Anacortes – June 22 to June 26th

We spent the week in Anacortes having a new Simrad auto pilot and Sea Tel satellite TV antenna installed. The guys at Anacortes Marine Electrical were great and did their best to get the work done efficiently, on time and were simply great and friendly folks.
While we were there, we reconnected with Neal and Eva on their boat Kapalua, their home base is San Diego and they had their boat brought up via a boat transport system. Given the cost of fuel and time, the transport system is actually reasonable. Neal and Eva have a car and were nice enough to take Alexus back and forth to Radio Shack during the installation for odds and ends. They also invited us to go on a sightseeing trip with them. A security guard had told them of a local hilltop where you had a 360 degree view of the San Juan Islands. So off we went and we had a great time hiking the four spots and taking fantastic pictures. Thank you Neal and Eva!! We returned to town and had dinner and wonderful conversation and shared more boat stories with Neal and Eva at the Brown Lantern. Neal and Eva are heading up to Canada also, so if our install goes as planned, we may meet up with them there. As the next day came along we walked downtown to have lunch at a great little Italian Restaurant, Bellisima Tratorria. The owner Mary Anne and her sister were just charming and shared a great deal of information about Anacortes and the San Juan Islands. We have been giving our blog site and contact information to all the great folks we meet. If we are lucky enough to run into them again, they let us know they enjoy reading the blog. As we were having lunch, who should walk in but our Trawler Fest friends, Gerry and Douglas. We met the two of them last month when we drove to Anacortes and the Trawler Fest. At that time, Gerry and Douglas were looking to buy a Nordhavn, “Four Seasons”, that was open for viewing at the event. In fact we began calling it Gerry’s boat. We invited them to join us and discovered they had indeed bought Four Seasons!!!! Given the little ocean experience we have, a boat like the Nordhavn is exactly what you need to cross oceans safely and comfortably. I know they are nervous about having two boats at this time, but it seems that their having the Nordhavn Four Seasons was meant to be. I am confident they will have many adventures and stories to regale folks with about their travels on Four Seasons. She is a beautiful ocean crossing vessel.