2021 On the river
This year is different for us. Canada is not yet open due to covid so we
stayed home and took in a couple of the Club cruises, a short one in April to
the Bartlett’s Landing with Gareth, Matt, Laura, Chris and Ally, Cathy and Tom
and then a week or so on “Lazy Days.” At
Bartlett’s Landing, hanging out on the dock was great fun. We enjoyed dinner and lots of Jamison’s with
Gareth before everyone else arrived. The
next evening, we shared dinner, beverages and good conversation.
We’ve joined the Lazy Days cruise that we always hear so much about. We spend the first night in Martin Slough, rafted up to Chris and Ally’s “Raven.” Chris is thankful for our long dock lines. It is obvious that the group is well accustomed to these gatherings as the shade screens are up and the chairs are down on the dock and everyone is simply enjoying swapping stories and beverages.
The dock was very choppy and we did not get a good
night’s rest, but today is a new day and we head to Cathlamet, noting that our
“Refuge” anchorage is 8.6 NM from Walker dock.
Chris again leads the gaggle through the up river approach to
Cathlamet.
Our plan is to spend one night in Cathlamet and then return. Carl’s brother Jim joins the boat after his ferry ride and we depart for Westport slough, the plan being to anchor out. We go past the new Westport dock that is under construction and mosey up the slough. We try numerous times to set the anchor but just continue to drag so we decide to head back to Cathlamet. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable day with some sailing to and from. We encounter Norwegian Cruise Lines “Pride of America,” the largest cruise ship we have seen on the Columbia.
The next day Jim and Carl put the sailing kit on ET3 and head up the slough for a nice afternoon of dinghy sailing. Jim departs for home and we get ready for the club’s pizza feed at the dock. Members drive in to meet those of us who have arrived by boat. Pizza, planned by Chris and Ally, is devoured and many of us retreat to the local pub “River Mile 38” for a few rounds, and we enjoy their stout beer. We finish the evening with a gathering at Matt and Laura and Ben and Mary’s boats where the club musical talent shines through. Very enjoyable.
July 23, 2021
We depart the group and Cathlamet and head for Rainier to
pick up family. We tie up to the dock
and soon see Zach, Sam, Aiden and Viv coming down the ramp. Aiden has a huge grin on his face and says,
“I don’t remember all the things that we did on the boat last year I just
remember that I really enjoyed my time on the boat with you two.” Be still my heart! Aiden spent 2 months with us in 2020 taking
in all of the South Puget Sound as reflected in my earlier blog entries.
We head back to the Walker dock thinking that will be a nice area for using the dinghy and doing some fishing. The dock is quite crowded but people help us tie up in a tight squeeze. CJ and Roxanne are there and then Chris S and his son Maxwell also arrive. Zach and Aiden sail the dinghy off and on and the rest of us enjoy hanging out on the boat and the dock. We love having family on board and are glad that they got to join us.
On the 25th we load up mid-day and head back
to Rainier. Along the way we are hailed
on the VHF by the NCL “Pride of America,” we are not positive their concern as
we are well out of the channel but when a 955’ long vessel requests you give
them more room, you give them more room!
Having safely deposited Zach and his family we take off for the
Multnomah Channel, knowing that high tide is a good time for us to enter the
channel from the down river side. We tie
up at the Gilbert River dock and have a nice visit with Jean and Vic on “Sea
Cloud.” A peaceful evening’s sleep at
this (new to us) spot.
After moseying up the Multnomah Channel we are safely tied up at home around 1100 on the 26th having enjoyed our week plus on the river with family and friends.
And now that I have finally posted 2021 I can get on with 2022!
