This weekend was busy for Bryan and I. We had signed up for our two-day Intro to Sailing course with the Seattle Sailing Club out of the Shilshole bay marina next to Golden Gardens. From 9-5pm Saturday and Sunday we were sailing, and learning a ton! We had such a great time, it was very therapeutic and relaxing but also educational and draining in a way. Saturday morning we started with about an hour or two inside learning all of the parts of the boat and sail. This was really the only time we were inside the whole weekend. Our class was eight people and two instructors and when we went out on our boats we broke off into four with one instructor. Bryan and I were paired up with a Turkish couple who were relatively quiet and inexperienced sailors but nice and our awesome skipper Roger, a cool old guy originally from Wisconsin who has been sailing and flying planes all of his life. He was so awesome and patient! We spent one hour visually learning the boat and sail, knowing how to board, etc. Then it was a short lunch time to eat our packed sandwich lunches at the picnic tables overlooking the marina before we went on our first sail. Saturday afternoon’s sail was definitely a learning experince. We were learning how to do the points of sail, docking and undocking, putting up the sails and taking them down, positioning the main sail and the jib sail, and working as a crew. We alternated positions; taking the helm, the main sail, and the two jib sheets in turns. The wind picked up by the end of the day to really get a taste for the pace of the boat.
We did not get home on Saturday until 11pm however. Our friends Luis and Carina, not only date but share their birthdays a few days apart. They planned a brewery crawl through Fremont and Ballard, starting at 2pm on Saturday. We changed into going out attire in the parking lot and met up with them at 5pm, two breweries in. From there we joined them at Stoops Brewing, Reubens Brews, The Peddler, Hilliards Beers, and Conor Byrnes. Except for the first brewery that I got a full pint of their Porter, I stuck to sampler glasses everywhere else. It was a good time as most breweries are inside/outside venues and a lot of corn hole and other lawn games to play. We finally made it to their place of choice for dinner, Kickin Boot Whiskey and Kitchen, at 9pm, and I was hangry! Polly and I shared the large platter of brisket with broccoli casserole, summer squash, and fingerling potatoes. The sauce was good, the barbecue and sides were not so great. But by this point I was just tired and getting out group of 16 people fed and paid for took a while. Bed time.
Sunday was another day on the water and this time we were not messing around. After a brief lecture on “Rules of the Road” and navigation on the water we set off to sail. The morning was primarily spent practicing our turns in a Man Overboard exercise. We had a bobber named Bob that we must have saved 10 times. Around noon we headed in to dock at the opposite end of the marina and had lunch all together at the Little Coney and go over some of the exam questions. I had the fish and chips which were fresh and great and Bryan had the Hawaiian burger and a chocolate milkshake. The rest of our afternoon was doing whatever we wanted on the water and finally racing the other boat in the class…we won! We came back to take our exam; Bryan scored a 99 while I scored a 98. We received our log books and sailed on our merry way, well drove home.
Sunday night although burnt out and burnt we made a nice dinner of grilled Rub with Love salmon and jerk shrimp, corn on the cob, grilled zucchini and mushrooms, and homemade guac. One more week until we move. Bryan hasn’t packed a thing!
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 