennsylvania and Widener University. The exercise of students moving in was well organized. Equipped with a handcart we moved Jesse's things up to the two flights of stairs to the second floor of his dorm. We met his new roommate, Michael d'Angelo and his parents. Michael will be studying Criminal Justice. He and his parents are very nice folks and we had a chance to talk with them over lunch at the cafeteria in the University Center. After lunch we took Jesse to Target to buy a few last minute items and then dropped him off back at school. I waited until going to bed that night to shed a few tears.
Jesse and his roommate Mike Wednesday we drove up to Wyckoff to visit with my cousin, Steph and her husband Bill and their daughter, Anneliese. We last saw them before we left on our trip so we had lots of catching up to do. We talked about the trip and the tests for college and applications. Anneliese is also a junior and will be taking the PSATs like Sarah. After spending the night we drove back to Williamstown. Friday we went out to lunch with Rich's parents and his brother Jim. We drove over to Widener to pick up Jesse after he had finished classes. It was good to visit and hear about his classes. For PE, he has signed up for boxing, which raised our eyebrows a little but given the other choices it seems like the best pick. For dinner we went to a great Japanese/Chinese restaurant in Media, a small town beyond Chester, towards Philadelphia. The food was great! Rich, Jesse and Sarah oohed and aahed over their sushi. I enjoyed my tempura also. Since the Dockwise ship was due to arrive in Vancouver on Sunday, we had to cut our trip to the East Coast short and flew back to Seattle on Sept. 11 of all days. We picked up our car at the airport and stayed the night in Seattle before heading to Vancouver on Sunday morning. On our drive around Stanley Park we saw the Dockwise, Super Servant 3 approaching English Bay. That night we stayed aboard Tony and Libby's sailboat, Silkie C, at the False Creek Yacht Club. Tony and Libby are a couple we first met at the Napa Valley Marina where I had my accident with my hand. They also joined us on the Baja Ha-ha from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. They now live in Vancouver with their two children (post Baja Ha-Ha), Aria and Octavian, who just turned 1 years old. They were kind enough to let us bunk down on Silkie C. Monday morning in the pouring rain we took a van from Coal Harbor out to Deep Cove in the North Vancouver area. Super Servant 3 was anchored out in Indian Arm. A launch shuttled the boat owners out to prepare to unload at 1 pm. At 5:30 pm, Windarra was motoring under her own power towards downtown Vancouver. She is a little dirty from the soot of the ship but otherwise in good shape. We were the last boat to unload and the bridge tender of the railroad bridge at the second narrows waited for us to go through before lowering the bridge. We passed under the Lion's Gate Bridge, around Stanley Park and into our slip at the False Creek Yacht Club. We were back home!
Dockwise ship in Vancouver, Canada
Diver removing stands below Windarra
Unloaded from Dockwise ship Tuesday we were all busy putting Windarra back together. She still needs a good washing but that will have to wait for the rains to stop! Sarah has reclaimed the v-berth for her own and spent Tuesday and Wednesday moving in. The solar panels are back on, so is the BBQ, the bimini and dodger. Wednesday we went out to do some provisioning. It was fun to go through the grocery stores and see things we have not had for three years like Bagel Bites, Cheetos, Shake'n'Bake and Stove Top Stuffing. As you can see, we are easily excited about crazy things! 9/18, Seattle, Washington Just a short note... We are in Seattle for the night. We drove our car down to Tacoma to
have dinner with Elaine's parents. Then we drove to Bainbridge Island to
leave the car at our friends', Doug and Nancy's. We caught a taxi to the
ferry to Seattle. Tomorrow, Sunday we will take the train back to Vancouver,
BC. Including the plane ride from Philadelphia to Seattle last week we are
covering all modes of transportation - planes, trains, ferries, boat
(sailboat - Windarra), taxis, car, and bus! We will start looking for a weather window for heading out to the
Gulf Islands and relaxing a bit. 9/21, Galiano Island, BC, Canada N 49 53.264, W 123 23.673, Montague Harbor, Galiano Island Sunday, Bob and Bari picked us up from the train station. After
lunch we went to Windarra and gave them the grand tour along with Darlene and
Larry. It was fun to show off our artwork from Australia. Monday we did a last minute provision and a few errands. In
the evening we had dinner with Tony and Libby. It was fun to see their two
children, Aria (2+) and Octavian (just turned 1). Both are blonds and very
cute. Today we got up at 6:15 am and by 7:30 am we were on our
way. We had a little difficult getting out of the slip due to the current but
we made it out. The passage across the Georgia Straits was uneventful. We
passed the time reading and listening to CDs.
Lion’s Gate Bridge, Vancouver, Canada We went through Porlier Pass with a gentle assist from the
current and headed south to Montague Harbor on Galiano Island. Montague
Harbor was a place we anchored at for a few days in June 2001 when we were
doing our circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. As I recall it was a bit
warmer then. Depending on the weather we might stay here for a night or two
before continuing south. It is nice to be out 'on the hook'. 9/23, South Pender Island, BC, Canada 48 44.854 N, 23 13.672 W, Poet's Cove, South Pender Island We stayed two nights at Montague Harbor. On Wednesday Rich
baked an apple pie from the apples Libby had given us. It was delicious and
made the inside of the boat smell great. It also warmed the boat up too which
helped. This morning we hauled anchor and motored to Bedwell Harbor
on Pender Island. We stopped here over three years ago when we made the
circumnavigation of Vancouver Island on Windarra before leaving Seattle. The
small marina and resort have changed a lot in the mean time. It is now called
Poet's Cove, with condominiums, guesthouses, upscale restaurant, heated pool
and hot tub and a day spa.
Poet’s Cove, South Pender Island
Sea Otter visiting We called US Customs about where to clear customs. We plan
to go to either Roche Harbor or Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Tonight we
had steaks for dinner as we will have to give up any beef and citrus fruits
when we check in. Luckily we don't have much beef on board. So tomorrow Windarra will return to US waters after almost three years away. 9/24, San Juan Island,
Washington N 48 32.611, W 123 00.859, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island,
USA This morning we enjoyed mochas from the small store/snack
bar at Poet's Cove. Afterwards Rich worked on cleaning the brushes on the
refrigeration motor, I did laundry and Sarah did some schoolwork. Unfortunately
cleaning the brushes did not solve all of the issues we were having with the
refrigeration so it looks like some more work is needed. Rich bought some
blocks of ice to keep things cold for now. We gave away our lemons and limes and some ground beef to a
couple with a small child on a sailboat and ate the hot dogs for lunch so now
the boat is beef-free. Just after noon we headed out to cross the invisible border
between Canada and the USA. Shortly afterwards we ran into some fog and I got
a chance to exercise my skills on the radar. The end of the fog bank was just
before the entrance to Friday Harbor. With our quarantine flag raised we tied
to the Customs dock and cleared through. Windarra is now officially back in
the USA.
Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington We are anchored on the north side of the harbor with a
great view of Mt Baker in the distance, very picturesque. Tomorrow the plan is to head
to Port Townsend. 9/25, Port Townsend,
Washington 48 06.451N, 122 46.403 W, Port Townsend Today was an exercise in motoring by Braille. Our navigation software was using the GPS information to tell us where we were on the chart, the radar was telling us what contacts were around us but all we could see above the water was fog! There was little or no breeze so the water was smooth with a few ripples. Visibility was about 200 yards in any direction. We could hear the foghorns in the distance. Sometimes we would see ghostlike images of ships passing us. Since the entrance to Admiralty Inlet is one of the busiest places on the west coast for shipping, it was a little disconcerting. We did see seals with large fish in their mouths, sea gulls and tern riding on the water and one pilot whale. We finally broke out of the fog when we turned around Point Hudson and motored by downtown Port Townsend. The surrounding area was still shrouded in fog. At 2:30pm we tied to a slip in the commercial area of the marina. Alcyone, who we have not seen since Papeete, is further in the marina. We are connected to the internet via a wireless connection provided by S2S Wireless at $6.95 for 24 hours unlimited data transfer. That is how we are sending this email right now! 9/27, Seattle, Washington N 47 40.840, W 122 24.348,Shilshole Bay Marina, Seattle On Sunday we did a few chores. Rich repaired the refrigeration (YEAH!), Sarah did schoolwork and I did some laundry. In the evening, Charlie, Gayle and Hannah of Bonheur came down to visit. The last time we saw them was in Brisbane before they left for the US in December of 2003. We purchased the 'Boatmobile' from Charlie and Gayle. We helped put their boat on the Dockwise ship in January. They took us out to the Port Townsend Brewery Co. There we met their son Ezra and some friends Brigette and Kelsey. We all went to the Chinese restaurant at Point Hudson for dinner. It was great to catch up with them and see how they have adjusted to life on the dirt. This morning we left Port
Townsend in the fog and motored / motor sailed our way back to Seattle. We
skirted the shipping lanes until the fog cleared enough so we could cross
them safely. By 3pm we were tied to the guest moorage dock at Shilshole Bay
Marina. 10/4 Seattle, Washington Shilshole Bay Marina, Seattle, H-1 Now we are at the end of H dock, a long Par 5 from the bathrooms and showers but a nice view when the tide is in and we can see over the breakwater. From here we can hear the sea lions barking and bellowing. We are getting ourselves acclimatized. We took our scuba gear and boogie boards to the storage unit. A quick shove and pull down fast on the door was needed. A sorting of the stuff in the storage unit is definitely one of the tasks to be added to our list of to-dos. It is nice to have a bit more room though. The boat got a good wash down also. I found two chicken bones that the crows had left on the foredeck. How rude! Sarah is busy studying for her PSATs she will take soon. Rich and I have been giving lots of encouragement. She is also working on her schoolwork as well. We have been in contact with Jet Pets and expect Katmandu to return home on Oct 8, via Sydney and Los Angeles. We have missed him and can hardly wait for him to return. We even bought some of his favorite kitty treats to show him how much we miss him. Of course he will probably meow with an Aussie accent by now and will hock up a hairball just to let us know how he felt about being left in Brisbane. Cats are such loving animals! 10/16 Seattle, Washington Shilshole Bay Marina, Seattle, H-1 Last Friday Rich and I went down to Sea-Tac Airport to pick up
Katmandu. He had flown from Brisbane to Sydney with an overnight in Sydney
including a vet check, then a non-stop flight to Los Angeles with an over
night stop there as well. Early Friday morning he flew from Los Angeles on to
Seattle. We first went to the airport baggage claim area. The folks at United
baggage claim sent us to the United Air Cargo building just north of the
terminal. In a small waiting room we waited. The person handling imports, as
Katmandu was coming in from Australia he was an import, gave us some
paperwork to take to US Customs. This was a short drive to the north end of
the runway. There the Customs official asked a few questions, stamped the
paperwork and sent us back to United Air Cargo. Of course all of this time it
is pouring down rain. We put Katmandu in his shipping case in the backseat
and drove north to Shilshole Bay Marina and Windarra. He was in full form
meowing about his trip. He must have saved his voice for us. He was happy to
be back on the boat or at least out of the shipping case. Sarah and I gave
him many brushings and there were plenty of kitty treats for him to eat when
he was not drinking copious amounts of water.
Mandu returning from Australia It is good to have him home. He walked around checking to make sure
anything was as he remembered it. I think he noticed that Jesse was not here
and looked for him. Unfortunately he developed a cold. The next day he started sneezing
and wheezing. He is not a happy camper. He managed to sail across the Pacific
Ocean, visit many countries (not often on land) but he gets sick upon
returning to Seattle! Sarah and I took him to the Cat Clinic and received
some antibiotics to give him. Giving him the pills is at least a two-person
job as he is very adept at spitting it out. Rich tried hiding it in some food
including a kitty treat but Katmandu saw through the trick and left the pill
behind. So every morning and evening we try a new technique to give Katmandu
his pill. He is starting to look better already but he is pitiful when he
sneezes, at least three times in a row. On Wednesday Sarah took her PSATs at Seattle Academy, her old school.
She was nervous for the test and is glad it is over with. She got a chance to
visit some of her old teachers and renew some acquaintances. She is much
different from the person who left over three years ago. We sent two packages to Jesse. One had books and items he left on the
boat to be shipped to him later and the other was filled with treats and
snacks. Poptarts were a requested item along with mint milanos. We enjoy his
calls and hearing about how school is going. He is enjoying his boxing class
and works out when he has a chance. Most of the days have been cool and foggy in the morning but the sun
burns off the clouds during the day and it is quite nice. Yesterday the rains
started. This is the weekend of the Puget Sound Sailing Championships, two
days of races we remember from days long past. Unfortunately today was a rainy
light air day. We sympathized with the folks going out to race, remembering
the sunny t-shirt and shorts weather we enjoyed in the South Pacific. No worries, Rich, Elaine, Sarah and Sneezy (aka Katmandu) SV Windarra Seattle … to be
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