Warren Buck with the President

All of us know the President was in town last week. It is a good bet that few of us knows anyone who meet the President when he was in town. As it happens,
one of our fellow live aboard tenants did just that. His wife Cate Buck arranged for him to meet the President. Warren Buck is a distinguished Physics Professor at the UW.  Soon to be retired. He was recently appointed to the Board of Regents of William and Mary University in the State of Virginia. Way to go Warren! I have known Warren and Cate for a couple of years now and I have to say they really are a Dynamic Duo.

On June 11, 2016  we at Shilshole Liveaboard Association celebrated the life style and life choices we have made by participating in National Marina Day here at Shilshole Bay Marina.  A Tour of Four Liveaboard Boats was staged at H-Dock for the benefit of the general public.  The objective was to share what it is like to be a liveaboard.  To make our community as liveaboards  more retentive in the City of Seattle. We welcomed the public to our homes, talk to an home/boat owner and to experience what it is to live aboard a boat.

I want to personally thank those who offered there boats to be toured:  Ned Kohlhauff   SV Bristol Blue,  Jim and Sharon Doub SV The Neighborhood, Kirk Utter SV Teaser II,  and Fred Felleman MV Leschi.  I would like to thank the Staff of Shilshole Bay Marina and the Marina Day Committee, you made the day a big success.

There were many new liveaboards who visited the booth I manned to answer questions about the Shilshole Liveaboard Association.  To all of you welcome to Shilshole.  Please come the Dock Captain’s Meeting on Tuesday June 14 at CYC .  It starts at 6 pm and goes to 8 pm.

Lastly,  I asked at least 3 of the boat owners who participated how many people came aboard their boat.  The answer varied.  Ned on Bristol Blue said he stopped counting at 70 something.  People reportedly came in groups 5-10.  They started wanting to come aboard before the start time of 12 noon,  but they did stop around 4:30 pm.

I will conclude this by saying next year we will likely have a tour again.  Think about bringing  your boat over to H-Dock.  It is fun and it does help the public understand who we are.

Fair Winds,

Kristen Sierra

SV Bristol Blue

You are invited to visit D-Dock Friday evening between 6-8 p.m. for some wonderful live music. Bring a chair if you want to sit. B.Y.O.B. and snacks. The weather should be nice, good neighbors and great music see you there!

Just an update.  There are 41 users of the Shilshole Blog.  Way to go!!! Thanks for taking part in this blog.

Please keep up the good work.

   Wonderful Day on the Water!

There are few things that I have come to dread as much as the season of Varnish.  We have owned this boat since 1999.  For each of those years I have spent a good deal time caring for the teak decks and the other teak above deck.  When we first purchased Bristol Blue she was covered with Cetol, decks and all other teak above deak.  I stripped all the Cetol off by the 4th year we had the boat.

I have used all the major brands of Varnish commercial available.  Some is thin as water others a thick as molasses, all of them have there own characteristic.  None of them satisfied my desire….which I have to admit is a little crazy, but some of them came closer.  My desire is to get from Varnish season to the next.

My failure is that I do not like Varnishing.  I do like removing it.  I am fast, clean and the end result is a nice looking piece of teak.  I am conflicted.  My husband, Ned really likes Varnish.  I want to make him happy.  I have been trying year after year to accomplish this objective.  Now that I am old, and kneeling is not a friendly activity I want this whole process to take as little time as possible.

He discovered a Varnish used by the French Navy while we were bumming around in Southern California waiting for the hurricane season to pass so that we could go back to Mexico.  The Varnish is called Le Tonkinois.  It is a linseed and tung oil based Varnish. It gives a rich, deep glow to the teak and you do not have to sand between coats.  I am smiling!  Re-coating  after 24 hours.  If you like a hassle free experience it is my suggestion that you give it a try.  Did I mention that you can apply it over existing Varnish with a lite sanding with 220 grit paper!!!! I am smiling again.  If you want to see how it looks drop over to D-dock #60.   Oh I forgot one thing, I will be putting on six coats per side this year.  I am determined to make it through to the next Varnish season.  Ever the optimist.

March 27, 2016 Solana, a sailboat near the end of A-dock was broken into: a computer, a make-up bag and some keepsakes were taken.
The security camera caught the thief as he made his access to A-dock.
The Port Police were called by the owners when they returned to their boat.
I contacted the marina office this morning for addition information.
Not much was learned.
I will ask the Port Police for more details tonight on the V-MAN NET AT 8 pm. The information I have gathered was given to me by a long time live aboard on A-dock. I trust his account as he spoke directly to the owner(s) of Solana.
According to the office staff an ax was used to break in to the boat.
Solana was securely locked the thief made a big mess of the companion way door and surrounding wood structure.

If you or anyone you know saw this guy on the wharf, in the parking lots or on the dock please contact the office or the Port Police. It is getting warmer and more people will be in the marina. See something, Say something, Please.

Solana did not deserve this.

Problems are part of starting anything. We are sorry to say we are experiencing some problems with signing new users up. Please be patient and hang in there. We are working on the issues.

Our Webmaster has recently changed the software that controls our registration of new members.  It will allow new users to register and establish a password, then log in.  As a new user you will not be able to post.  Your status can be up graded to allow post by an administrator.

I am optimistic about this change.

Just thought this would bring a smile to all you sailors out there. I caught this between the rain squalls yesterday.