2018 Emerald Star Cruise

We haven’t been here for many years.   It is a huge harbor with lots of good anchoring spots with excellent holding in mud.    We put the dinghy down so we could go exploring and get the dogs off the boat.  We were really forward to this.  It would be the first time the dinghy was down this season. The engine wouldn't start.  Fred figured out the engine wasn't getting fuel.  He tried everything he could think of but it was no joy..     There were 15 boats here by 10 pm with plenty of room for all of us and more.

We knew we could not stay rafted to this sailboat any longer so we prepared to let go of the lines.   Fred went aboard the sailboat and loosened the bow line.   Of course, the bow of the sailboat moved out and away from us.    Fred then let loose of the stern line, planning to jump back aboard Emerald Star.   Fate had other plans.   While Fred’s hands were on the gunnel of our boat the sailboat drifted quickly away with Fred’s feet still aboard.   The inevitable happened.   Fred saw that he was suspended between both boats and said “going into the water”.   Fred was convinced he was going to die, really..  He was wearing sweats and they tried to pull him under.   The water is very cold up here this time of year.   He moved to the swim platform and I rigged up a line for him to hang onto so he wouldn’t be pulled away by the current.   Our swim platform is too high off of the water for anyone to get back aboard.  ...

While Fred was in the cockpit having his evening cigar he saw that we had drifted very close to a sailboat on a mooring buoy.   The is no one on the sailboat.   It is dark and we do not have good lighting to attempt to re-set the anchor and the wind was blowing pretty good.   We decided that the safest thing to do was to raft to this boat for the night.   We were securely attached but Fred slept very poorly worrying about the situation.

Sea trial to assess the major mechanical work that was done last month due to our "grounding" last summer outside of Ketchikan.

Emerald Star went into the water and we headed over to   Anacortes Marina , slip A 20.  The owner of this slip in this private  marina has his boat out of the water and we are free to use it for  a week.  

The dreaded Costco run.  The trip is traumatic because of the expense and then having to stow the stuff on the boat.

We checked out of the motel and moved aboard Emerald Star.   She is on the hard in Yard 2.   We have never lived aboard while the boat is on the hard before, but it is quite pleasant.   We were given a gate key so we could come and go as we please.   The yard is gravel over dirt so we can use the shower and the sink.   The boat is mass confusion inside.  We cleared the bed, the salon chaise and the galley so we could at least function