It's all about the water in Gig Harbor

Mt. Rainier as seen from a little park at the mouth of Gig Harbor

When you live in Gig Harbor, WA, water is a part of daily life. (Even when it's not raining.) A few days ago, Dave and I wandered downtown to watch the Thursday night sailboat races, then had dinner at The Tides Tavern, where you can hitch up your boat out back. After stuffing ourselves on beer-battered halibut, clam chowder, ribs and fries, we waddled down the street to a little viewing platform at the mouth of the harbor and took the photo above of Mt. Rainier.

Here are some pictures from the races. They're being held every Thursday in May, starting around 6:30 near Arabella's Landing. The turning points are Anthony's and the mouth of the harbor. They're sponsored by the Gig Harbor Yacht Club, but you don't have to be a member to take part. (I'm not a member. We only have kayaks.) For more info, go to www.gigharboryc.com

Peaceful reflections while waiting for the starting gun.

And they're off!

It was a gorgeous May evening. Since we're so far north, it stays light now until nearly 9.

Two days later we were back downtown for a day of volunteer training for Harbor WildWatch. On our lunch break, Dave and I went to a little restaurant called Harbor Kitchen and sat on the deck out back. It was quiet and peaceful -- only one other couple, the water, a group of kayakers and a Great Blue Heron preening on the dock. I shot these photos from our table:

Kayakers training in Gig Harbor (the view from our cafe table).

A Great Blue Heron preened on the dock behind Harbor Kitchen as we ate our lunch.

No, these puffin feet aren't in Gig Harbor. But they are across the bridge in Tacoma -- at the Tacoma Zoo last week.

And the most interesting water/boat event of the past week was the evening sail we took aboard the historic schooner Adventuress, which was built in 1913. The sail was sponsored by People for Puget Sound (pugetsound.org), an organization devoted to the health of our sound. We sailed around Commencement Bay in Tacoma. It was a chilly, gray, drizzly evening, but the boat was beautiful and the passengers and crew were fun to talk with. It was nice and cozy down below in the living quarters.

The historic schooner we sailed on last weekend with People for Puget Sound.

That's a guy way up there on the Adventuress, working on the rigging.

Here's the action on deck of the Adventuress in Commencement Bay, Tacoma.

AHOY!