Lake Washington I

Lake Union and Lake Washington connect to Puget Sound through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks near Seattle. We had five souls aboard when we went through the locks into the lakes. It took all five of us to manage the buoys, fenders, lines, and boat hook. We were tied off at the top of a very tall wall. As the water filled in the lock, the wall wasn't so tall at all. Whew. A lot of work, though, to keep the boat from bashing into the wall and into the other boats.

Lining the lakes are businesses and residences (including the amazing compound where Bill Gates lives with his family). Several of my sketches showed my interest in the organic forms of the trees and land shapes and how they met with the man made forms of the bridges.

While I definitely prefer more natural water scenes, every once in a while it's kind of fun to see how other folks live.

Pink Floyd "Money." Absolutely.

A boating weekend!

ink sketch of crew teams after workout

ink sketch on the dock at Shilshole

going through the Chittenden Locks in the rain

on our way south, we saw lots of sailing groups out on the water

our new boat at her home port in Olympia ... sweet!

Some rain, some sun, and a weekend aboard our new boat. Finally, the work was done and we were able to move the boat from Seattle to Olympia. Lake Union, in downtown Seattle near the University of Washington campus, is about 25 feet higher than Puget Sound. To navigate out of the lake, we had to go through the Hiram M. Chittenden locks. Lucky for us, it was a dreary week day with no boat traffic and we were the only ones in the lock. We tied our lines to moving cleats and held fast as the water was evacuated to let us leave the lock on flat water into Puget Sound.

Overnight at Shilshole Marina on the guest dock. We woke up the next day to blue sky and lots of people getting their sailboats ready for the race just outside the breakwater. I couldn't resist pulling out my sketchbook to scribble down their personalities. Gestures, done when the people don't stay still, it's an aerobic art activity! 

Our trip south was sunny and on flat water and truly a delight. Fun to take our first cruise with our new boat. You see her in the last photo, safely tied up at the dock in Olympia. She's a beauty! And she has two great art areas for painting. One, the enclosed fly bridge. Two, the enclosed stern cockpit. The windows can come off completely when the weather is fine. How great is that?!

More boating adventures ahead! I'm excited!

... with a good stout ship beneath your feet ...

No sooner had we gotten home from Alaska when we sold our boat. This week we bought our new one. What a thrill to clean it up and start settling in. Or, as the Muppets say, it was our time to poop the deck!

ink sketch of salon cushions

here's the new boat ... hooray!

the clouds lifted over Lake Union to reveal the Space Needle

Our family joined us to check out the new boat and to make sure it passed the height test. Yes, our tall 6'4" and 6'1" sons can walk about with ease. More painting spaces, too!