First Trip in the Boat

Capping off a big week, we took the boat out for our maiden voyage with her. It was a huge success and the girls loved it.

We learned a lot about trailering and launching it. It was great to feel how she ran through the water. I was even better to have the engine work so well. I feel very relieved now that we had a successful trip. To top it off, it was a great trip.

One time before, we had tried to take the girls out in one of the little Seaforth rental skiffs. Our oldest liked it, but our youngest did not. I think she hated the life jacked more than anything else. That made me nervous. Well, they both loved it.

We stated out by heading over to see the penguins. Yes, you can see some of the Sea World penguins from Mission Bay. It is pretty neat and the girls like it. It was just a nice casual idle to get there. From there we headed to the go fast zone. The girls had already made themselves at home and were moving about and sitting in the seats. They were having a blast.

Then we started to go faster. Then we hit some waves. Then the giggles erupted. They loved it!

Except for one brief moment where I had forgotten to open the fuel vent and the motor was starved of gas (and died), everything went well. I was impressed with how well the boat went with that much weight and how well it handled the boat chop.

We basically did a full tour around the bay. There was a little wind, but not too much. After we went up by the Bahia, I just let the boat drift down the channel with the wind. This is when Sophia got curious about the water. Zoë helped her touch it two times and she liked it. Then, the next thing we knew, she was in the water. The little stinker climbed right over the side. Zoë had her before she got all the way in, and both girls had life jackets on, so there was never any danger.

After the bay cruise, I dropped the girls off with Zoë to get the car. While I waited, I decided to test out some new line I put on one of my reels. I was just drifting about 50 yards off the boat ramp. On the third cast, it felt like I got a bite. Sure enough, I did. I don’t know if I would say the new Berkeley Fire Line was the magic, but I did catch my first fish on the boat. A great finally to the inaugural trip.

It was a little tricky for Zoë to back the car down the ramp. She got some greatly appreciated help from some other people and we got the boat out just fine. I’ve always like the generally friendly people you meet while out on a boat.

We headed to Katerina’s favorite weekend spot for lunch; “Fish Island”. It is actually called the Barefoot Bar and Grill at Paradise Point. They have a great salt water pond with a lot of local fish. There are sharks, calico bass, sand bass, white sea bass, yellowtail, baracuda, halibut, opal eye and some others. Sometimes the girls get to feed them and they have a blast. The food is pretty good and the atmosphere is great.

Yes, this reads like a series of great endings. Well, it was. We all had a great time.