There's just something about the water

I'm not sure what it is. The waves, the sounds, the smells, the deadly sea monsters...

So yesterday my office took a "professional development day" where we got together and did some "team building exercises" as an office. I don't know how many of you are familiar with this process, but in layman's terms - We left work at 10 am piled into Chris' Suburban and went to Kitsap Lake to go water skiing and tubing. It was gorgeous: mountains rising all about, blue sky, a gentle breeze, good friends. I remarked to my buddy Steve, "There's just something about the water. I don't think I could just sit on my front lawn for an hour or two, but here..." Or, for example, I can't really imagine going out and sitting in my car, watching people walk by... but sitting in a boat on the water just makes me relaxed. The watersports were a ton of fun, but I was fairly content to just sit for a while and watch the world go by. I don't know how many times "Man, this is the life" was said on the lake, but I know it was at least once. If I have 6 days like yesterday on my boat, than all the paint and suffering will have been worth it. (Of course, I'm saying this at a point in time when I haven't yet started the paint and suffering... but I'm not gonna let that get in the way of my dream.) So, I guess the summary here is that I like water, and I like boats. Which is good. Cause I'm spending a fair piece of (someone else's (I wish)) money to get one.

As Jessi said (or typed, I spose) I went and leased my slip. This is where I will call home for the months of July and August. Unfortunately you have more of a chance of getting into Heaven (you dirty sinner), than getting peremanent moorage in the Seattle area. So, I have to sub-lease. This is actually easy to do up here because this is such a "cruise heavy" area. In the winter, a group of people untie and head south, so you can stay in their slips... and in the summer, people go to Alaska, so you can stay in their slips. The slip I found is in Kingston, WA; A small waterfront (obviously) town across Puget Sound from Edmonds, which is north of Seattle, but south of Everett. For those of you who don't know where Puget Sound, Edmonds, Everett or even Seattle are located, just click here. It is a 50' covered slip in the Port of Kingston, which is a public dock. It's got gated entry and a whole mess of facilities... like showers, laundry, wireless internet access, even a dog poop area, which will be very nice, what with having a dog and all. If you look at this picture, my slip is just about where the capital P is in "Pump Station." This is fantastic, because it gives me PLENTY of room to not be good at mooring my boat. Also on the picture, from where it says "Marina Park" there is a spectacular view of Mt. Ranier, on a clear day. The marina is about 12 miles from where I work, and about 16 nautical miles to downtown Seattle. So I can leave work, go home, throw my lines and be moored downtown in about 1.5 to 2 hours. Best piece of waterfront property in the Seattle area, a floating piece.


Port of Kingston 

I'm so excited and, quite frankly, amazed that all of this seems to be actually coming together. I'm nervous though, cause I don't feel like I'll actually be free and clear of the whole thing falling apart until I have the boat in my hand. Kind of. Or I guess in my slip. I will be holding my breath until the first week of July.

Wish me luck.

-Tom