We arrived at the Vancouver Elks Lodge (WA) on July 24.
Part of our plans during our 4 night stay was to visit with my dear friends, Lynne and Eric Ogren. We were looking forward to getting out on the water with Eric at some point durning that time. Unfortunately, Lynne’s mom was beginning hospice so she was going to be heading back to California to spend more time with her. Luckily, we were able to head over immediately to have a quick visit with her.
Eric took us out on the river after he came home from work the next day. Bringing food–lunch and a variety of snacks was always “my part” whenever Eric took me out on his boat on Whidbey. Today was no exception. Leaving at 4:30, it needed to be an easy dinner. So I made a crab dip/spread from the crab he gave me the day before. I also packed grilled sausage, cheese and crackers, chips and grapes. Eric has always been a big M&Ms guys, so I brought a bag of peanut butter M&Ms specifically for him.
Every time I see Eric’s current boat, I see “GILL” from Finding Nemo! Does anyone else see it?? Images of Gill. (I think Gill would be a great name for it. 🙂 )
We launched with the greatest of ease, but only had one motor that powered on. Eric said it will make it trickier to dock when we come back due to the wind and the direction it is blowing.
As we headed along the Lake River, near the far shoreline there were poles with funky “art” on them. There wasn’t any particular theme or meaning to this “river art”. Definitely quirky. I took pictures of a few of them on the way out and others on our way back in when we were closer to them.
Then onto the Columbia River.
Small river lighthouse that we passed:
It was cool to see Mt St Helens from this vantage point.
There was quite a bit of ship traffic to and from Portland. Eric pointed out the different type of tugs.
The wind was more than Eric expected, so we headed back toward a calmer area that was more protected from the wind. The sunshine felt great. We were able to enjoy dinner/snacks as we floated by St Helens, Oregon.
While Eric went below to retrieve a pole to help us “grab” the dock, I took the helm. LOL
Docking was definitely a challenge, especially with only one engine engaged, and help from rookies, but Eric knew what he was doing. Eric had to be fairly aggressive to head the boat toward the dock without hitting it, yet get close enough for Barry to “hook” it before the wind quickly pushed us away and out of reach. After several attempts, success!
Eric mentioned earlier that his current boat trailer was poorly designed because the “eye” on the boat often gets caught under the bottom roller. It has to get up to the top roller to lock in. Of course that is what happened today. Eric had me get in his truck and back the trailer further into the water to float if out from the first roller. This was a first for me! I was a bit nervous. I didn’t want to end up making the situation worse. I listened to Eric’s directions. It worked. The eye went up to the upper roller. With the boat on the trailer, Eric had me continue in the truck to steadily pull the loaded trailer up onto the flat, dry parking lot. Eric finished locking the boat in securely and connecting the safety towing features.
Thank you, Eric! It was a wonderful couple of hours out on the river. We so appreciate you taking us out on the water, especially after working all day! (Glad this “shake down” outing showed that one engine was down before you trailered it all the way to Whidbey for the weekend. :))