We left Dirona in Scotland, with Spitfire at “The Resort”, while we returned to Seattle for a couple of weeks. This mostly was a work trip for James, but we did find time to enjoy the city, make a day trip to Victoria, and receive and pack over 200 pounds of boat spares to bring back with us.
Trip highlights from July 23st through August 7th follow follow. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps
7/21/2017
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Chalet
Position: -4 33.23, 55 50.99
Spitfire at “The Resort”, checking out the view from what the Lochermill Boarding Cattery calls his chalet. He’ll be there for two weeks while we return to Seattle. We hate leaving the little feller behind, but he’s in as nice a place as we could imagine. His chalet has an indoor and an outdoor section with places to tuck away and shelves to sit on for a view. Lochermill even had his name on the door when we arrived to drop him off.
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7/23/2017
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Virginia Inn
Position: -122 20.56, 47 36.67
A pint at our favorite seat at the Virginia Inn with a view down Virginia Street to Pike Place Market and the water traffic in Elliott Bay.
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Noi Thai
Position: -122 20.34, 47 36.40
We came across this great patio at Noi Thai and stopped in for a delicious lunch.
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Bell Harbor Marina
Position: -122 20.92, 47 36.63
Our home port at Bell Harbor Marina in downtown Seattle. Dirona was moored at the end of the pier in the foreground on the left, where that large white powerboat is.
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Potatoes
Position: -122 20.93, 47 36.63
Potatoes ready to load onto the cruise ship Norwegian Pearl moored at Pier 66 adjacent to Bell Harbor Marina. We used to love watching the cruise ships arrive at 6am each Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning and depart at 4pm that afternoon.
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Paddy Coyne’s
Position: -122 21.28, 47 36.86
We stopped off at Paddy Coyne’s Irish Bar on Pier 70 for a relaxing beer on their outside deck with a view to Elliott Bay. James hadn’t been in Paddy Coyne’s for years, but owner remembered him and came by to say hello.
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Car Fire
Position: -122 21.20, 47 36.97
Firefighters were putting out a big car fire on Western Avenue as we walked past. There wasn’t much left of the vehicle.
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Belltown Pizza
Position: -122 20.90, 47 36.88
Dinner on the patio at Belltown Pizza, another one of our favorite Seattle haunts. The summer weather in Seattle is wonderful.
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7/24/2017
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Boxes
Position: -122 20.12, 47 36.22
We have a UPS box that any surface mail goes to. And whenever we return to the US, we pre-order whatever parts we need and bring them back in our luggage. We picked up 187 pounds of gear from our UPS box today, and another 20 pounds arrived the following week.
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7/28/2017
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Frolik
Position: -122 20.14, 47 36.61
Enjoying a drink on the rooftop patio at Frolik in downtown Seattle.
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Skyline
Position: -122 20.14, 47 36.61
The amazing Seattle skyline view from the rooftop patio at Frolik.
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7/29/2017
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Pier 66
Position: -4 43.56, 55 56.58
We took an early morning Victoria Clipper ferry to visit family in Victoria. A cruise ship had just pulled into Pier 66 at about 6:30 this morning.
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Inner Harbor
Position: -123 22.54, 48 25.54
Looking southeast toward the head of busy Victoria Inner Harbour on a walk to have lunch at Spinnakers brew pub.
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7/30/2017
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Dungeness Spit
Position: -123 3.09, 48 12.98
We returned to Seattle that afternoon on Kenmore Air. This is the view to Dungeness Spit, just east of Port Angeles, WA. We’ve enjoyed many anchorages at Dungeness Spit, with it’s great view to the shipping traffic in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
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Mount Rainier
Position: -122 28.31, 47 47.82
View to Mount Rainier with Seattle in the foreground.
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Lake Union
Position: -122 19.99, 47 37.43
Looking across downtown Seattle toward Lake Union where somehow our pilot will find a place to land among all those boats. Seattle seems to be perpetually under construction with new office and condominium buildings.
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Chandlers
Position: -122 20.04, 47 37.69
We arrived at Chandler’s Crab House on Lake Union just early enough to get a good seat on their patio. All the tables were filled within a half-hour of our arrival.
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Crane
Position: -122 19.90, 47 36.97
We had a front-row view from our hotel room to workers where self-raising a crane, something we’d never seen before in action. The video at Tower crane #2 rises higher shows a time-lapse video of the entire process.
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Elliott Bay
Position: -122 20.62, 47 36.59
Looking south along the Alaskan Way Viaduct from Victor Steinbrueck park. The Seahawks football and Mariners baseball stadiums are the curved-roof structures in the distance on the left, the Port of Seattle is right of the Seattle Great Wheel, and the Seattle Aquarium is in front of the wheel.
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Rob Higgins
Position: -122 20.89, 47 36.64
Rob Higgins, president of Robinson helicopter leasing company Higgins Leasing, stopped by Seattle for a visit. We had a great evening talking boats and helicopters on the deck at Anthony’s Pier 66 restaurant overlooking Bell Harbor Marina.
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8/1/2017
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Latte Art
Position: -122 20.20, 47 36.77
The flower in our latte from Cherry Street Coffee is impressive, but we’re still partial to the shamrock in our Guinness.
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8/4/2017
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Dim Sum
Position: -122 20.11, 47 36.75
A Dim Sum “factory” at incredibly popular Din Tai Fung in Pacific Place Mall.
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J Mahoney’s
Position: -122 7.39, 47 40.92
An evening with longtime friends at J Mahoney’s Irish Pub in Redmond. We all worked at the IBM Toronto software lab together in the 1990s, then later all moved to Microsoft in Seattle. It was great to catch up. And the pub had Kilkenny on tap—we only found it once in Ireland.
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8/5/2017
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La Cocina Oaxaquena
Position: -122 19.68, 47 36.92
A late and relaxing lunch on the patio at La Cocina Oaxaquena Mexican restaurant in Capitol Hill, Seattle.
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8/6/2017
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Leaving Seattle
Position: -122 19.90, 47 36.97
Heading to the airport at just past 6am this morning with our four suitcases stuffed full of spares with a total weight of just over 250 pounds. That was a load to cart around. Fortunately everthing arrived back at Dirona unscathed.
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Liberty Bell
Position: -75 14.94, 39 52.52
A Liberty Bell made entirely of lego, complete with a crack, at the Philadelphia Airport.
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8/7/2017
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Back Home
Position: -4 43.56, 55 56.57
We picked up Spitfire as soon as the Lochermill Cattery was open this morning. He had a good stay at “The Resort”, but was very happy to be back home with his people. We sure missed him.
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Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.
On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps. |
The first time I saw a Nordhavn was in Victoria harbor. The 62′ Moonriver. My traveling companions eventually had to come and pry me away from the dock. I’ve been in love with the Nordhavn line every since. Thank you guys for your wonderful contribution to this community and the very best of luck and fair seas to you .
I know what you mean Blaine. In my opinion, the 62 remains the best looking boat in the fleet and they are also highly efficient hulls to push.
ahoy there, Jennifer & James! warm greetings from ORK! just finished browsing your pics (back to Seattle) especially the “Potatoes” waiting to go on-board the Norwegian Pearl. which brings back fond memories when i used to work as a croupier on-board NCL ships doing the Alaskan run, Panama Canal crossing (from Miami to Seattle/Vancouver and back) and much more. likewise when you mentioned Victoria (‘still is’ the capital of British Columbia) i just wonder if the blanket of tulips still blooming near the grounds of the Fairmont Empress (port-o-call during summer of 2001) – but probably a lot of changes now.
At present, my second week of becoming a peculiar csa here at the emerald isle. hence looking forward meeting you all (with spitfire?) in case you call-in port in crosshaven.
Victoria’s in the Empress Hotel area never changes. The city has grown by vast amounts and changed dramatically since you were there in 2001 but the older and established areas of town never seem to change.
We did spend a month or so in your area of Ireland when we first arrived in Europe. We were in nearby Kinsale and, from there, did a day trip into Cork and had a great time. As we head south from Scotland will be heading Isle of Man, Dublin, and the west and south coasts of England.
Glad you both had a safe journey home and back. I did notice Amazon was running a bit smoother now. Hope you have some nice adventures in mind. Safe seas!
Thanks Stewart. Our plan is the Hebrides and Orkney Island after which we’ll head south to the Caledonian Canal which will be fun and bring us back to the west coast of Scotland.