Wayfare by Water: Powerboat Rendezvous

In the Locks

Our first big adventure on little Wayfare (as I affectionately call her) took place this past weekend with the SYC (Seattle Yacht Club) on Bainbridge Island at Port Madison. Port Madison is one of 9 SYC outstations. We partook in our first big weekend, Powerboat Rendezvous (aka Powerboat Round-Up), since being new members of only 6 weeks. We had our cowboy hats packed and ready to go! I rushed out of work in hopes of getting to our destination at a decent time, but that was not the case. We had a successful first trip together through the Ballard Locks. For those not in the know, the Locks allow you to go from fresh water to salt water and vice versa. We got out of the locks and off we went cruising through the Puget Sound with our dinghy on back and my kayak on the swim step. Not 5 minutes out of the locks, I look back and the kayak is gone! I start yelling to Jason to turn around and get it and he asks where is the dinghy. Oops, I didn’t even look as I was more concerned about my prescious kayak that I was so excited to purchase when I moved up here. The dinghy was hanging on for dear life by one it’s stand offs. J got a line for the dingy and tied it to the boat, so now 1 item was retrieved. Now, we had to get the kayak. J gave me the boat hook to use and grab it, but I missed the first time. A few more tries later, I got it! We retrieved the kayak, layed it in the cockpit and off we went. Mission accomplished. The boat was rocking and with the swells being pretty rough, I started to feel the sea sickness coming on. Luckily, I recovered quickly. We finally arrived after having to slow down to 8 knots since we were towing the dinghy, but when we arrived we were greeted warmly, tied up, and got our drink on. The weekend was a success – filled with meeting new members, young and old. I will say that I found everyone to be very friendly and welcoming, which put me more at ease. After the weekend festivities were over, we ventured to the other side of Bainbridge Island and went to Eagle Harbor, another one of the 9 outstations. We freshened up and grabbed lunch at Doc's Bar and Grill, wandered around the town a bit, hit up an amazing candy store, and then back to the boat. We had a new member BBQ to attend at the Elliot Bay outstation. We met some more members of the club, learned more about each outstation and about how to get involved. The club affectionaly says they are a drinking club with a boating problem. I think we will fit right in :) 3 outstations in one weekend – I think we are off to a great start of exploring the PNW!