Our Story or How We Got Here

I have been asked to write up a short synopsis of "Our Story" for the Eagle Harbour Yacht Club.  This is our second year with the EHYC.  We joined because of our friends and fellow Ranger Tug owners that vouched for our integrity.  These friends are Allan and Yvonne, Janeane and Lyman, and Maureen and David.  I hope we can live up to their opinions of us.

The short story starts in Port Isabel, Texas.  One of my favorite expressions is from a boat dealer in Friday Harbor, WA.  He says "You live on an island, you need a boat".

Well, Willie and I bought a water front lot in Port Isabel, Texas.  Sometime later we built a home with a boat house on the water.  So my friends said "You have a dock, you need a boat".

We made a couple of exploratory purchases before we determined how we liked to use a boat.  Our first boat for Port Isabel (Not our first boat, but that is another story) was a SeaDoo. It was a great boat, 50 MPH across the bay in front of our home, open to enjoy the elements.  Herein the problem, Willie did not like to get wet while boating.  So the search continued.  We met a neighbor, Jim Bathhurst who owned a C-Dory 25.  He took us on a ride around the bay during rainy weather.   Willie did not get wet and stayed warm.  She said now THIS is a proper boat.  So many searches later we find a Ranger Tug R21 in North Carolina.  We drive out to look at her and bring home the first Willie's Tug.  She was and is a great boat.  A cabin to keep us dry and warm and a very salty look to meet my approval.  We spent many hours playing among the dolphins (the live ones, not the posts). and enjoying the shallow bay waters in front of our home.

After cruising with our local yacht club to a neighboring community for dinner and an overnight, we found that we lacked a bit in creature comforts for anything more than day cruising.  Alaska mosquitos do not hold a candle to South Texas mosquitos on a hot summers night with not a breeze within 200 miles.  So we went to Bremerton for the Ranger Tug Rendezvous and bought a much larger Ranger Tug R27 which we also christened Willie's Tug as our R21 was now "Hercules" and had a new owner.
For a few years, we trailered our R27 from Texas to the PNW in the spring and back to Texas in the fall.

For many years, since taking a motorhome trip to Alaska several years ago, we have wanted to visit Sitka Alaska.  Sitka has so much history and is even part of our Louisiana heritage.  So we traded our R27 for a new Ranger Tug R31 feeling that we would be more comfortable in the larger boat with our golden retreiver Jake.  We planned to make the trip in 2014, however I had to have surgery before we could leave Seattle.  The larger R31 was perfect as we secured moorage at Stimson Marina in Ballard, just a short 40 Bus ride away from Virginia Mason.  After being released from the surgery, we were able to give the R31 a good check ride into the Broughton's and Hood Canal making good use of our shortened cruising season.
Finally in 2015, we were able to take our Willie's Tug all the way to Sitka, Alaska.  For us it was a dream come true, 3 months from Anacortes to Anacortes with over a week spent in Sitka.  The trip itself is another story, and more details can be found on Willie's blog at andwilliesaid.blogspot.com 
Our new friends Diane and Riley stated that they have moved up to a larger boat as they age.  That seems to be our MO as well.  We have downsized our home, but hope to upsize our boat a bit for more comfortable living during the 5 to 6 months a year that we spend in the PNW.  This year we hope to make at least a couple of the outings with the Eagle Harbour Yacht Club.  Thanks for welcoming us to your group.

Never Leave a Good Harbor on a Bad Day

Today we planned to leave Houston and travel a direct route to Anacortes to be united with the new Willie's Tug. Instead, we are sitting in "Sweet Caroline" watching the winds build up. With gusts of 40 to 65 predicted along our planned route, and tornadoes, hail and thunderstorms predicted, we decided to sit tight for a couple of days and assess changing our route when we do leave.

Our motto: 

"Never leave a good harbor on a bad day."

May Photo Album

May Photo Album (complete?)

May Photo Album

June Photo Album

Changes Daily through June

June Photo Album

Cat Story

There are a couple of ladies that check on our house when we travel.  Today, as we were enroute toward Anacortes, we received a call from them.  "There is a cat in the garage.  Did you leave a cat in your garage?"  No, I did not leave a cat in the garage.  She explained that the cat was very vocal about trying to come into the house from the garage.  I explained how to open the garage doors.  After opening the doors, she said that the cat now would not come out.  I advised that it may be easier to get around behind him and shoo him out rather than trying to call him out. We left Saturday morning, so the cat had been trapped in the garage for 5 days.  He streaked out and quickly disappeared down the street apparently non the worse for his ordeal.  I am just glad we shut the door to the motorhome.

Walldog, Willie and Jake (Catless in Seattle)

Boat Projects

Our little tug does have a tv in it, but we have not used it for a couple of reasons.  One, our antenna for over the air reception does not work very well.  In the San Juans, the only station it will pick up is a low power station on Orcas Island that only broadcasts black and white reruns of "I Love Lucy" and similar vintage shows.  The other reason is that the boat is small and we do not have a comfortable place for both of us to sit and be able to see a tv at the same time.  For two summers now we have not felt the need to have a tv, we have occupied our end of the day time in other ways mostly by reading.  We read books on our iPads, we get our news from our laptops, keep up with our friends on email and go to bed early most nights.

This winter I (not Willie) decided that I would like to have television on our boat.  After looking at various alternatives, I decided on the Intellian i2.  The i2 has a 13" dish which is a bit larger than the KVH M1 which has marginal reception in the Northwest.  We also added a Samsung 19 inch HD receiver to the berth area.  I am not much for watching tv in bed, but in a R27 you do not have much choice.  An undercounter mount for the tv allowed placement at a great viewing angle for both of us.  Jake does not care.  I fabricated a bracket from stainless angle and flat bar.  A local speciality welding shop stainless welded the bracket for me at no charge.  A very interesting local craftsman that lives in our neighborhood.  Placement of the interior boxes and routing of the cables took a lot of thought and time.  We have two GPS antennas, one for the Chartplotter and one for the AIS.  I relocated them to the grab bars one on each side of the boat behind the navigation lights.  This cleared the mast for better satellite visibility.

A trial of the setup in the choppy bay and 4 foot swells offshore gave solid reception thoughout.  We never expect to have the system running while underway, but it is designed for such use and we wanted to see how it performed.

More pictures of this job and other modifications can be found in our R27 Modifications photo album here.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Date Night

We did a bit of puttering around the bay and ship channel in our Ranger Tug today.  We have been working on a couple of projects to get Willie's Tug ready to travel back to the San Juan Islands in May and we wanted to check out our work.

We had a two day window of winds lower than normal for this time year here on the Gulf Coast of South Texas.  We decided to anchor out at favorite boat watching spot off the ship channel called Barracuda Cove.  We tucked as far in as possible and tried to settle down for the late afternoon and evening.  After about an hour, between the swells and the chop from the winds, we decided that we would find a more sheltered spot to spend the night.  After checking out a spot near Pirate's Landing, we made our way to the Port of Port Isabel's turning basin.  I had seen a US Coast Guard ship anchored out here on occasion.  We eased in as close to a barge and drill ship as we thought prudent and set our anchor in about 35 foot of water.  This was a bit deeper than the 7 foot of water in Barracuda Cove, but the Rocna held firm.  The wind was still blowing, but we were a bit more protected from it here and gently bobbed tethered to our anchor.  A perfect rhythm for a great nights sleep.

We are early risers, so about 5 AM we were up and checking email on our iPads, when out of darkness appears a large vessel very close to us.  It appears we were in a favorite spot for the local shrimpers to drag their nets.

As daylight came, the fog settled down giving visibility of about 200 feet.  Did that stop the shrimpers?  No, even without radar they continued to circle us with their nets.  We turned the radar on and watched them coming.  We were tracking as many as 6 in our range at one time.  With our radar, we could tell their distance from us.

By mid morning as the fog thinned to about 8 or 900 foot visibility, we headed back to our home.  As we passed through the swing bridge, the fog settled back down around us closing the visibility back to around 200 feet.  We continued motoring in the ICW until we passed under the causeway not seeing it until it was directly overhead.

Leaving the ICW at this point, we took up a course for the entrance to the "Fingers" and our home.  Before going too far, the fog lifted a bit and we docked at our dock.  A short trip, but a good Date Night for Willie and I.

Walldog, Willie and Jake stayed home.

Longest Day for Willie's Tug

We made plans to cruise to Port Aransas to visit some friends who have their boats moored at Island Moorings Marina.  We had done this trip before about 120 miles, but broke it up by stopping at Port Mansfield, El Jefe Marina Y Cantina about 40 miles up the ICW from Port Isabel.  El Jefe now closed we made other arrangements to stay at the municipal marina.  We planned to leave on Wednesday afternoon for the short run to Port Mansfield and then have a long but do able leg on into Port Aransas on Thursday.  Well the best laid plans of mice and men.  Weather was really bad on Wednesday, so bad that we did not even make a necessary run over to the fuel dock about 5 miles away by water to top off.  But come Thursday morning we awoke to a beautiful day, so up early and finish loading Willie's Tug.  By 8 am we had pulled away from our slip at home and headed to the fuel dock.  Since we had missed the on the hour opening of the Long Island Swing Bridge for pleasure boaters, we took the long way around to South Point and fuel.  We then missed the next on the hour opening by about 6 minutes.  We took a chance and made a very business like call to the bridge operator on Channel 12.  Commercial boats get an opening at anytime.  The operator is familiar with us, he quickly opened the bridge and we scooted through thanking him profusely.  We saved about 5 water miles by making the bridge opening.

We set a course up the ICW due North....even though at this point the Gulf ICW is considered running Easterly as you travel from Brownsville toward Louisiana.  We decided to run about 12 knots and see how we felt about continuing at the turn off to Port Mansfield.  Arriving at the turn around 1130, we decided to continue East Bound (North).  A very uneventful trip, we met no tows and only past one before we arrived in Corpus Christi Bay.  We hailed him on 16 and he suggested passing him on the 2.  In ICW jargon that means we will overtake him on his Port side leaving him on our Starboard side.  We had plenty of room on that side and never had to adjust our speed.

After passing through the "Land Cut", we saw that we would not make it into Island Moorings until just after sundown.  Not wanting to travel the busy ship channel after dark, we kicked it up a notch to about 16 knots making our arrival time just after 5 pm.

We were met by Skip and Nancy of the Nancy G on the transient docks and escorted to a slip across from theirs.  They have kept there boat here for about two years now.  Coming up from Harlingen every other weekend.  Our friends Joe and Pearl  keep their boat "On Your Mark" here also.  They will arrive today.

Nancy had drinks and supper ready for us when we arrived.  Making a perfect end to a long day.

From the fuel dock at Port Isabel we figure we traveled about 125 Nautical miles (138 statute miles), burning 56.3 gallons of diesel in about 8.5 hours.

Find Willie's Tug

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Memory Lane

Willie was sorting some old photos B4D (Before Digital) for storage.  I found a couple that I wanted to share so I scanned them.

The first is a picture of Sam and Inez Thornton, and Willie and Herb with their motorcycles.  Last night Sam and I were talking about his Yamaha that he and Inez rode to Durango with us in 1995.  Our bike was a R100RT BMW.  We were on our way the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association Rally in Durango CO.  We were traveling from Sam and Inez's home in Fayetteville AR.  They now live here in Port Isabel near us.

This picture is of Champ.  Friends who know me will think that this Jake, but it is not Jake.  Champ came to live with us in 1987 and went to dog heaven in 2001.  This picture was taken in the early 90s at his favorite place, the back porch of our home in Avinger Texas.  People say that Jake is a large dog, but Jake weighs only around 80 pounds.  Champ weighed 98 pounds his whole adult life and he was not fat.  He was very active living in the woods and farm as we did then.  He ran beside my 4 wheeler anytime I used it.   As he got older I traded the 4 wheeler for a golf cart.  He ran beside the golf cart each and everytime I went around the farm on it.  In his final years, his hips gave out and I had to carry him from the porch to the golf cart.  He did not like riding, he wanted to run, but he still wanted to go with me.  Champ was named for my grandfather, Wimby Stark nicknamed Champ.

Champ was a good dog.

This final picture is of Willie, Champ and Pepe in the back yard of our home at the Blueberry Farm in Avinger Texas.






Walldog, Willie and Jake.

Nice Day for a boat ride

Out near the end of jetties going into the Gulf of Mexico at South Padre Island.  Photo by Willie.

Find Willie's Tug

http://www.siteground315.com/~longship/index_big.html

Poulsbo

On the Water Again

We have been living on our boat day and night since May 14, 2012.  Last week after two days at anchor in Montague Harbor, Galiano Island, British Columbia, we planned to weigh anchor and cruise to Anacortes, Washington, USA.  Willie turned to me and said "It will be good be back on the water again!"

Desolation Sound 8-1-2012

Willie's Tug was cruising up the Homfray Channel, destination Homfray Lodge, a new remote wilderness lodge that just happens to have a nice dock.  Since Homfray Lodge is only accessible by water, this is a necessity.  What a pleasant surprise to arrive and find that 3 C-Brats had arrived ahead of us and were already sampling the wonderful hospitality of the Macey brothers.  Katmai, Dreamer and Sea Pal were proudly lined up on the dock.

We spent two nights visiting with old and new friends before moving on to continue our tour of this fabulous area.

Left to Right: Roger of Dreamer, Bob of Sea Pal, Betsy of Sea Pal, Mary of Katmai, Casey of Katmai, and Herb of Willies Tug.
Jake, Sleeping on the dock.

Anchorage at Fisherman's Bay

We slip into the narrow channel that leads to Fisherman's Bay on Lopez Island.  Our first trip here, we look for a suitable spot to anchor.  We are at about half tide and find 9-10 feet below our hull all over the bay.  Lots of private mooring buoys taking up space as most of them are empty.  We see a nice open area out from the Lopez Islander Resort and stake our claim.  The Rocna sets perfectly tugging our bow around smartly as we back away.  Pushing the throttle up to over 1000 RPMs in reverse holds steady, we are home.  After a bit we hear a seaplane taxi out into the bay.  We watch in awe as he pours the coals to his throttle and lifts off just a few feet from us on our starboard side.  When another lands and takes off on our port side, we wonder if we have broken some unwritten rule about anchoring in Fisherman's Bay.

After speaking with the Marina attendant, we find that it is suggested that you anchor East of an unmarked line.  So our second night here, we move a bit East just to give Kenmore Air plenty of room.  I am glad they do not fly at night.

After moving in closer to a dinghy dock for Jake's ferry, we find an anchorage that appears we will not bump into adjacent boats.  During the night the weather picks up with rain and winds.  In the early morning I hear a crash bump bump and jump out of bed.  After assuring myself that we did not in fact bump into another boat, I find that a case of Diet Cokes has tumbled over in the cockpit.  What a noise!!  Scary!!

Anyway after daylight we determine that the Rocna has again held fast and it does not appear to have dragged any at all even with the wind and waves.  Looks as if the weather will improve as the day goes on and this afternoon will bless us with drier conditions.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Happy Hour at La Conner

We have traveled the Swinomish Channel several times and past the neat city of La Conner but have never stopped.  Today we decided to spend the weekend in La Conner.  The weather forecast was a bit unsettled for island hopping and anchoring out.  We want to try out our new Rocna 10 anchor.  It has been on our list since last year and moved to number one this week.  After seeing the standard anchor not set after 3 tries at Conover Cove and seeing a Rocna set on the first try last week, we bit the bullet.  West  Marine had one in stock and met our best online price.

We pulled into La Conner just about time for happy hour and were met by Roger Clark, a friend we met last year in Anacortes.  Roger and Janet are from Sequim and own a C-Dory Tomcat.

During happy hour we see "Restless" pass by.  This is a Ranger Tug R27 that was at Bellingham and was recently purchased by Clair and Richard Dinard who keep it here in La Conner.  I woke Jake up and he barked at their two Labs.

After Docking "Restless" Clair and Richard stopped by to say hello.

And here is Willie's Tug tucked in for the evening at La Conner sporting her new Rocna, no SS bling, just the standard galvanized version.

Ganges, Salt Spring Island

Willies Tug crossed into Canada yesterday via Bedwell Harbor with Moondance and Destiny.

It only took a phone call this time to clear customs.  Some of you may remember that the last time we came through during the Desolation Sound Cruise last year, we spent an hour or so on the dock waiting for customs officers to arrive from Sydney to check us out.

All in a row at Ganges.  Stocked up on wine and few perishables and now off to Conover Cove.  Hey Winslow check out Jake on the cockpit.

Finished up the day at dinner with a few of our friends and traveling companions.

Yanmar Recall

Day 2 of the Saga replacing the oil line of Willies Tug continues. 


Day 1 was started about 3:30 PM when the mechanic arrived from Cap Sante Marine Service. We spent the next couple of hours removing panels to even be able to see the line. Removing the wood and insulation sound panel at the front of the engine was easier once we realized that the vertical panel in the cave that has the 120vac outlet and 12volt outlet had to be removed first. The rest of the time was spent removing the offending line and talking about ways to assemble the end of the oil line with the turbo line and the 3 copper washers. It will definitely be a two man job. Luckily the competent mechanic Dale is an ex-US Marine of about the same vintage as I, and we get along fine. Consensus is that we will use a combination of coat hanger and gluing or sticking the washer that goes against the engine block. Then bringing the bottom of the oil line with the other two washers and the bolt assembled to the turbo line. The problem is that we can only get two fingers to the area either from the side or from the front. And the only way to see is to be at the front and guide the person at the side. Hopefully at the end of today, I can give you a report that all is well again with our beloved Willies Tug.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Sleepless in Seattle

Willies Tug Crew has been in Seattle for the past three days after cruising down from Anacortes.  The Northern part of the trip past La Conner was in about 4 foot wind waves with rain.  We just tugged along snug and dry.  We were in Shilshoe, Bell harbor and finally today through the locks into Lake Union at Fisherman's Terminal.

Mullygrubs

Years ago, my prime means of transportation was my motorcycle.  I would work until I could take some time off and I would then ride my MC some place fun.  Well sometimes the work took longer than I would like and my attitude would suffer from a malady I called the Mullygrubs.  So in order to get my head back on straight, I would just have to fire up the bike and take off.  No destination in mind, just ride until the Mullygrubs were all cleared out.

Today was one of those days, it had been too long since the last time I took Willie's Tug out.  On my walk with Jake this morning, there was not a bit of wind and the skies were clear.  When got home, I fired up the boat and went for a ride, just like days of old on the motorcycle.  I watched the sun rise as I crossed the bay to the causeway.  Thinking that the Gulf would be calm as the bay, I ventured out past the jetties.  Well it was not calm, but not bad.  The further I went out, the higher the swells.  They were far enough apart that I did not get pounded too bad and when I turned around to return the currents gave me a nice push.  Crossing the bay again on the way back a couple of Dolphins got friendly with the bow of Willie's Tug.  No pictures, just a great morning and no more Mullygrubs for a while.

Rockport Aquarium

Jake is examining fish at the Rockport Aquarium today.