Mike and Beth's Adventures

 Trust and Partnership Boats are like people.  It takes time to build a relationship. Ideally you want to know you can depend upon each other through thick and thin.  Reaching this point requires an investment of time and energy.  Bonds are forged and tested by adverse conditions.  You learn each others limits, strengths and weaknesses.  Often the weaknesses can be overcome.  For example, if you want to be safe in the fog, you can add radar and a VHF radio with a fog horn function. With these additions you and your boat are now more capable.  You can remain safe in a wider range of conditions.   We are building the bonds of trust and partnership with Amy Marie by cruising Puget Sound, noting weaknesses, devising a plan to resolve, implementing, and then testing the man/machine system to insure performance expectations are met.  In this process you build the resilience and capability to meet cruising challenges and the build the confidence to cast off our lines  and undertake an adventu

 A Nautical Amble of Puget Sound: July 2021 After purchasing Amy Marie we spent some time customizing her to our tastes.  She was well maintained and loved by previous owners so not much was needed.  We focused our efforts on "tuning" storage, becoming familiar with onboard systems, adding a memory foam topper in the V-berth and other items to prepare her for the type of cruising we wanted to do.  The difficult part of the preparation has been trying to fit all the "toys" we want to bring into her 27' length.  The toy list included folding bikes and a stand-up paddle board. Our first day we visited Seattle.  We overnighted in Elliot Bay Marina Seattle has such  a distinctive skyline.  It is especially striking when approaching by boat. Elliott Bay Marina is just north of downtown Seattle.  A good staging spot for traversing the Chittenden Locks into Lake Union and Lake Washington.  It is a clean Marina with great facilities. Cocktail hour was enhanced by the won

 Cruising Grounds:  Puget Sound Amy Marie's home cruising grounds are in the Puget Sound and north into the Canadian Channel Islands.  We have found many wonderful anchorages, towns, cities, and villages to visit.  The Wagner's Cruising Guide is a great reference for trip planning.  We also use the online Waterway's Guide.

Amy Marie, our new adventure machine  A little background - we were looking for a trailerable trawler, portable boating solution, and found Amy Marie.  She is a Ranger Tug R-27, 2012 vintage, with a Yanmar diesel engine.  She is trailerable without a wide load permit.  So can be hitched to a 3/4 ton pickup truck and moved to where ever you would like to have a boating adventure.  Currently she is berthed in the Pacific Northwest but soon will be off on new adventures.