Top Photo: Mt. Rainier rises above Gig Harbor
Bottom Photo: Mr. Hyde in action
Mt. Rainier stands as a dramatic backdrop practically everywhere we find ourselves this summer. It looms over us in Puyallup (the most difficult to pronounce city in Washington) as we work on a house renovation project and it fills the sky behind our little sleeping village of Gig Harbor. We can even see it from the Seattle Bahama Breeze. It’s a constant reminder that “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” nor in the sunny Caribe. It’s a sight to behold and we’re happy to be here doing just that.

Coming home after a year’s absence has been a bag full of emotions. Reunions with friends and family are payback for all the bad weather we endured at sea. Hugs and laughter are always followed by words of relief that we made it home safely. It’s a sweet reminder of the incredible journey we took. The “normalness” of life back home (work, traffic, routines) is trying to push adventure to the side of our plate, but we’re working to push back. We relish every little remembrance of life on the sea that pops up in front of us, while basking in the ease of life in a house. Simple pleasures this summer are endless running water and a car that will take us anywhere we want to go! Our mission this summer is to keep one foot in each of the two lives we love.

A lot of people have asked Bruce how he will cope this summer without a boat, while Woodwind “rests” in the British Virgin Islands. He always answers, “No problem. I have Mr. Hyde,” referring to our 14-ft. mahogany plywood boat, designed in 1956 and styled with retro-sleek lines, weighing only a few hundred pounds … strikingly different from our 34-ft. gaff ketch. She’s an eye-catching beauty zipping around Puget Sound, propelled by a mean looking 40-horse motor!

On the 4th of July, Bruce launched her in the dark hours of the morning and skimmed the bay to nearby Vashon Island to catch the start of the mini-hydro race. This event, held each of the past 51 years, is the best kept secret around. It was started by a group of men who spend the year building and fixing tiny hydroplaning boats with bigger-than-life engines. Each year, right at dawn, the drivers gingerly get in their boats at the beach, with assistants on shore who fire up the engines and quickly get out of the way. The drivers throw open their throttles wide, heading around the island and hoping to make it back to the start. Stopping is not an option with these vessels ... they instantly sink dangerously low in the water.

The hydro guys love competition and allow other speedy boats to compete, as Bruce did this year with Mr. Hyde. Most of the boats in the small-boat class hit speeds of 50 to 70 mph, depending on wave height. The bigger entrants do twice that. All around the island starting at 6 a.m., people line the beach, waving and hooting as the firecrackers roar by, followed 30 minutes later by the cherry bombs. No one needs an alarm clock to get up that day.

The big to-do in our town this summer is the opening of the third Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The first one, Galloping Gertie, went down in 1940 after only four months of service. The second one opened a decade later and was getting the job done just fine until word got out about how pleasant life is in Gig Harbor and the Kitsap Peninsula. Too much traffic prompted the building of a new bridge that opened mid-July this year, with a flurry of fanfare. We get to pay the price of a latte to cross the new span, while the old one remains “free.” People either love it or hate it, but it’s here to stay and certainly has given everyone something to talk about. Now, just like the name of the pre-paid transponders used to speed up crossing times, we’re all “Good to Go!”

Jan