4 Gals on a Boat
Summer 2010 would prove to be a very memorable one. On July 6 I flew to Juneau, Alaska to join Andrea on Schocking, her 45’ well appointed WestBay cruiser. Two other gals would make our 4. Becky had been on the boat with Andrea since it left its homeport of Seattle at the end of May. Andrea participated in the 2020 Alaska - 1000 Cruise, a predicted log race. I met up with Rozlynne at the Seattle airport and we became acquainted on the flight to Juneau. Becky I would meet when we got to Juneau. Other friends of Andrea had joined Andrea along the way and spent different “legs” of the trip with her. My leg would be Juneau up Lynn Canal to Skagway, the furthest Northern point of the Inner Passage of Alaska, on to the Villages of Haines and Hoonah and ending with Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The one thousand miles of protected, scenic waterways from Olympia, Washington to Skagway, Alaska make up the “Inside Passage” and are considered the best cruising waters in the world. I found out why!!
Not only was I cruising the best waters in the world but I was also learning vast information about boating. My husband, Jim, and I purchased Priority, our 40’ Transworld aft cabin cruiser in the Fall of 2009, deciding to leave our life on land and move aboard surprising a lot of friends as we had no prior boating experience. We set about learning everything we needed to know. Between terrific classes offered by the Seattle Power and Sail Squadron, reading many books and spending weekends learning about Priority’s systems we made great progress with our boating knowledge and along the way made some wonderful new friends. We met Andrea in the classes and Andrea, a skilled Boat Upholsterer and Canvas Maker, transformed our boat’s galley and salon settee. With Andrea’s invitation to join her on her boat in Alaska came the opportunity to gain “hands on” experience on a trip to a destination few boaters experience. Days were filled with first experiences and jam packed with learning opportunities in every aspect of boating.
There were unanticipated delightful opportunities. I could not begin to write about them all. I learned how to “set a crab pot”. We were not successful but buying Dungeness Crabs, that had been living in the waters just hours before, off a fishing boat made up for the disappointment of not catching our own. I had never been on a Fishing Charter trip, catching Dolly Varden and Salmon and cooking them for dinner made a new fish lover out of me. Four women bringing their collective cooking experiences together to produce exceptional meals while looking out at the scenery from the boat salon is a hard dining experience to beat. I have never had a finer meal at any restaurant. Oh, I can not forget. Oh, how could I ever forget learning to play Mexican Train, a domino game.
I got to know 3 amazing, intelligent, beautiful, successful, fun women. I am so glad our lives crossed in this way. We got to laugh and discuss major life issues, maybe even solved a couple of lifes conumdrums ( I love that word, been looking for a place to use it). Well, maybe we didn’t solve any major life issues but we sure have a lot of opinions. Reaching mid life for women does that, gives women a lot of opinions that is. And it gives women a lot of history to go back and mull over. Our conversations brought back memories….most good ones, that I had not thought about for years. It was fun!
I read somewhere that “Leave your life for a day, a week, a month. It will be there when you get back.” I loved getting away but now as I write this onboard my flight from Juneau back to Seattle, I am anxious to get back to my life. Have you seen the Utube piece where the little girl is standing in front of the mirror saying “I like my….and goes on and on, swaying back and forth, listing the things she likes? It is delightful! Would love to know how to find it again if anyone knows. That is how I feel. I like my life!
I am looking out the window as the plane prepares to leave. I look over at small airplanes lined up in their spots. Looks like a parking lot. Juneau has no roads connecting it to other cities. When the plane takes off I see why. The high insurmountable mountains rise behind the flat spaces that the city of Juneau occupies with the waters of The Inner Passage on the other side. I see Mendenhall Glacier, the first glacier I had ever seen. The clouds block my view. Goodbye Alaska!