545 People

This came to me in my email thought you might find it interesting if you haven’t seen it!

545 People

By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it………. Is up to you.

Chicago Family

It has been awhile since I posted much since the boating accident and I’ll just say one last thing and we’ll put the subject to rest. Just this last week we got our insurance check for the loss and paid off the loan. With some of the remaining funds, we are paying off Deb’s car loan and now we are debt free except for mortgage. We are  still waiting for our personal loss claim to go through for all the stuff we lost in the boat. I still think about that day and feel queasy when I see rough water. It has permanently affected most of us involved.

Just recently Deb and I took a week off and went to Chicago to see her oldest son Chad and his family. It was her only second time visiting them and my introduction to them. The story of Chad is an interesting one that needs to be told in full someday soon but I won’t do it here. We were going to record a podcast and tell the story of Debbie and Chad, but never got around to it. Let’s just say that he was Debbie’s first-born that she never knew and now they have reconnected. He lives in Lake Bluff in a very nice neighborhood and is successful. He has a beautiful wife named Kay and two gorgeous daughters! That fact has just made us instant grand parents! Debbie loves it and the call her Nana and love her to death. They call me Papa Joe and I guess I made quite a hit with both of them. Riley is the older one and is five and Brynlee is three and looks just like a little Debbie. They are both sweethearts and very smart just like their Nana. Now, you ask, how does it feel to be an instant grandpa? I am not sure as it is still sinking in. It does make me feel old though!

We had a great visit and made it our vacation. There was a lot of family time but also some touristy stuff too. We took a train to downtown Chicago and went up to the top of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), went to the Adler Planetarium, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Botanical Gardens, saw a friend of ours who played at our local pub play at the House of Blues, and Chad even had us running a 5k race while we were there. One day Chad drove us through the ghettos of South Chicago bypassing traffic, so we can say we saw a lot of diversity while we were there! Now I like Chicago and there are some beautiful parts of the city, especially around where they live, but I would never want to live there! First, the weather would be had to handle. The freezing cold winters and blistering humid summers would be a bitch. Another thing is the horrendous traffic! It is horrible and the natives drive insane! The place is just too big for us, but we will always enjoy visiting, and now we have four good reasons why we will! There are pictures, go have a look. Soon the story will be told to those who don’t know it already so stay tuned!

My Music Podcast

My music podcast is blowing minds across the country and around the world, but I bet you are still listening to commercial top 40 crap aren’t you!? I mean really, how many times can you hear “Stairway To Heaven” or “Free Bird” anyway? Come to the edge and expand your auditory horizons! Be different – I DARE YOU TO! Prepared to have your mind entranced, prepare to have your body moving, prepare yourself for music that is for your head and will get into your head. No, this isn’t your granny or grampy’s music, no it’s not your mommy and daddy’s music, it’s not any old music period! Think you can handle it? I DON’T THINK YOU CAN!!!! Come on over and have a listen and if you like what you hear, tell a friend! Thanks for listening!

SHOW PAGE:
HTTP://WWW.SNOJORADIO.COM

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FEED HERE:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/SnojoRadio

Snoqualmie Joe

“All I can say is WOW!” – Si Mom

“Haunting, moving, sometimes tribal, sometimes edgy, sometimes soothing, always different.” – Tune Factory

“Brilliant, wildly unique, an excellent showcase for independent music.” – Chicago Sun Eclipse

“I’m giving up Rap and Hip – Hip for this. It is awesome!” – An A Student

“Great music to workout to. I run longer and faster when I listen!” – Jym Ratt

“His music is like a drug, you are not sure you want to take it at first, but once you do, you”re addicted.” – Philadelphia Newsworthy

“This is some seriously weird stuff. Who is this guy and what is a Snoqualmie?” – Alice In Drag

“Chilling, eclectic, music you’ll never hear on the radio!” – Audio Orgasm

“This stuff blows!” – Clueless

“Sno Jo Radio takes you on a sensory roller coaster. At times you are chilling to some downtempo, then banging to some serious beats! Hang on for a wild ride!” – Dallas Daily Music Rag

Boat Pictures

Click the link below to see pictures of our poor boat:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boatvirgins/sets/72157622294251953/

Some Links To Our Tradegy

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/whidbey/wnt/news/57657252.html

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/57666752.html

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3596&id=100000187214124&ref=nf

Our Boating Tragedy

First off, let me say that I am glad that both of us survived this latest adventure that we as a couple seem to be chocking up in our lives together. The omens that befell upon us as we began what was supposed to be a three day weekend of fun on our boat this Labor Day weekend, should have stopped us in our tracks, but didn’t. It actually turned onto four, as I got an unexpected day off on Friday after I begged for it. After a long, hot dry summer this year, the weather suddenly turned sour for the weekend, but we had no idea how bad it would be. As always, we checked the marine weather forecast on Thursday and saw that Saturday was going to be the worst day out of the three for boating weather and I was happy to get Friday off so we could get an early start on our long voyage to the San Juan Islands. There, we were supposed to hook up with with our good friends Larry, Lynette, Pam, and Rick. Larry and Lynette were taking their boat up and Pam and Rick were gong to be camping there at Snug Harbor Resort. Once we were all there, our other very good friends, Tori and Kevin who live on San Juan, were going to host us all at their home for a BBQ. We were looking forward to it immensely!!

Right out of home port, things went south. After fueling, we started our trek which would be about six hours to San Juan Island. Our main goal was to get there before dark and we were on track to make it. After just 45 minutes into it, we discovered we had radio problems. We could transmit and be heard, but couldn’t hear any replies. After some investigation, it was discovered we had a wire that was shorting out. It was workable and we continued, but in the process of finding that problem, we had pulled on a vaccum line that used to be connected to two gauges on our upper helm and were now connected together after one of the gauges failed. This was allowing air to get into our fuel line and our port engine started losing power occasionally before it would recover for awhile then lose power again. We decided to reluctantly turn back and go back to our dock. I made an attempt to fix the problem and thought I had achieved success. In the meantime we discovered Larry and Lynette had blown a hose on the way and started taking on water. They shut down the affected engine, called the Coast Guard for an escort, and headed back to their home port of Edmonds on one engine. Thanks to a very good mechanic, their repairs were underway. Now knowing we could not make San Juan before dark, we decided to head up to Edmonds and stay in their marina and would proceed Saturday morning provided the weather was acceptable. We headed out, things seemed good and we realized the power loss problem was not corrected. We were also experiencing it in both engines at this point. It wasn’t bad enough that we thought we might loose either one so we continued to Edmonds and arrived just as it was getting dark. I made the decision then, that if the problem could not be fixed, we would not continue. Early the following morning, Larry and I changed both fuel filters and did a very thorough wrapping with rescue tape of the vaccum line connection. We did a last minute listen of the NOAA marine forecast and it sounded a bit dicey especially at our destination where winds were expected to blow to 35 mph later that day. This is where I felt a gut feeling that I should have followed that we should not go, but we did.

Things were finally looking good. The weather wasn’t bad, seas were calm, both boats were fixed and running fantastic, it seemed all was on the upside. We headed up Saratoga Passage and were rounding the north part of Camano Island and into Skagit Bay when the weather turned and all hell broke loose. The wind had picked up and the waves had also. I radioed Larry and wondered if it was wise to continue. After some discussion, we decided to go through Deception Pass and see what the seas were like on the west side and make our decision then. It wasn’t but another fifteen minutes and the winds had increased twofold. Just as Deb and I realized this wasn’t a good idea, Larry had already turned around and we followed hoping to get over to Oak Harbor and into safe harbor. Once again we faced ever increasing winds and the wave swells were hitting at our port side at a good six feet. We had waves going over the bow and even over our upper helm which was making visibility difficult. We began to get scared and tried to compose ourselves to remain calm. It was all I could do to try and hit the waves at a 45 degree angle to the bow and keep Larry’s boat in sight. We had lost our navagational charts as our laptop was thrown off it’s perch and I had directed Debbie to shut it down and get it secured to prevent it from becoming damaged. I was going to just rely on visual navigation from here. We hadn’t realized it that Larry’s boat had hit something and they were radioing us to move to our port. Once again, the radio had stopped receiving! Soon after we heard a very loud bang that shuddered the boat and sent us sideways. I knew at that moment we were doomed! We immediately began to loose speed although the engines were still running at cruising RPM’s. I got on the radio to Larry that we had hit something but got no response. Even though it was not safe, I told Debbie to get down to the engine compartment to check if we were taking on water. She did and we were badly! I called a mayday on the radio and waited for a response and got none. I was being heard though and Larry was already communicating with the Coast Guard as they were down to one engine due to their hitting something and receiving damage. I decided to shut down the engines hoping that maybe we had blown a shaft or something and shutting down the engines would halt the water inflow. I turned the bilge pumps on and then checked the wiring on the radio and got it working. I then heard the haunting words from Debbie standing below knee deep in water in the cockpit that the boat was sinking and I had to get down and off the boat NOW! When I looked down and saw the whole stern of the boat below water I knew all was lost and jumped into the water!

A strange calm descended on both of us! Luckily both of us had life jackets on although I had never had time to secure mine so I was using mine as a float. While Debbie had been below, she had the where with all to grab my wallet and her Coach purse which she still clung to in the water. She hadn’t had tiome to zip it up and her wallet floated out and beyond reach. We swam as fast as we could away from the boat to prevent being caught in any type of swamping suction that might take us down with it. Both of us remained eerily calm and even cried as we saw our baby sinking beneath the water. Neither of us were scared for our lives at this point for reasons we will never know. The water was frigid, but neither of us were cold. Larry’s boat was getting further away from us, but we were somehow positive we were going to be rescued although the Coast Guard was nowhere in sight. Finally Larry dropped his dinghy and got over to us and hauled us into safety. We got his boat and us in the dinghy into the harbor where there was a multitude of people and fire aid waiting on the docks.

To put and end to this drawn out oratory, we came out of it safe but cold and bruised. Our boat and everything in it is gone. We lost two laptops, three cell phones, TV’s, VCR’s, tools, everything. All we had was the clothes on our backs, my wallet, our lives, very good friends Larry and Lynette who saved us and put us up on their boat, allot of very generous and caring boaters, sheriff, marina personnel, and vessel assist people who went out of their way to help us. We also want to thank Tori and Kevin Hillstrom who came down from San Juan with clothes and treats, and all of our friends in Snoqualmie and Facebook who were caring and were offering their help if needed. Posessions can be replaced, friends and good hearted people cannot. Now it’s time to begin the cleanup and salvage process. It will be an ugly and trying time. Bear with us and we love you all!

Why I fired my Secretary.

Last week was my birthday and I didn’t feel very well waking up on that morning..

I went downstairs for breakfast
hoping my wife would be pleasant and say,
‘Happy Birthday!’,
and possibly have a small present for me.

As it turned out,
she barely said good morning,
let alone
‘ Happy Birthday.’

I thought….

Well, that’s marriage for you,
but the kids…
They will remember.

My kids came bounding down stairs to breakfast
and didn’t say a word..
So when I left for the office,
I felt pretty low
and somewhat despondent.

As I walked into my office,
my secretary Jane said,
‘Good Morning Boss,
and by the way
Happy Birthday ! ‘
It felt a little better
that at least someone had remembered.

I worked until one o’clock ,
when Jane knocked on my door
and said, ‘You know,
It’s such a beautiful day outside,
and it is your Birthday,
what do you say we go out to lunch,
just you and me..’
I said, ‘Thanks, Jane,
that’s the greatest thing
I’ve heard all day.
Let’s go !’

We went to lunch.
But we didn’t go
where we normally would go.
She chose instead at a quiet bistro
with a private table.
We had two martinis each
and I enjoyed the meal tremendously.

On the way back to the office,
Jane said, ‘You know,
It’s such a beautiful day…
We don’t need to go straight back to the office,
Do We ?’

I responded,
‘I guess not.
What do you have in mind ?’
She said,
‘Let’s drop by my apartment,
it’s just around the corner.’

After arriving at her apartment,
Jane turned to me and said,

‘ Boss, if you don’t mind,
I’m going to step into the bedroom
for just a moment.
I’ll be right back.’
‘Ok.’ I nervously replied.

She went into the bedroom and,
after a couple of minutes,
she came out
carrying a huge birthday cake …
Followed
by my wife,
my kids,
and dozens of my friends
and co-workers,
all singing ‘Happy Birthday’.

And I just sat there….

On the couch…

Naked.

Home Made Kitten Formula

I know, it is a weird topic, but while reading my latest issue of Best friends Magazine, I came across this recipe for home made kitten formula! It’s not often you’ll ever come across a stray newborn kitten, but a long time ago I did. It was while I was on my Uncle’s ranch digging Indian ruins with my Dad. We stopped by an old shack that was on the property to have a look around and heard this little feeble meowing sound coming from beneath an old bed. We looked under it and saw a little wild kitten peering back at us. When it tried to walk, it just stumbled weakly. We didn’t really know what to do with this poor little fellow and thought that the mommy cat may be around, so we left it there. The day after we went back and checked on it, and it had died. Apparently the mother cat had abandoned the kitten. I felt horrible. Had we known just what to feed the little thing, we might have taken it and saved it. I will now know what to feed a little stray kitten or litter of kittens if I should ever come upon one, and you will too. The recipe is for a litter of kittens, but you can reduce it is you just have one or two:

3 egg yolks
3 ounces of water
3 ounces of goat’s milk (available at most stores)
4 ounces of plain, full fat yogurt (not the low fat stuff)

Mix well and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
Because of the raw egg yolks, use the formula within two days.
Warm the formula by placing a bottle of the
mixture in a bowl of hot water, and be sure to check the
temperature of the formula by placing a bit on your
wrist as you would with a baby. Check with a vet for a
feeding schedule which should be every two to
three hours and should eat 7 to 15 CC’s per feeding.

There you have it and so will I by posting this. Thanks to Best Friends Animal Society for including this helpful information.

Our Searing Heat Wave

Wow it is hot and it sucks big ass! The Seattle area has been in the grip of a unprecedented heat wave. During an average summer, we might hit the 90’s a couple of times and when we have a string of them, they usually only last a couple of days. Some past record strings of 90’s have lasted 5 days. In 2005, we never even hit 90 the whole summer. Seattle is not know for very hot weather and I prefer it that way myself. Twice since official weather records began 118 years ago did Seattle hit 100, once in 1941 and again in 1994. Well that has been shattered as of late. Yesterday Seattle broke an all time high reading of 103 degrees. Out east where we live it hit 108 in Snoqualmie and 113 in North Bend. We have broken two overnight lows where we didn’t go below 70. That is just ridiculous heat!! Not only has it been hot, but it has also been incredibly humid which makes it even worse! This heat wave will last well over a week before finally breaking loose and hopefully bringing temperatures back down to a more livable range.

Now most of us Seattlites are not used to this kind of heat and do more than our fair share of whining about it, yours truly included in the whining process. Actually I add bitching, moaning, groaning, yelling, crying, sobbing…..well you get the picture. We also have reason to whine about excessive heat because most of us live in homes that do not have the luxury of air conditioning. Most of the year it is not needed. As a matter of fact, most of the transit buses, including the ones I drive, do not have air conditioning either. I was driving yesterday with an interior temperature of 110. This makes getting any sort of relief from the heat almost impossible. Debbie and I ended up going to a hotel where I sit in wonderful cool posting this! Now what really annoys me are the folks living in scorching climates telling us we don’t know what hot is until we live where they do. I recently saw a post somewhere of a guy who lived in Phoenix listing the last 20 or so days of the highs there. All where in the triple digits and mostly above 110. He quipped at the end that the overnight low was 92 so we should just enjoy our weather and mug up! I wonder if he lives through that heat without air conditioning. I doubt it. I am sure he posted his spew sitting in an air conditioned office, then he drives home in an air conditioned car and lives in a wonderfully cooled home. Let’s see how he man’s up if he turns it all off, opens a window, and sits around fans blowing all his hot air around him! Wonder how long he would last! Well that’s how most of us Western Washingtonians do it!! Who are the real pussies out there? I guess the ones who are sitting in an air conditioned room blogging about it! Heh heh heh!!

Another Vacation on the Boat

Well we just finished our second annual boating vacation (I presume it will be an annual event), and we had a great time. We went further from home in her than we have ever gone before. During most of the Spring we performed annual maintenance, changing oil and filters in both engines and the generator, checking fuel filters, belts, hoses, repaired a raw water impeller, checking the diesel furnace, replacing all the zincs, and even installed a new electric fresh water toilet. Work was also done to our dinghy. Due to the fact we have no davits and can’t hoist it up onto our larger boat, it sits in the water tied up to the rear of the big boat. It sat in the water through the winter until we finally found a trailer to haul it out on. By then the barnacles had created a crusty coating on the whole bottom. Nothing we could do on our own would bring it back to near new, so we had to take it to a boat detailer and had it scraped and bottom painted with anti fouling paint and it wasn’t cheap. Now we were ready for anything.

Our first stop of our cruising adventure was at Snug Harbor Resort on the west side of San Juan Island. It is a very quaint kind of rustic setting and very beautiful. Our good friends Larry & Lynette met us there on their boat. For some reason, even after all my docking experience thus so far, I looked like a rookie boater when I attempted to dock the boat! I had to end the first attempt and turn her around and I backed her in on the second. It was ugly and an embarrassment for me and even Debbie was appalled at the misadventure! I never repeated the travesty again! We settled in for some cocktails and then cruised our dinghys over to Roche Harbor for dinner. Another couple, the Hillstrom’s, met us there and we had a very enjoyable dinner together. They once lived near us in Snoqualmie and now live on San Juan Island enjoying the good life the island has to offer.

We then headed for our next destination which took us into Canada! We have never taken the boat to Canada before and it was an interesting venture going through customs. Larry & Lynette also went up with us. We were in Bedwell Harbor at the Poets Cove Resort and it was a beautiful place. We had to check in at the customs dock before we could get to our assigned slip. Only one person from each boat could go up to the customs office to check in and Debbie did that while I stayed with the boat. It was very windy there and many other boats were pulling in to check in also. Twice I had to catch the lines on boats pulling in next to Larry’s boat as the wind was shoving them right at it! Once we had cleared customs, then it was time to pull out and go to our slips! This was another docking adventure as I had to pull in right next to another boat and the wind was carrying me toward it as I came in. I had to try twice and it took six people on the dock and Larry on the guys boat to get me in without banging into him. I guess I did a pretty good job considering a boat tried seven times before me to get into the same slip and finally gave up. It was a white knuckle experience! We spent two nights there and had a great time. Larry & Lynette went home the morning of the second day and we were on own from there.

Next stop took us to the Ganges Harbor and the town of Ganges. It is the largest town in the Gulf Islands and was a fun place and a little crowded in the harbor when you come in. Not only do have the contingent of boaters going in and out, but multitudes of crab pots everywhere and sea planes landing and taking off all around you. As we pulled into the marina, Debbie heard someone calling her name from another boat. Just so happens, Debbie had worked with her in the past. Small world huh! Ganges is located on Salt Spring Island and we discovered a golf course near by, hmmmmmmmm……..imagine that! Although the weather turned gray and wet, we got on our bikes which we had brought along, and rode up to Salt Springs Country Club and played nine holes of golf. I always enjoy playing golf courses in different out of the way places. It was a pretty good course. Being that Ganges was an actual town unlike Poets Cove, we could shop and eat out and get stuff we needed for the boat and even managed to do a load of laundry. I think Debbie liked it the most!

Off we went to Sidney BC and got a slip in the Port of Sidney Marina. Now this was a nice marina! It was huge and much newer than the previous marinas. They had a nice shop, and laundry where you could watch TV or surf the net while you washed your clothes, and even showed movies at certain times. As a marina, this was my favorite. Sidney itself, seemed like any other town you’d find here in the States, but it was still nice. We didn’t have allot of time to do much here, dinner in a nice restaurant, took a night dinghy ride into the channel, a little shopping, etc. Then we headed back to the US.

Back to San Juan Island we went, this time heading into Friday Harbor. We have been to Friday Harbor before, but never in our own boat. It is a nice place and would be a great area to move to down the road. Tori again met us and we had a great visit. I listen to quite a few podcasts and one of them is called the Gastrocast hosted by Chef Neal Foley (the Podchef) He lives on Shaw Island which is right next to Friday Harbor. I had always wanted to visit the Podchef so I figured this would be a good time. I had contacted him ahead of time and we set up a meet on his farm. We took the dinghy over, including Tori to Shaw Island. He lives right by the water and has a dock we tied up to.  The Podchef and his family really live a different life than most. He raises most of the food they eat which includes vegetables, pigs, chickens, rabbits, milking cow, etc. He is also a trained chef and has worked in restaurants and privately and does catering today, blogs, does his podcast, and works the farm! He has a great family, a wife and four beautiful daughters (two sets of twins)! I find it funny that all that hard work he has to do and has no other male to help out, but I’m sure the girls do what they can. We toured his farm and he treated us to a wonderful lunch prepared from foods he raised on the farm. We had a great time and it was awesome to finally get to meet him!

After the visit we dinghy’d around to the north part of San Juan Island where Tori showed us their waterfront lot where they will build their future home. It is lovely and they will have great views. Hopefully they will have a mooring bouy that we could tie our boat up to. Next we did a drive around the island and visited Bert, their Corgi, and had dinner. It was a nice visit, but it was too bad Kevin was out of town and couldn’t be there. Our final leg of our trip took us back to Seattle for one last night before going back to our home dock in Tacoma. We went through beautiful Deception Pass where the tidal currents can get real strong and nasty. We went against a 6.6 knot current, but handled it just fine! The only hitch in our trip came just as we were about a half hour from Seattle when we looked back to check the dinghy and it was gone!!! The tow line had snapped! Using our binoculars, we located it about half a mile back just bobbing in the waves. We had to scramble back and get it somehow tied up to the boat because we were in the shipping lanes and two cargo ships were bearing down on us! They do not stop! We did manage to finally secure the dinghy so we could tow it to Seattle after many bumps, bangs, against the boat and Debbie’s arms (bruises to prove it). In Seattle we pulled into Bell Harbor Marina where Larry & Lynette were waiting. Just by chance, some friends that live near us in Snoqualmie, the Sheehans, were in Seattle so they came down also. We had a great time and went for dinner. Larry, Paul, and I had many Jaeger shots. I laughed so hard my sides ached. The next morning we went home and ended our cruising vacation. It was fun, exciting, adventurous, and full of happy times with my girl! You can find pictures and videos on the links to the right! Until next time!!