The Shallow End

Seattle Post-Trip Report

First, let me just say that the seats on the 757s of United are much more cramped than the 737s of Southwest. I could not even open my computer on my lap once the person in front of me laid his head in my lap. I much prefer Southwest even if finding a seat is like a cattle call.

Our arrival in Seattle was greeted by the greatest traffic jam of all time. Apparently there had been a major fatality accident south of us that shut down all lanes of southbound traffic (along the route from the airport to Gig Harbor, our first destination). Traffic delays were roughly 3 hours and there was no realistic alternate route to Gig Harbor (short of turning around and heading north and waiting in line for a ferry...another 3-4 hour alternative). We did eventually get to the boat sales office before it closed and saw the boat that we flew all this way to see (the owner had just dropped the price significantly...we were interested in the boat at the higher price, so the drop necessitated quick action on our part, before others became more interested). We took the traffic jam to be our first sign that this boat was not meant to be ours. The boat itself was marginal...it had many nice attributes but the layout was cramped and it needed a lot of work.

Ultimately, we rescinded our offer on that boat and made an offer on another that was very different from the first. I think we finally tired of looking at what I like to call "classic" boats...boats that are beautiful on the outside but not always so nice on the inside, requiring lots of maintenance and upkeep. I like to call them the '57 Chevys of the boat world. While dropping off an application for the waiting list at a marina in Seattle where we hope to moor any boat we end up with, I stopped in a broker's office to inquire about a boat he had posted in his window. While that boat wasn't at his dock, he did offer to show me another that was that he "thought I might like." My husband was down at the market while I ran this little errand, but I went ahead and took a peek at the boat. While on the boat, my husband called to ask where I was..."um, I'm standing on a beautiful boat, wishing you were here." To which he responded, "come get me, I want to see it too!" So off I went to pick him up, telling the broker to keep the boat open for us to look at together. Although the boat was more modern than others we had been looking at, it had all the features we desire...a large cockpit (for enjoying picnics on the water with friends and family), an open layout, nice galley, lots of storage, simple rigging for easier sailing (preferably something that either one of us could handle on our own if we had to), and an overall comfortable feeling. I know we would enjoy living on and sailing this boat. We had never been on a Catalina boat before, so we went to our hotel that evening and did some research and found nothing but good owner reviews and other good reports on this American built boat (most of the boats we've looked at were built in Taiwan). We went back the next day and made an offer. The owner has already made a counter offer that is very generous. I pray that we make the right decision on this.

Boats aside, we had a great trip to Seattle. I absolutely love this area. In addition to the water and beautiful sailing opportunities, my favorite part of Seattle is this (I must have drooled over the beautiful and very cheap(!) flower "bokays" for hours, while nibbling on several pounds of cherries, blueberries, raspberries and figs):

Labels: Sailing, Travel

posted by Gwynne @ 9:05 PM