Double-up

This was a cold day. You can sort of tell Federico is a little annoyed to still be out on the water, and this R.Kelly/snoop-dog duet wasn't sweetening the pot at all.

just a couple dudes in a cockpit

barge

Due to low harvest numbers in Marine Area 10, crabbing season has been extended till January.
Lately, we have been baiting the pot with whole chickens. Sometimes when you pull in the pot, it's still just the chickens.

Garrison Keillor adds a warm touch to the liveaboard lifestyle. Before I moved onto the boat - I liked Garrison enough, he was not an unwelcome part of the weekend.

But now it is different.
Garrison and me are like homeboys on the open seas. I now have nothing but time for his long winded stories about a bunch of regular joes holding down stools at a coffee shop in Lake Wobegon. Even the 'Guy Noir' skit seems funnier.

This is the first fish caught while under sail. The fish is a bottom feeder, a starry flounder, caught with a piece of turkey near a sewage outlet in the Piper's Creek watershed of Puget Sound. Steve and I ate this fish because we were hungry. We could have eaten the piece of turkey, but we ate the flounder.
This flounder is a humbling stepping stone on the path towards the real thing. The real thing is to catch a salmon while sailing. That's the real thing -

unflappable speaker

In the past year, many components of the boat have broken and required maintenance. This speaker, however, this low-end indoor speaker remains unperturbed by the maritime environment.
This speaker is all heart

dispensing local knowledge

Micah has an expansive knowledge base and is familiar with the sound of others graciously deferring to his expertise. In this 1 minute impromptu clip Micah asserts authority on the following subjects:

1. Directional traffic of commercial barges in Puget Sound shipping lanes.
2. The majestic nature of Mt. Ranier
3. The height (ft.) of Mt. Ranier
4. The height (ft.) of Mt. Ranier in comparison to Mt. Shasta
5. The reason for human error in thinking the mountains are of equal height (sea-level bias)
6. The distance (miles) from Seattle to Mt. Ranier (as the crow flies)
7. The time (hrs.) driving from Seattle to Mt. Ranier (along curved roads or 'rat-holes')

Barker negotiates both time and space.

Claire and Joel deftly ride 2-3 foot swells

a query

As Zach and I were puttering out of a Canadian harbor, we passed this behemoth tanker. It was an Arabic tanker, covered with Arabic writing and Muslim icons. It struck me that I had never seen that in America. I may be out of my mind, but has anyone seen a clearly marked Arabian tanker in an American Harbor since 9/11?

I know we are receiving Middle Eastern resources, but are they arriving in vessels decorated with Arabian designs and the word Iran? I wonder if this is an overlooked fine print rule that came with the Homeland Security Act. Yes to oil but from now on deliver it in unmarked packages.

Dan Dan the Drummer Man

Dan plays drums for a bunch of Seattle bands. He once toured with Iron and Wine and opened for The Shins. But all that stuff means nothing to him, he's in it for the music. He's in it for the beat.
I think this clip captures that.

Logistics

Part of being a good cruising skipper is finding out where we will drop anchor for the evening. I often overlook this part, then scramble at the last minute.