Since arriving home in 2015, the longest we have spent on the boat is a two week vacation in Canada. This summer has been a boon. The silver lining to being in quarantine is that we have been able to work and live aboard Apsaras again. Since the July 4th weekend, we’ve been aboard the boat more than we have been home. A total of 5 weeks aboard. But… we are ready to go home. Its hot and we are looking forward to air conditioning.
The original plan for the day was to depart Wollochet Bay early at 8am and head back to Blake Island for the night. But we made great time going through the Narrows. Under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Dave saw 11 knots SOG (Speed Over Ground) because the currents were running so strong (we do ~6 knots through the water). So we arrive back at Blake about 10am. Dave asks if Melissa wants to go instead to Elliot Bay Marina for the night. “Um. Well. Can we just go home?” Dave checks his work schedule as he is currently piloting the boat with his headphones on doing conference calls. (Typical.) “Yeah sure. Why not?”. Melissa finishes up her meetings for the day just about the time its ready to rig the boat for the trip through the locks. We motor up to the lock entrance and the light turns green as we arrive and we drive right into the locks. Its weird doing the locks without all the crowds and onlookers. We tie up neatly. And before you know it are back lake side again. Every bridge opens immediately upon our arrival. Except Montlake. They only open on the half hours. Sheesh. So they made us wait almost 30 minutes. But other than that, we breezed right through. We averaged 6 knots the whole way from the anchorage to Carillon Point marina. And that was with the 30 minute delay. We were home at the dock by 2:30. Unusual, but we will take it! Sometimes its better to be lucky than good!
Melissa unpacks the boat and fridge/freezer. The freezer is a block of ice and needs to be defrosted! Besides, there is nothing at home in the fridge right now. By the time Dave finishes his afternoon meetings and heads for the condo, Melissa has put everything away, taken a nice long cold shower (the air conditioning wasn’t yet really effective in the condo because it was turned off while we were away), and done several loads of laundry. Whew. But nice to be back home!