Mrs. Brock, Indeed

The Captain asked me to marry him this week. I, of course, wholeheartedly accepted. Not much more to add without getting the blog seriously goopy (bliss, bliss, bliss, love, snuggles, happiness, dreams, plans, more bliss).

There really are Happily Ever Afters. We'll just leave it at that.

A few days in the San Juans with my family. All I can say is that I hope when I'm 88 years old, I'm as agile as my Grandma getting up and down the ladder into the dinghy.

That is one tough lady to whom I'm related!

Wahoo on the Fourth

It's not often that you, as a civilian, get to call the Coast Guard and tell them that their ship is the one in trouble. Kris and I were hanging out onboard KJ, having dinner & enjoying the sunset while Brock worked. Then the alarms started going off on Wahoo. (Yes, that's really the name of the boat ~ I thought it was merely an exuberant choice on the Coasties part. Turns out it's an aggressive fish, Acanthocybium solandri, which makes a bit more sense...but I digress)

We sat for a while, looking, contemplating. There was clearly cooling water of some sort coming off the starboard side, which made me think a genny was running. No one around at all. WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP. Yeah, that was going to get annoying after a very short time.

Nothing was evidently on fire. We seriously considered going onboard and looking to see if it was something obvious. But then there was that whole FEDERAL ship thing. Not being fans of prison, we reconsidered. Well, I called Brock and *he* advised me to reconsider. Good man, he is.

Eventually, we decided to call USCG Sector Seattle and inform them. It was loud & clearly no one was coming.

You should've seen the guy come running. Ten minutes later or so, he was at full clip down the dock, cell phone to his ear. Must've been all of 18 years old. (Kris thought 12, but we'll give him benefit of the doubt, seeing as we're older now). Onboard, problem solved quickly, additional phone calls and a very serious look on the young man's face. I'm thinking he wasn't supposed to be away from the ship?

As he disembarked, I called over to him, explaining that we hoped we hadn't got him in trouble or anything. He sheepishly looked up and said, "Yeah, I got yelled at. And I'll get yelled at again tomorrow. But thank you for calling." Poor kid! I did feel bad, I admit.

But federal prison for tampering with a Coast Guard vessel just wasn't an appealing way to spend my holiday.

Outward Bound For More Adventure On The High Seas

Well, on the inland waters of Puget Sound anyway.

Yes, we are headed out for some time in the San Juans with my entire family from mom's side. That means a couple of Okie's (can I call you that? It's not an insult, right?), two from Louisiana, my folks, and my 88 y/o grandmother. Should be crazy, fun times! Especially with Grandma sleeping in the extra bunk in the master stateroom with Brock and me. Here's hoping she doesn't snore!!

Taking you along, as always. 'Cause where would I be without my favorite readers?

I Am Loved

By my not-so-little girl. This was from her Life in ABC book. Such an awesome child!

Just Tidbits

It's been a while since I've written. Life just seems to get so busy and we're off having fun together more than blogging, I guess. But here are some recent moments to share:


The kids are turning into quite competent deckhands. We went through the Locks and they managed the lines on their own. I scampered back and forth between them at first, but soon realized that really, they're fine. With Brock as captain & the two of them as crew, I can see my future as Cleopatra, sipping wine on the top deck as we cruise the ship canal.


Jo-jo and I have spent time at the zoo, watching the turtles, checking out the way cool new penguin exhibit, and reading ALL the signs. Being there when the zoo first opens is definitely worth it in terms of small crowds.


Thing One is in driver's training and took his proud Mama out for a drive. We used his dad's car, of course...just in case. He did great!


Hiking with my man. An 11 mile trip last weekend to Goat Lake was awesome. Cloudy and cool, just the way I like to hike. Incredible old growth forests.


I got introduced as "Mrs. Brock" last weekend (from one of his staff to another). It made both of us grin. You thinkin' what I'm thinkin?

A dear gourmet chef/writer/entrepreneur friend of mine mentioned KJ in an article she was writing for the Examiner. She's a regular there. I am honored ~ thanks, Karen!

Examiner article

Anchor Light Replaced

It's something Brock has spoken of for quite a while. He's always thought that an LED anchor light would be a great deal in terms of battery usage.

Last week was his opportunity.

It's always been close, getting Katherine Jane safely under the Fremont Bridge with it's height of 30'. She clears it...barely. The first time we ever went through, Brock stationed me in a place where I could clearly see the mast. He told me he was going to ease up to it ever so gently, and if said it wasn't going to fit, I would tell him so and he would back away and we would have the bridge-tender open the bridge.

So we slowly inched our way forward. I said "Nope, not gonna make it." He continued to ease her forward. "Uh, NO," I said. "Way too close." He nudged forward. And we cleared, by a hairsbreadth.

At which point there was some glaring on my part and the suggestion that if you're going to give me a job and then not listen to me, I didn't want the job in the first place, thank you very much.

It's been kind of a running joke for the past year and a half. I simply turn my head the other way and loudly hum, 'cause what would be the point of saying anything? La, la, la, la, la, la....and we always have made it, by one degree or another. The lake is down in the winter by about 32" and then raised in the spring, so we never know exactly what we're going to get. That coupled with different amounts of fuel and water onboard made it impossible to predict.

We returned from a trip to the San Juans a couple of weeks ago and I made the usual show of "I'm not looking, I don't care, la, la, la." And this time? Didn't clear it. Actually only shattered the lens, not even the bulb, it was that close. To my credit, there was no brou-ha-ha over it, only mild amusement. After all, I've known for over a year that we don't *quite* fit under that bridge.

But the good part is that it became an opportunity to replace the whole unit.

And while we were at it? We sawed off 16" of the mast, and the Fremont Bridge will never present an issue for us again.


The part when he replaced it in a thunder/lightning storm on an aluminum ladder? Let's just say the boating gods let him get away with a lot.

Annual Deck Maintenance

The top deck of KJ is actually rather high traffic area & has always been difficult to keep clean. Something about white decks with non-skid on them ~ they just collect grime that is impossible to scrub away. So usually she only looks clean for the first five minutes after we re-paint.



But I'm learning! I think this will be much easier to maintain and it should look sharp quite a bit longer. Now a bit of fresh white on the trim and she should really be popping!


The main decks received another round of Top Secret clear epoxy, which I love. It wore well throughout last season. She only required a light sanding and recoat to recover the glossy look. It's such a nice, flexible-yet-strong finish. And we're ready to go for another season of bare-footedness!

Way Cool Website

I'm totally supposed to be cleaning the boat before we head up to the San Juans for the weekend (tides for fishing are PERFECT, according to the guy on the boat who cares enough to check out that kind of information).

But I got completely distracted by this cool little website:

Marine Traffic

Next time we're in the fog? We can just check the shipping lanes online!

(Yes, we'll still keep our eyes and ears open!)