Good day!
A few months ago we kayaked across Lake Washington, from Matthews Beach to the shores of St Edward park. This time we drove over to the park and hiked down through the woods to the beach, inflated our kayak, and paddled the shoreline.

After a couple mile hike down to the water (if you go remember you still have to hike back up:) it took a few tries to find a nice place to launch the kayak...one site didn't have enough a shoreline, another had a bee hive.

After a nice paddle we hiked back out and toured the ex-seminary. What a cool place with an amazing history. Check out a great Seattle Times article on the place here. A short list of fun-facts: they now apparently film scenes in horror movies in these old decrepit buildings (which look great from the outside), the story mentions one state park employee that still lives there in a carved out apartment and his kids ride bikes through the old (spooky) library, the apartment walls won't hold a nail since they're so old and stone, and they once found ooze coming from the walls in some of the rooms - they had it tested and it turned out to be nicotine left over from years of smokey priests!

All in all a great little visit, one downside, if you park in the lot you have to pay for the day. I guess I'm used to arriving by water:)
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

   We took to the town this weekend, with our instagram photo app in hand, and caught some good looks around Seattle's Pike Place Farmer's Market. Maybe it's just that time of the year, but now that I look at the pictures they seem a touch spooky...!
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

We don't need a boat (we just bought Kingsley not that long ago), but that didn't stop us from heading on down to the Seattle Lake Union Boats Afloat Show a few weeks ago. This was the 33rd annual Lake Union Show, different from the big boat show in Janurary (I've heard of that one), with lots more boats in the water. Here's our ETC quick pic tour (and just a slice of what they had to show!):

Well, at first the new Beneteaus looked a little too Ikea for us, but after spending some time aboard the brand new Sense 43, we got used to it. Boat critics/magazine writers have been gushing over this guy at boat shows around the country this year, it's got new joystick steering and a close-to-the-water cockpit...it's pretty sweet.

If you're wanna-be cruisers one-day kids like us, you would do nicely in a brand new (or newer in this case) Island Packet.

One of our favorite boats at the show, one that balanced awesomeness with affordability* was a 2007 Najad (pronounced Nuh-yoord I think). The only bad news: the company just went bankrupt.
*that is, if you consider $225,000 affordable.

E for electric. Yep, that's right, she's got an electric engine under the hood. Are boats and cars heading in the same direction? Time will tell. I have heard of some hybrid diesel/electric engine work being done by Nigel Calder but even he isn't quite there yet...

We thought we'd throw in one ridiculous powerboat in our tour. While there were a lot to choose from, this stinkpot was the way coolest.

   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

   Well, we took off from Kingsley (the ETC mothership) aboard our double inflatable kayak, paddling towards the West Point Lighthouse (we always go there!).

Then, all of a sudden, we noticed a black fin in the distance...

Was it a whale? It swam closer...

Then it got this close...OK, not really, I just zoomed in with the camera.

It turns out it was a California sea lion 'sailing'. This involves a sea lion swimming, usually with one flipper up in the air, in an effort to regulate body temperature. The real name for this is thermoregulation. People usually mistake this and think the sea lion needs help but it is totally normal folks, relax and let them do their thing!
   ~Paul, Amber, Sea Lion (we made him an honorary club member for the day)   ETC

   Just a couple of miles from Shilshole Marina (where we live aboard Kingsley the sailboat) is historic downtown Ballard. Seattle really is just broken up into a dozen or so really great neighborhoods, all with a million coffee shops, stores, restaurants, and most have their own farmers market. The Ballard farmers market is probably the city's best, but, like a lot of things in Ballard now, it's so good it's way too crowded! They've got veggies, bread, seafood, flowers, live music, crafts, art, clothing, jewelry, meat, and more.
   If you are visiting the city the market is a great way to get a sense of what being a NW local is all about. If your traveling from downtown, Ballard has other things to check out like Golden Gardens and the Locks to make the trip it worth it.

What: The Ballard Farmers Market
When: Sundays, 10-3, all year round
Where: Ballard Ave NW between Vernon Place NW and 22nd Ave NW 
More Info: http://ballardfarmersmarket.wordpress.com

   ~Paul & Amber   ETC