Trying to keep up with this journal, whew. I think of writing so much more than I do. But there have been some milestones in my sailing life so here's an update:
June 28th: Bonnie, Mo and I went sailing. The wind was from the north at about 12 mpg...more than we'd had before. Since the marina sits to the south of the lake, a northerly wind has plenty of time to build as it's coming down the water. As we tried to back out with the motor in reverse, our rudder kept hitting the bottom of the lake or just tangling in the milfoil around the shore. Result: stuck and then being blown southward...toward a row of other boats. We managed to push off them, got into a little deeper water and pulled away. While we were sailing it was glorious. But when we tried to come back to the slip...motor died, rudder stuck and back into the boats just south of our slip we went. VERY anxiety provoking. Some guys on the side started yelling and came to help, unfortunately one had been drinking and was loud and just about sent the crew over the edge. I mostly tried to ignore him while I tried to keep the motor running, back up, get us untangled from an anchor line from one of the boats. One of the most stressed out 5-10 minutes I've had in a long time. Finally we got headed the right way and paddled, and pushed our way back in.
One guy-very composed through all of this-suggested trying to just use the motor to guide and not use the rudder at all in the very tight moorage.
June 30. I HAD to get back out there and try it again. I kept running the incident over in my mind trying to figure out everything that went wrong. So Mo agreed (thankfully) and we went to just get her in and out of the moorage. No rudder, just the motor. Lowered the keel just a turn or two from the entirely raised posititon. It WORKED. Not easy to steer the boat but doable. She sort of wallows around and tips from side to side without the rudder down. But we took her in and out of the slip 4 or 5 times. I was so grateful for the advice. Haven't seen the fellow since to thank him, but I will.
July 7, 8.
I was dinking around on the WWW with the words Seattle, anchorage, moorage, guest moorage, etc. when I discovered that Seward Park has an anchorage spot that is very popular in the summer. The way Bailey Peninsula juts out into Lake WA creates a bay-within a lake. Very sheltered. Andrews Bay is only about 5 miles from my slip and probably 5 miles from home. I hatched a plan to sail up to Seward Park on Monday the 7th and anchor and spend the night and then sail back on Tuesday. The wind was predicted at about 9 mph from the NE for both days. Just exactly where I was heading but i figured it would give me lots of opportunity to tack :)

Indeed. I set sail at 12 noon on Monday and sailed til about 8 p.m. solid. Here's a shot of the northerly approach. I was in heaven the whole time. Didn't eat much, forgot to drink enough water, but loved every minute. Until about 7 p.m. when the winds really picked up and it was blowing about 12 mph. or so. I was supposed to meet Mo and Marie at the Stan Sayre dock for a cup o' joe so I had to dock the boat. Brought the jib down, couldn't tack without it. Had to jibe a few times. Finally brought the mainsail down and slowly motored in. Mo came with coffee and encouragement which was even more important. I'm not sure I could have done it without Mo coming and encouraging me. At the Sayre's dock, I was very nearly ready to just sit there for the evening. But the boat was being pulled by the wave action so violently, I knew I couldn't stay...I rested for a bit and then motored down to the anchorage -only a few hundred few away. I did get to see this homemade paddle wheeler launch









Mo watched from the parking lot at Seward Park til I was secure. Anchoring went easier than I expected. The bay is shallow -only about 30-50 feet so I gave it plenty of scope and she held! I spent the night getting up probably ten times to make sure we were good. Not much sleep but happy. At 7 a.m. the next mooring, I easily raised the anchor and set sail quietly. Sailed for about 5 hours back to the slip, where I was able to dock singlehandedly for the first time. I was so happy/sad the trip was over. My fatigue was huge, but so was my satisfaction. Coming back the next day was just beautiful in every way. Lessons learned: I can do it. It's funny, there was so much time to think, but all I thought about except for fleeting ideas was sailing. How to get the tell tales just right, ways to adjust the tiller, watching the sails fill or luff. I didn't plan my life or think of much of any consequence. Just sailed and watched the birds, the occasional fish, the bank, listened to the boat hum or groan and the water slipping under the hull.

July 11
We went for a late night 6 p.m. sail. Very brisk wind, lots of chop. Even some whitecapping. Didn't get the boat out far enough, so when I cut the motor to to get the rudder on, she blew right into the shallow southern end of the lake, causing many problems. The rudder is a beast of 5' of mahogany so it's hard to manage. Some communication problems between us. Must do a better job of talking through what needs doing. As soon as we got out, we had dinner of a salad with chicken breasts. Big mistake. Mo got immediately nausious-which comes from the Greek word for ship- and almost hurled. We managed to bring it in without mishap but it was a lot of anxiety and struggle. Lessons learned: take her further north when the wind is strong and the waves are bigger. Give yourself more time to get everything under control with plenty of water under her.
July 12
Took Mo's dad out for a sail. We were nervous just because of his age and getting him in and out of the boat. He loved every minute. So did we. Lesson learned: 81 is not too old to go out for a day of sailing.