Close Encounter
It is November. Winter is coming. But last week included several wonderful days to be on the water, and I took advantage of them. Sunny, calm, windless tanning opportunities, perhaps the last of 2010. Sunday was cool, but with a fresh wind that beckoned, so I headed for the docks after spending time at the park with Buddy. As often as not, I won't even raise the sails until I get under the bridges and out onto Lake Washington. Maneuvering on the north end of Lake Union, and in the Montlake cut, is tight, and the traffic is often heavy enough that it is best to just motor on out. But the breeze was from the south, and the lake was largely empty but for a few rowing teams and the launches that attend them. The navigation channel evidenced an earlier regatta, with bright buoys marking the courses, but there didn't seem to be much going on, so I sailed quietly north and turned the corner towards the University Bridge, which was raised to n...