Opening Day at Queen City Yacht Club

The first year we owned our Nordic Tug we went out to the log boom for Opening Day. We had a great time but have never gotten it on the schedule to go again. This year we wanted to go but didn't want to be gone all weekend or take Synnova through the locks.  Instead, we decided to take our new dinghy, launch it at 14th Street in Ballard, and run it over to the Queen City Yacht Club to join up with the bridge officers on their boat.  The trip out was beautiful! It was sunny and a very nice first run in the dinghy.  One of the things I love about the run up the canal is all the houseboats along the way.

We pulled in to Queen City and saw Sunshine right away. Al and Sue's Nordic Tug became our home base for the day. Several Edmonds boats were there including John Keyes' boat that was used in the contest for best decorated. The theme this year was "The Great Escape" and they used Keystone cops and escape from Alcatraz as their entry. They did a great job on the decorating.

 

John and Nina were on the next dock over from us so we paid them a quick visit before going back to Sunshine to change into our uniforms. Bob is going to be the Fleet Captain for next year but because this year's Fleet Captain, John Keyes, was driving his own boat we were invited to stand in for him on the bow of the bridge officers' boat, NeaSea LaRae. I have to admit it was fun getting our uniforms and standing on the bow with the other officers! The bottom picture shows the boats waiting for their turn to join in the parade.

 

After going through the parade route and saluting the judges, we anchored on the lake until all the other boats finished coming through.  We stayed out there about two hours watching other boats, eating plenty of food and making new friends.

 





We got back to Queen City about 3:30pm then headed back home. What a great time we had and we get to do it again next year when Bob is "officially" fleet captain!