Family Evening Sail

This was a very small trip, but worth noting. It was one of the best sailing trips we've had as a family. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to go after dinner. The breeze was on the light side, but steady. I forgot to check the tide chart before we left and mistakenly decided the tide was going out when, instead, it was coming in.

Our trip was simple. We headed out of the harbor, straight for point defiance. About a half a mile from the point, we turned around and headed back. This is when I realized the current had swept us a bit south. Had I guessed the tide correctly, we would have headed more north to compensate. Oh well.

We ended up motoring back because the winds had also gotten a little light. Everyone did really well, and the length of the entire expedition (from home to home) was 2 hours and 50 minutes. I hope we get to do it again.

A couple of side notes. Sophia fell asleep (something she's never done in a moving vehicle). Tiffany really enjoyed steering the boat, and Aubrey-Anne and Camille kept themselves entertained with a spitting contest. True sailors.

Tall Ship Festival

Well, matey's, it's been too long. Too many great sailing days have come and gone and summer is quickly passing by. It's already been 2 weeks since the Tacoma tall ships festival. What a great event!!!! I only got to see the beginning, but it sounded like every day was fun. At least 10 or more tall wooden ships attended. I was able to sail out in our little boat with a friend and his daughters and watch the tall ships come in up close and personal. I messed up just about every photo (using my new telephoto lens). Only this one turned out okay.


Our route to the parade took us close by Point Defiance which was a big mistake. The tide was going out full force, and that combined with all the wake from other boats, created some pretty squirrelly waves and strong currents. Luckily the parade was delayed an hour or we would have been late. As it turned out, we got there just as it started.

The parade route was marked off by boats with red flags. Hundreds of boats were clusted along the parade route (especially at the starting point). It was quite the experience being amongst all those boats, navigating while trying to watch a parade. It was all worth it though.

The boats were great to see up close, and the wind kicked up as it was time to leave so we had a nice sail home. I should mention that in the morning we had no wind and were reduced to motoring.