Dave woke up early again and realized we would hit perfect slack if he got moving. On goes the engine, up comes the anchor and we are off by 6:15. We have just shy of a six hour cruise and slack at Malibu Rapids is at noon. Perfect. The weather was typical Fourth of July - low clouds, mist but little wind. The wind did pick up to about 15-20 mph in the late morning. It was a following sea so the boat was smooth as could be. We made it to the rapids right on schedule and passed through with no noticeable current. That makes 2 out of 3 times - Dave's score is getting better. We decide to pick up a mooring buoy at MacDonald's Island to avoid the inevitable crowds up at Chatterbox Falls.
Melissa stayed in her pajamas the entire day. Dave puttered around in the kayak and dinghy. We heard what we thought were seals playing so Dave grabbed the spotting scope. All be danged - there was a Golden Retriever swimming about half mile in the middle of the channel. It was barking at the seals that came over to look over this odd swimming creature. What was a dog doing swimming a half mile from the nearest boat? Dave jumped in the dinghy (so did the neighbor) and went to rescue the dog. We made it as far as the other neighbor's boat and came to learn that their dog just does that sometimes. He said if the dog did not come back soon, he would go and fetch it in his kayak (his kids had the dinghy up at the falls). Retrieve a retriever? Odd. I offered our dinghy if he needed to get out there quicker or to actually pick up the dog. About an hour later, he decides his dog has had enough for the day and he paddled out. He came back with the dog following him. Amazing - that dog must have swum for miles. After a quick stop at the island (apparently dogs do not pee in the water like kids do), the dog swam over to the boat where he was ordered to say on the swim platform until he dried off a bit. The dog complied, even looked a little guilty for creating such a stir.
It is lovely up here. We have views of no less than 12 waterfalls coming down off of the snow covered peaks. The beauty of this place only increases as we spend more time. The enviable question was asked - why are we leaving and going home? We discuss how much we love this boat. It is so comfortable and has just about everything. That is, everything but a water maker. Melissa is determined to use all 400+ gallons of water before we finish the trip. According to the gauge, we are at about 250 gallons left with 5 full days to go. Hmmm. This will be close - might need to fill up on the way back.
Weather: Low clouds, misty with some showers. Clouds tried to break up at the end of the day but only managed a few sun breaks. Winds were 15-20 mph outside, calm at the anchorage.