It has been a very interesting start to the New Year as I am getting closer to retirement. January is already gone and I only have 11 months to get the boat ready! 11 months…..
Kay and I went to the Seattle boat show with a mission. So on Jan. 24th we took our friends, the Evens, to Seattle. Had a great time. I had a shopping list, so no time to explore other boats. I spent a lot of boat dollars, but saved a lot too as you can get some good deals at the show. We got the following:
1. Refrigerator
2. Radar
3. AIS (This is a gismo that allows you to see other boats and they can see you)
4. Cell Phone booster
5. Mount for the radar and satellite TV.
6. Anchor
7. 600’ of anchor chain
8. Washer/dryer combo
9. Lots of books and reference material
10. An inflatable 2 person kayak
11. Good rain gear
12. Battery isolator (this will allow the engines to charge my house batteries along with the start batteries)
13. Dinghy
Most of the above is on order. Buying it was the easy part! Now I have to install all of it. I may need to buy stock in Advil……
It would seem we are going to have an early spring as life is returning back to the lower Columbia River. We see geese flying over every day. In the mornings you see the Cormorants fly out to their hunting grounds and returning in the evening. Ducks and swans all over the place. Yesterday we saw a few hundred blue bill ducks float by the boat. The days are getting longer and we are watching the sun make its march north on the horizon. January has been a great month as it was warm and mostly dry.
The other evening I was on the dock standing next to my fire pit enjoying a glass of scotch and a good cigar when I kept hearing this splash between the dock and shore. I thought it was either a cormorant fishing or one of those nutrients (a water rodent that tears up your bank and will get into the exhausts of your boat and chew them up). I went to the boat for a flashlight and my pellet gun. I shined the flashlight into the water and could not believe my eyes. Thousands upon thousands of smelt (we Alaskans call them Hooligans) heading up river. It was then I could hear the seals down river. Wow, I had never witnessed a run like this. The run also means that the spring King salmon is not far behind. I will be getting the riverboat out soon.
Fog moving in
With great sunsets we also have beautiful bows
We have had a great winter with scenes and clouds like this.
Canadians returning to the lower Columbia!
By the thousands
Cormorant
Sea Lion
Love the blue skies of a great sunset. See the reflection!
Black birds watching the sun going down
The Admiral
Boat boy! Nice back drop
Sun, clouds, fog, and water make great pics
See the star or is it Venus
Blue Bill ducks
Lots of seals chasing smelt
Hey buddy watch that wake! You are in a no wake zone..
Female blue bill
Got all your ducks in a row?
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