Labor Day weekend was coming up and we really didn’t have plans given our life with baby now. We knew we were going to be at Angela’s parents house on Saturday for her dad’s birthday, so we decided to build some plans around it. We decided to sail up to the Everett marina on Friday, spend Saturday with Angela’s family, and then meet up with Derek and Diane and spend the night in Penn Cove (near Coopville) before heading back to Seattle on Monday.
2025-08-29
With a baby, everything takes at least 4 times longer - packing up for a 4 day trip on the boat is no exception. We also had a DR appointment for Sara in the morning, so at the crack of 2p - we finally pulled away from the dock (with the boat about half stowed and ready to go).
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We did get things more situated as we made our way north. Jane was the newest member of the crew and she had some special needs - the first of which was a bed! We brought along a bassinet for her that was just the right size.
She spent a good part of the day napping - turns out that the sea life really agrees with her. She just slept away with the rocking boat - occasionally waking to eat and then cuddling happy as we rocked back and forth.
Sara, of course, posted up in her favorite spot. She crafted away, making bracelets and anklets for all of us to wear. She even made one for Diane - to be delivered in Penn Cove.
We experimented with Jane’s life jacket. We decided that she only needed to wear it when she left her bassinet and wasn’t down below. She seemed to really enjoy wearing it though - like a little fluffy jacket giving her a hug.
Sara and I spent a good amount of time on watch - We are sailing buddies and we traded turns keeping an eye out while Angela took care of Jane. Her attention span is a bit short still, so I had to keep an eye on her when she was on watch - but it allowed me to do some tasks, which was helpful.
We pulled into the marina around 4p - Grammy and Pappa came out to meet us on their dinghy and lead us into the slip. We ended up using one of Pappa’s friends slips who was up north - so we ended up looking pretty silly with our 34 foot boat in a 45 foot slip. Docking was very easy though!
We grabbed dinner at the local brewery and rode back to Angela’s parents house afterwards. Jane, having slept all day, was very awake as we laid down to rest - we were in for a night!
2025-08-30
The next day, we slept in as much as we could - but still ended up waking pretty sleep deprived. Fortunately, we didn’t have a ton to do today and had a slow and easy breakfast before everyone showed up for Scott’s birthday at 1p.
We left at around 6p from the picnic and headed back to the boat - We met up with Derek and Diane for some after dinner drinks. They had arrived a few hours prior and grabbed a slip on the guest docks.
After dinner, we headed back to the boat and Sara got some cuddle time with Jane as we moved back onto the boat and got things prepped for departing the next day.
Jane, of course, far prefers her human bed over the real one. We played a delicate balance between helping her fall asleep and then transitioning her to the basinet.
2025-08-31
The following morning, we departed at a totally respectable hour of 8a - at almost exactly the same time as Derek and Diane. We didn’t have a long move today, but we were excited to get there early so we could putter around town all afternoon.
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The sail to Penn Cove was pretty short and we had a blast on the way. About mid way through the morning, a huge downpour hit us - complete with some very close and very loud lighting - which was not fun for anyone.
Happy PNW labor day! Buckets of rain came down in short bursts for most of the morning.
And then it was over. Moya let us overtake them (they are the slightly faster boat) and we pulled in to trip anchor. We got some great shots as we overtook them.
Then Coopville was in sight! Coopville has a dock, but it’s pretty shallow water and it’s usually full. We also prefer anchor, so that’s just what we did.
After getting situated, we took a dinghy ride into town - we actually took two. Sara and I went first and then I came back for Sara and Jane (who got really hungry right when we dropped anchor). We threw Jane in her lifejacket again and she just loved it.
We had brought some groceries from Everett with us, but Derek and Diane didn’t have enough to make dinner. We discussed going out to eat for a bit and then decided the better option would be to head to the grocery store - which was a short 3/4 of a mile away. It was hot though - this turned out to not be an easy walk. Jane slept in the front pack most of the way.
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We came back after grabbing groceries and headed back to the tandem anchored boats - Boat Buddies!!
We cooked dinner on our respective boats - we had hot dogs and corn on the cob while Derek and Dianne made steak and mussels. We were a little jealous, but we shared across the boats and had a great meal. Sara also got a chance to give Diane her bracelet - which she was very excited about.
After dinner, we invited Derek and Diane over for a game of unexploded cow - and then off to bed!
2025-09-01
I always like looking at the anchor watch in the morning - we drifted all over the place during the night, but the weather was dead calm and we slept really well. Even Jane - who seems to really love the rocking of the boat - slept an epic 5.5 hours. We need to go out on the boat more often.
We had a long trip back to Bainbridge - 9 hours and 13 min in total, but about 30 min of that was stopping off in Edmonds for fuel and a quick potty break for Oakley. I realized about halfway through the trip that we need to get a new raw water pump. I had noticed it was leaking a few months ago and changed out the gasket, but it’s still leaking and getting worse - I expect the water is rusting it a bit and we just need to replace it to stop the leak. Thankfully, we have a big off season for that!
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This was probably our last big trip of the season (which felt like it just started given our late start with Jane), but hopefully we get 1-2 more weekend trips before the weather cools. Happy Sailing!