You may remember the marking of the anchor chain from last summer, when Brock and I dragged out the whole thing to accurately measure it. At that time, we strategically painted links to mark how much chain was out. I thought it was a good idea.

Turns out, paint doesn't last, especially when you're using the boat and anchor system as much as we do. We then tried yellow zip ties on the links. Which was an improvement, but not as visible as I would have liked.

Enter Rescue Tape.
It's my theory that everyone has their "thing" that they fix things with. For some people, it's duct tape. For my ex-husband, it was caulk. Mine? Silicone tape that sticks only to itself. Exhaust hoses (I can think of at least one occasion when I could have used it for that purpose), water hoses, pencil grips, you name it, there's not a lot you can't do with the stuff.

I pick up a few rolls every year at the boat show. We'll see how it does on the anchor chain. So far, so good.

Packing a bunch of fun in 2 days...as usual

We really know how to enjoy our days off:

Highlights?
The raccoon who invited himself aboard
The gorgeous sunshine and sunset on Monday
Docking Katherine Jane in the heart of downtown Seattle
Shopping at the Pike Place Market for dinner
Quiet anchorages in Blakely Harbor and Eagle Harbor
Watching the Inauguration at anchor - WOW!
Taking the boat away from the dock myself
Navigating by instrument in zero visibility fog

Katherine Jane goes downtown

Out and about on a gorgeous sunny day ~ we picked up some folks in downtown Seattle and headed out to Blake Island. Brock says I can't blog all day and that I must go out and play in the sunshine now. Gotta go!

Project UW Students

Katherine Jane now has her very own UW students working on an Official Business Plan! We were honored by Kiel and Ryan's choice of M/V Katherine Jane Vintage Yacht Charters as their project this semester in John Castle's class on entrepreneurship. One of my favorite people from a networking group, Betsy Talbot, hooked us up ~ we're off and running.

It's really been fun sitting down with these guys and brainstorming ideas, sharing thoughts. Good to think about the business side of things as we head into 2009 and great to come up with new marketing angles! Sometimes as the winter drags on, it can be hard to look ahead to marketing for the summer months. This was just what I needed to get me jazzed up again!

Flooding again

Only this time, KJ and I are completely unaffected.


Mom and G Sr. didn't get so lucky. This is their non-floating dock out at the lake. It's under about 5" of water currently. You can almost see the walkway and the grass between the steps and the dock. If you know what you're looking for, anyway.

Imagine the luxurious nonchalance I felt when I stepped off the boat and thought "Hmmm, the lake level is up an inch or so" because the length of the step had changed slightly.

It's a far cry from debris flying past or whacking us in the river. KJ is happier with the current situation. She told me so.

The Ice Queen Is A Little Sick Of This Already

It was really coming down again last night. I spent several hours in the bucket, on a few different planes. Being a diligent blogger, I also took my camera so that I could take you with me.


This is my view from the bucket, down to my driver. Our headsets aren't working very well, so there's a lot of shouting for now. Plus hand gestures. Most of them are rated PG. I keep the "Rated R for language" stuff up there in the bucket with me. No one can hear you yell over the wind and the engine anyway. Which is good, because some of it is most unladylike.


I liked this shot because you can sort of see the green Type IV fluid dripping down the fuselage. We spray a really hot Type I fluid to get the contamination (aka snow and ice) off of the aircraft first. Then we follow it up with the goopier (yes, that's a technical term) Type IV anti-ice fluid to keep the build-up off for a while so the plane can get down the runway and take off safely. It's tough when the precipitation continues as you're spraying, because it reduces the time that the stuff is effective.

And that, boys and girls, is your de-icing lesson for the day.

Happy New Year!

Went out on the MV Kirkland the other night for New Years. It was a really breezy, gusty night, but still a great way to celebrate.


Did I mention rainy too? Yeah, we were drowned rats, but happy.


And Cheryl introduced me to Red Bull and vodka. I didn't overindulge, but that's good stuff!