Today marks the shortest day of the year, with lots of ancient traditions. The sun will rise around 7:55 a.m. and set around 4:20 p.m. on Dec. 21, giving Seattleites just a precious 8 hours, 25 minutes and 25 seconds of daylight to enjoy on winter solstice.
But…it also means every day is now getting longer and we are on our way to summer!
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/seasons/winter/winter-solstice-facts
Here are some events to end 2025 and to ring in 2026…
…and be sure to check out the Polar Bear Plunge at Golden Gardens New Years Day!
We had a blast last night making new friends, singing Christmas songs, and spreading holiday cheer throughout the marina with our dinghy parade. Looking forward to making it bigger and better next year!
This Sunday, Dec. 14th. Hope to see you out there!
The weather is looking much better for a Christmas Dinghy Parade this Sunday evening! Hope you’ll join us at 5pm on the guest dock!
Down to the minute details will be described on the Facebook Tenants page, this blog and communicated real time on VHF 71.
Your Shilshole Liveaboard Association is encouraging everyone to decorate their boats with lights this holiday season! With the dark evenings upon us, why not get your lights up early and spread a little cheer!
The Argosy Christmas Ships will be at Shilshole on Thurs, Dec 11th. There will be 2 sailings: 5pm and 8pm with a bonfire at Golden Gardens at 8:20pm.
Other light displays by boat are at Kingston Cove and Poulsbo.
Your Shilshole Liveaboard Assoc. wishes you all a very safe, joyous and thankful day! With the challenges and stress we all face in different ways, this is a perfect time to reflect on how lucky we are to have each other, and our incredible liveaboard lifestyle!
We’re getting festive on the water this year! Join the Shilshole Bay Marina Liveaboard Association on Saturday, December 7th for a holiday-themed Dinghy Parade.
If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll roll with a backup date of December 14th.
Meeting spot: TBD
We’re still locking in the launch point, so keep an eye on this page for updates.
Bring your dinghy decked out in your best holiday decorations—lights, garlands, whatever makes it sparkle. Let’s make the bay glow!
We all have our favorite charting sources but it’s good to have other options, in case your batteries die, you drop your phone overboard, or GPS goes out!
Paper charts are the tried-and-true way and everyone should have a basic understanding of how to use them. Even the chart booklets still give you a usable view of your area. NOAA stopped producing paper (RASTER) charts in 2020 and will only update their ENC charts. It’s still a good idea to hang onto those old paper charts/booklets.
Chartplotters have been out for many years and boaters have their favorites (or are stuck with what came with their boat). Those have the ability to update charts from their respective proprietary sites. There are Apps, (such as Navionics) that boaters use on their phone or tablets. Cruising Guides, such was Waggoner, also offer local details.
For planning (and realtime charting with GPS), OpenCPN is a well-known and widely used free program that has an App or can be downloaded onto your pc/laptop. It is opensource, easily customized to your needs and the charts can be downloaded from NOAA for free. Example pasted below…
The dark wet days of winter are a perfect time to plan next season’s cruise!
Shilshole Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.