Friday night we went to the Seahawk's NFL preason game. Having only watched football three times (the last three Superbowls) I'm certainly no football fan but sadly no amount of overpriced lite beer and boiled stadium sausage could keep my attention focused on the game. Eventually I started to nod off. Apparently so did the Seahawks because we went from winning to losing in the last thirty seconds.

Saturday Katrina lead a few of us on the Lake Blanca hike:

The highlight was getting to Lake Blanca, pictured above, after a decent climb. However the low light was getting attacked by a underground hornet's colony half way up. I suffered two really bad bites. However, Adam was bitten nine times!

Sunday I started watching the first season of Deadwood which is turning out pretty good.

Monday what was going to be a quick spin around Lake Union turned into my first trip from Lake Union, through the locks, and out onto the Puget Sound with my boat. Getting through the locks was an adventure since we were one of only three boats trying to go east to west while there were a ton of boats going in the opposite direction. Needless to say there was no 'locks for dummies' pamphlet and we had some memorable experiences like the loud speaker telling us to get our small boat out of the large lock and into the small one. And then while waiting at the entrance of the small lock a mini Argosy cruise ship got on its horn and eventually on its loud speaker and only then did we get the message that we were blocking him from the small locks. Apparently they have priority.

After that part of the adventure we met up with Katrina who brought us food and fuel for a BBQ at Golden Gardens.

Needless to say Katrina couldn't find the special blue canisters my BBQ requires so she got briquettes, but the gas kind and not the 'regular' kind... But we did eat in the end and Ian's friend just barely made his plane ride home, while I solo'd my boat back through the locks in the dark.
10:43:31 PM   []

A woman whose years in the world numbered only 22, drowned while "teak surfing" in Lake Tapps.

Sad.

Curious about what teak surfing is?:

Growing in popularity, teak surfing is performed by hanging on the swim platform (often made of teak wood) at the back of a boat while the boat is moving forward in slow motion. Often the swimmers will let go of the teak and body surf on the boat's wake. The participants can at times even surf back to the boat and grab the swim platform.

An obvious danger to this sport is the participant's proximity to the boat propeller, which raises concern in itself. But the silent danger comes in as this is the area of the boat that is filled with potentially deadly carbon monoxide, which is tasteless and odorless, and more and more people are dying as a result on inhaling the fumes.

10:24:52 PM   []

For some large yachts, the group says, 10 hours of cruising uses up more gas than a year's worth of driving. It is these kinds of calculations that led maritime expert Andre Mele, in his book "Polluting for Pleasure," to ask of pleasure boating: "Is there any form of transportation more profligate?"

His answer: "Only a fighter jet."

A sobering article and certainly one I can't argue with. A three hour wakeboarding session on my Mastercraft (Indmar Lt-1 'Corvette' V8 340hp engine) either before work or on a Sunday afternoon will burn through 10-15 gallons of gas.

I know if there were an alternative enviornmentally friendly fuel source, even if it cost more, I'd use it. But there isn't; there are no diesel wakeboard boats (so bio is out) and there certainly aren't any hybrids.
10:16:40 PM   []