Curt handing me the keys to the boat
On October 3rd, I was finally able to take posession of my new boat, and transport it from the Poulsbo Yacht Club on Bainbridge Island to its new home at the Fremont Boat Company, in Fremont. What follows is more of a collection of pictures than a story, with some narration included.
My girlfriend, Deb, was kind enough to take the day off work to participate in this historic event. We met up with my broker, Tori (also fulfilling the insurance required role of "training skipper"), and got a ride to the ferry. After taking the ferry over to Bainbridge, we were picked up by the boat's former owner, Curt, who drove us to the Poulsbo Yacht Club. After taking care of some final items, we were ready to go. We took some pictures with Curt, who was pretty sad to see his boat go. Curt has owned this boat for 23 years, since it was brand new, and has taken extremely good care of it.
Now, with nothing left but the leaving, came the moment of truth. What I was most nervous about in this whole process was maneuvering a 38' sailboat inside the confined marina environment. I've never driven a 38' boat before. In fact, about the only watercraft with a motor that I have driven was a jet-ski, and that ended badly! Fortunately Tori was there to talk me through the process, so we cast off from the dock, and I very carefully backed the boat out of the slip and into the fairway. Encouraged by the fact that I had not hit anything or sunk my new toy, I shifted into forward and we slowly made our way down the fairway.
As we reached the end of the fairway and turned towards the exit of the marina, there were a bunch of harbor seals hanging out on the dock. They were all very cute and squidgy, and looked curiously at us as they wriggled around.
We sailed past the end of the seal dock, out of the marina, and then back past the seals on the other side. With that out of the way, I had a bit of a reprieve before I would need to deal with any more confined maneuvering!
There was really not much wind available, and we were on a bit of a schedule to get the boat back to Seattle before the drawbridges closed. Each day between about 3pm and 6pm, the bridges across the ship canal don't open because its right during rush hour traffic. We needed to get through the locks, and then under two of those bridges before 3pm, so we opted to just motor the whole way. We motored along towards Agate Pass, which would connect us out to Puget Sound.
Once we were through the pass, we just headed across Puget Sound, aiming for Shilshole Bay and the entrance to the Shipping Canal. During this whole process, I asked Tori a bunch of questions in preparation for negotiating the upcoming Ballard Locks. At one point I went below briefly to use the head. During the 1 minute I was gone, Deb and Tori saw some dolphins swimming along beside the boat. Of course they left just before I got back :(
We entered the shipping canal, and waited just below the Ballard Railroad Bridge. This is another drawbridge, just below the locks. It is not subject to the rush hour closing period, since it is a railroad bridge. However, it was closed at the moment, so we had to wait for it to open. According to Tori the operators are very good about opening it, and since we couldn't go into the locks yet anyway, we waited. This began my second test of boat maneuvering: holding the boat in one spot in the center of the canal, not going upstream, or drifting downstream. Doing this required a little work, because the current was not strong enough to leave the boat in gear and idle in one place. So alternately putting the boat in gear for a few seconds, then back into neutral, going forward just enough to have steerage to reposition the boat in the center, then floating back just a few feet, and so on. Eventually the RR bridge opened, and we went through, and repeated the hovering process on the other side, only we were now in a narrower area, with the locks directly ahead of us, and the bridge directly behind us. It took a bit of effort, but was not too bad. Soon the locks opened to allow the traffic coming downstream out. This added another element to look out for as the boats being discharged motored past.
After they were clear, and the 3 other boats waiting in line started slowly upstream, we fell in behind them. As we got closer, the lock workers directed each boat to one side or another. The first boat in, a Bayliner or some similar type of power boat, had some trouble positioning himself, and had to be assised by the workers up on the walls with long lines. After he was in place, the rest of the boats maneuvered in one after another and tied off to the walls of the lock. We were directed to starboard, alongside a fishing boat that was tied up to port. With Tori up front handling the bow line, and Deb handling the stern line, that left me all to myself to try and maneuver was suddenly seemed like a REALLY large boat into a REALLY small space! All went well though, a few inches at a time, until Tori and Deb could toss their lines over the cleats on the wall, and tie them off.
With all the boats in, the lock filled with water, and one at a time discharged the boats upstream. When our turn came, we motored uneventfully out, and up towards the Ballard Bridge. As we got closer, Tori sounded the horn, one long blast followed by one short blast, to signal the bridge tender. The bridge tender sounded a response, and soon the bridge began to open for us, and we passed through.
Onward up the canal we headed, towards our last bridge, the Fremont Bridge. The procedure here is the same, sound the horn, the bridge tender responds, raises the bridge, and through we go.
Now, safely under the Fremont Bridge, we were finally in Lake Union, and just a few hundred yards from the Fremont Boat Co, and the boat's new home! As we approached the fairway leading to my dock, it became apparent that the opening was VERY narrow. With a large power boat moored on the left side of the fairway, and a small sailboat moored on the right, it looked like there was about 11' left, and my boat is nearly 13' wide. However, the people at the marine had assured me it would fit, and Tori said, "Oh yeah, you've got plenty of room!" so I lined the boat up and coaxed it forward just fast enough to maintain steerage. With Tori on one side watching, and Deb on the other, they both claimed I had plenty of room. I still wasn't buying it as it looked like we would wedge ourselves securely between the two boats, but we made it through. Not a lot of room to spare, but enough, I guess. After that, it was time to attempt to parallel park this thing alongside the dock on the left. I managed to perform that task, with some guidance from Tori, and then she and Deb jumped off onto the dock to tie us up. We had made it! My boat was safely in its new home!!!
Well, that's about it! I'm very excited to finally have my new boat in its new home! Many thanks to Deb for taking a bunch of photos during the trip, and for helping out. And, of course, much thanks to Tori, without whom my boat would probably be sitting on the bottom inside the PYC marina! Next up is the endless list of projects that go along with owning a boat, but before that, it might be time for a drink :)