Monthly Archives: September 2013

The Day After The Storm

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anacortes marina fairway

The storm clouds were slow to leave the area today, but the wind finally settled down. The water in the fairway between B Dock and C Dock was completely calm by late afternoon and it was hard to believe that it had been so windy yesterday.

After a very windy and rainy weekend, the storm is finally on its way out of our area. The wind continued to gust this morning, with rain showers that were heavy at times. The wind finally died down by mid-afternoon, even though rain showers are continuing into the evening.

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More Stormy Weather

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Mt. Baker sunrise

On a recent morning when the weather was more settled, we were treated to a spectacular sunrise, and snapped this photo of Mt. Baker. Very inspiring!

Wow! We’re having quite a storm today! Strong winds are howling through our marina and we’re listening to the clanging of halyards on nearby sailboats, as Western Washington is being hammered by a strong fall storm. Our boat is rolling around a bit in the wind gusts, but we feel the boat is secure. We already replaced our summer mooring lines with the winter lines, and to help secure our boat during this storm (and all the winter storms yet to come), we have doubled up the mooring lines that take the most force from the prevailing southeast winds in Anacortes Marina.

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Stormy Weather

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Put cloud photo here Last Sunday we had a rather intense windstorm blow through Western Washington. Winds of 55 mph were reported on Whidbey Island, but even though we had strong wind at Anacortes marina, it wasn’t quite as intense. Most of the wind seemed to average between 20-30 mph, with some gusts approaching 40 mph. The strong winds lasted from early morning until mid-afternoon, and were accompanied by rain squalls and some much cooler weather. The wet weather caused another delay in our waxing efforts. We’ve managed to get about half of the waxing done so far, and hope for some dry breaks in the next few days so that we can get back to the waxing. Since we couldn’t work outside, it was a good opportunity to do more planning/work on the installation of our replacement SiriusXM satellite radio. We decided to mount the new radio on the starboard side of the boat because that’s where the cable from the antenna enters our cabin. But in order to connect it to our onboard stereo system, we had to figure out a way to connect it to our stereo receiver on the port side of the cabin. The satellite radio isn’t a stand-alone audio device. It plays through our stereo system by connecting to our Sony stereo receiver. The satellite radio we replaced had connected to our stereo receiver by transmitting an FM signal to the Sony stereo, but the newer satellite radio offers the option of a direct connection from its earphone jack to an auxiliary input jack on the stereo receiver. The direct connection produces a better signal, so we decided to go that way. In order to directly connect the radio to our stereo receiver, we have to route a cable from the satellite radio on the starboard side of the cabin through the cabinetry and the engine room in order to hide the cable. We finally figured out a good place to mount the radio and the best route for running the cable. We got a good start on this project during the inclement weather, but the actual work will take a little longer.

The storm clouds built Saturday evening in advance of a strong windstorm that blew through on Sunday. This photo was taken from the Anacortes shoreline looking east. Cap Sante is on the far left.

Last Sunday we had a rather intense windstorm blow through Western Washington. Winds of 55 mph were reported on Whidbey Island, but even though we had strong wind at Anacortes Marina, it wasn’t quite as intense. Most of the wind seemed to average between 20-30 mph, with some gusts approaching 40 mph. The strong winds lasted from early morning until mid-afternoon, and were accompanied by rain squalls and some much cooler weather.

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Burgers and A Steam-Powered Fire Engine

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brown lantern ale house

When we finished varnishing last week, we decided to head to the Brown Lantern Ale House for a couple of their great burgers and Mac & Jack’s African Amber Ale. Brown Lantern is one of our favorite places for a casual dinner in Anacortes.

When we’re staying on our boat at Anacortes Marina, we often don’t know when local events are scheduled. Partly because we live in Oregon, but also because we’re usually more focused on getting ready to take the boat somewhere and/or working on the boat and don’t pay attention. However, because we’re in walking distance of everything in town and along the waterfront, we often discover what’s going on by seeing things along our walks.

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Always Something…It’s A Boat

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sunset at anacortes marina

Tonight’s sunset at Anacortes Marina really lit up the sky above the boat houses. Gorgeous!

Our plan was to get varnish on the exterior teak and then, weather permitting, start on waxing the cabin and hull. As soon as we finished varnishing the cap rail, fog and mist set in. It lasted 4 days, and ended with a thunderstorm on Sunday night. We got the varnish supplies put away, but have not been able to get started on the waxing.

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September in Anacortes

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reflections in the marina

We’ve had some nice weather this week, including some colorful sunrises. The glow from this sunrise created some wonderful reflections of the boats and boat houses in the calm water at Anacortes Marina.

Working on maintenance and projects at our house this summer kept us away from our boat in July and August, when we usually set aside time for exterior boat maintenance—varnishing the teak and waxing the cabin and hull. However, in order to protect the boat over the winter months, we still need to take care of the varnishing and waxing, even though it’s September and the weather will make this work more challenging. So, we packed up the car and headed to Anacortes in the middle of September, hoping for some decent weather.

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