A Holiday Visit Home

Puget Sound - Winter Morning, ahhh

We arrived in Seattle on November 30^th.  Our dear friend, Lynne Werner, picked us up at the Seattle airport and took us to her lovely home on Perkins Lane overlooking Puget Sound.  (Thanks Lynne and Roger!) It was great to be home.

After a good night’s rest we went to retrieve my car from storage.  We pulled off the cover and yep, my car was still there.  Oops, I forgot I put an anti-theft club on the steering wheel.  Yikes!  I also forgot who had the key.  We jump started the battery and the ever resourceful Bill managed to drive it with the club still on the wheel down the block to the mechanic.  The battery delivery truck just happened to pull up with the right battery and our friend Joel came by with the necessary keys, I walked a block to renew my tabs, and we were good to go.  The car ran fine and wasn’t infested with mice as I had feared (thanks to the storage yard cats).

It felt so good to be back in Seattle, despite the traffic, the cold weather and short dark days.  I was excited to go grocery shopping in my old haunts anticipating that I might run into a neighbor there.   It felt as if Bill and I had been in a 15 month 3-legged race while we were cruising.  Mostly we got along pretty well.  However, being forced to share the same car and driving around town together was a lot more trying on the nerves.  It was such a relief when he got his own car and we could get away from each other for a while every day.

Saturday night Dec 3^rd, we went to the Seattle Yacht Club Commodore’s Ball.  I wore an old bridesmaid’s dress I had given Lynne and we were able to rent a tux for Bill by taking his measurements back in New Zealand and phoning them to the tux rental shop in advance.  It was great to see so many friends all gussied up and having a good time.  Our cruising friends, Brad and PJ Baker were there too.  They had left Tahiti in July and sailed back to the PNW during the summer.

Bluefin Crew Reunion

We spent the rest of December traveling back and forth between Seattle, Portland and Long Beach for holiday get-togethers and much wining and dining, and shopping for boat stuff.

We returned to New Zealand with the maximum possible luggage: over 200lbs between us.  I ordered the most expensive eyeglasses ever, but they weren’t ready when we left Seattle, so they’ll have to be mailed to me.