June 1, 2017: SAILING into Edmonds, and then off to Bellingham by train

Raindrops DID perform a few tap dances on the cabin’s roof during the night, but the sun had taken the stage by mid morning. We slept a little later than usual, shared Morning Prayer and a breakfast of pancakes and bacon, and were hauling up Braesail’s anchor by about 11:15 am. By the time we had emerged from the sheltered waters of Port Madison’s beautiful harbor, the wind had risen from about 12 kts. to nearly 20, and we were able to raise our sails and let the wind carry us to the marina at Edmonds, where we tied up at the yacht club’s guest dock at about 1:30. Traveling under wind power at some ten mph over ground with no sounds but the rush of air and the splashing of water is absolutely marvelous!  It wasn’t long before we had completed the required registration with the Edmonds Yacht Club, the attachment of the long, heavy, bright yellow shore power cord to the dock’s electrical facilities, the refilling via hose of our 250-gallon water tank, the cleaning of the decks (we were able at last to rinse off the mud that the anchor had deposited at the bow), and the mopping of the cabin floors, and next came lunch followed by a nice hot shower in the stern cabin’s head (bathroom) for me.

We were happy that Walt was able to speak on the phone with the refrigeration expert who had worked on Braesail’s fridge and freezer last fall; he said that the appliances are probably behaving properly (they have at last been functioning generally as expected after Walt defrosted them), and the remote temperature monitor that we use to track how cold their interiors are was probably beginning to fail shortly before Walt purchased new batteries for it and had lead us to believe that temperatures in the fridge and freezer were staying too high. If they should fail during the summer, we’re to get some block ice for them and call the local refrigeration repair person! Sound advice, we think!

Walt’s cousin and her husband, who live in Edmonds, drove down to the marina at about 4:30 to receive the grand tour of Braesail, and they were quite positively impressed! They took us out for dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant, and I very much enjoyed my “Hawaiian cobb salad” of lettuce, toasted walnuts, avocado slices, baby shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and mango chunks, topped by a scattering of tasty “crispy crinkles”–an excellent one-dish meal! After a good visit, the relatives drove Walt and me to the Edmonds train station, where Walt waited with me for the 7:30 pm train to Bellingham, where I’ll be meeting Martin (arriving by bus from Vancouver BC).

I will post again as I have time and opportunity during my next few days of travel to Vancouver BC and back to Everett by train, taxi, sailboat, car, and train once again. Braesail will be out of water “on the hard” for repairs from the afternoon of June 2 through June 12, and then our LONG northward excursion will begin.