Three Fifth Grade Boys...

Photos:
1. The Sea Lion Chasing Dog!
2. Pete washing the boat.
3. Brian driving the "Family Car"
4. The entrance to Noyo River
5. Pete driving the "Family Car"

It looks like we’re going to be tied up in Noyo River for several days until the latest round of gales and high seas subside. Since Lara is convinced that all males effectively stop the maturation process somewhere around the fifth grade….we’re sure to make this an adventure! It’s a hard choice whether to take the dinghy as far as we can up river (think “Deliverance!”) or should we stroll across the bridge to the local brewery….decisions, decisions!

Brian & Pete got up and cooked a great breakfast (Michael and Terri might have some competition here!) and then they washed the boat and vacuumed and swept the floor. I am DEFINITELY going to have to consider them for full time crew. I think if I offered to pay off Pete’s student loans he would be available!

While they were cleaning the boat I tried to leave to go up to the Harbor office to check in and also dump our trash (not at the same location!). One of the big male sea lions wouldn’t let me leave the dock. We were discussing it (actually he was grunting and I was preparing to run while screaming like a girl) when suddenly a small dog showed up and rushed the sea lion, chasing it into the water! I sure wish I had some dog treats because that was one GOOD dog!

Video of sea lions and a brave dog:

When I was at the Harbor office I asked about going up river in the dinghy. He said to make sure I do it at high tide and watch for snags and trees in the water. When I asked him if there was anything to see up there he looked thoughtful for a minute and then replied “A river.” Hmmm….inspiring.

While I was sitting in the pilothouse on the computer a 70+’ trawler came in to dock next to me. With a single screw and no thrusters he spun his boat around in a spot that had less than 5’ clearance fore and aft and docked it with nary a bump on the dock. At one point his stern was within about 2’ of the breakwater! I guess I still have a ways to go before achieve THAT level of skill!

[Weather Update: The National Weather Service is predicting the seas to continue to build through the week and peak on Saturday with gale force winds and 20’ seas! I like my dock!]

Notes from Pete: With the demand from the blog readers of wanting to hear from “the boys” perspective I give you this. First two days…hell. Wow, that sea sickness really leaves a bad taste in your mouth (literally!). It’s like an eventful bar hopping night without the questions and missing pieces of the “who’s” and “when’s”. That really sums up the first two days of our lil adventure. With talks of maybe calling it quits if the second week has the same results. No point in killing 2 weeks vacation staring at the pink couch in the back of the boat…

Third day we were feeling great. We checked out the town of Bodega, CA. Did some Wine tasting while enjoying the view of the harbor, you know, what guys do to be guys…right? After a nice dinner we headed to bed for an early 2:30 A.M. start to avoid rough seas. As we were underway, with the lack of daylight, I started to get sea sick again. Fortunately Brian was doing just fine and let me be “that guy” that’s sick in the back. I wasn’t really concerned, I was just glad Jim had someone to help him out with the morning cruise. After I came out of my sea sickness haze, I walked up to the pilot house to find Brian at the Helm piloting the boat and Jim working away on his cell phone and Mac telling customers what they really needed, not what they originally thought they needed. Brian piloted about 6 hours, me 5, and Jim about 3 hours for the day. We had some awesome seas, very smooth and quiet. Towards the end it started to get rough, with fears of feeling sick again we (I) was looking forward to making it into Ft. Bragg.