First Free Weekend After Getting Off the Ship

After another month at sea, I've been overdue for some down time. So what did I do the morning after I got off the ship? I got underway aboard the Sea Scout Ship Compass Rose:


The trip was just a quick overnight jaunt to Sausolito and back, so there really was nothing to it. I'm not exactly sure what the plan was supposed to be upon arrival. Mostly I think it was just an excuse to get underway with all of the new crewmembers on board. The roster has shrunk in recent years, so it was nice to have a grand total of five scouts aboard instead of the usual two or three we've had for the past few months.

Since I've been out of the picture for the past few months, this was my first opportunity to meet most of the new kids. So I grabbed a handful of gear and left my boat all buttoned up:


Then we cast off and headed out. Matt Herman was on hand to help with mooring lines and wave goodbye:


While he didn't make the trip with us, his wife Jen did:


Jen kindly volunteered to manage the galley for the trip. This gave us the dual benefit of hot cooked meals and plenty of opportunities to practice fire drills:


Heading down river was met with the usual allotment of intriguing scenery:


Meanwhile, the skipper was at his usual station in the pilothouse:

He claims that playing solitaire keeps the scout at the chart table from cheating by getting the position off of the electronic chart display. I'm sure.

The new guys seemed to enjoy themselves:


So did the not-so-new guys:


There was one more crewmember aboard, but for some reason I didn't end up with any pictures of her:


As we passed through Raccoon Strait, it looked like it would've been a gorgeous day to be under sail:

Oh well.

Sausolito itself was pretty inviting upon arrival:

Once we were all fast at Schoonmaker Point Marina, the scouts headed ashore to wander around downtown. The rest of us headed ashore to pick up a few things at the local West Marine and find a coffee shop.

The rest of the evening was pretty low key and I got to bed earlier than ever.

The following morning everyone headed out again to wander around downtown. There was some notion of visiting the Bay Model, but nobody thought to check in advance and it turned out they were closed Sundays. Oops. Instead, we ambled around downtown checking out the wide variety of shops and restaurants and taking advantage of the chance to be out and about despite the wet weather.

In the end the trip was a success, the ship returned to Petaluma safe and sound and a good time was had by all.