After many months of hiding behind storm clouds, the sun poked it's little head out for a brief visit, causing most of the people in the Pacific Northwest to shade their eyes from the unexpected glare. In a mad rush to make the most of it's appearance, we packed our bags and headed down to the Marina to go for a sail.
Blankets?
Check.
Food and wine?
Check.
Wife and Son?
Check.
The fortunes' of the gods were smiling on us as the diesel engine spluttered, then chugged into action, scaring the flock of Pintail ducks who had moved in last fall and had not seen a soul all winter.
"The Canny Lass" was in good shape, as we had sanded and painted her bottom (the boat, not my wife), tensioned the rigging and fixed all of the thousands of things that go wrong on a boat when it has been ignored all winter.
As we hauled up the sails, the wind dropped to a splutter, then faded out altogether. Our plan to sail over to Blake Island started to look a wee bit ambitious.
Oh well, time for plan B.
We opened some wine, set out the Asian Spiced Chicken and Lebanese Humus, and prepared for a floating lunch. After stuffing ourselves, we motored a bit further out of the bay to see if we could catch some wind, but alas, sailing was not to be in our future anytime soon. So, we dropped the sails, set out the food again, opened some more wine and drifted in the warmth of the 1st sun of 2011.
It was bliss.
We did get to see a couple of Sea Lions rip the bejesus out of a large Salmon, which kept Legend Jnr amused for some time as he counted pieces of disintegrating fish that were being flung into the air and caught deftly by the flock of seagulls who just happened to show up at the right moment.
We also got to see Mt Rainier for the 1st time this year. I know it is there, but I still get a shock every time I  round the point at Outer Quartermaster Harbor and come face to face with the sheer grandeur of it. It looks close enough to touch
Here's to a few more warm days soon.

The majestic Mt Rainier