Juice...

No, not orange juice.  Running essentially on one battery bank all night, we fired up the generator this morning and topped everything off.  We’re good to go... ‘till we get where we can really get ‘er fixed.

No one around us, showers on the swim step, a great breakfast - we are ready to take on our day.  I fired up the motor, all electronics are working, and pulled in the anchor with the windlass.  Joan undid the last line we had onshore, and we shoved off...

No particular destination, but the general plan is now to head back towards Wahweap, taking our time.  We have been cruising mostly at displacement speed, so we actually have an excess of fuel that we’ll need to burn off before we put this up on the trailer in a few days.  We didn’t do Rainbow Bridge the last time we were here, so we decided to head that way.

Forbidding Canyon is a fun trek - plenty of turns and narrow passages...

Of course, someone always has to blast through there at near full speed, making a bunch of wake that bounces back and forth between the narrow canyon walls, making the wake of one boat seem like a dozen.  We only passed 4 boats going in and out, and one of them actually slowed down as we passed.

We tied off at the dock at Rainbow Bridge.  By the time we got the boat closed up and were ready to go, two more small boats came in.  Not a lot of room at the dock, because one side is nearly impassable due to rocks.  We waved them in on our side of the dock.  Both situations were the same: rental boats, no dock lines or fenders ready.  One boat driver didn’t know if they had any fenders.  We got them tied off, then started heading to the trail.  A guy on one boat commented about Wild Blue, “You look like you’re equipped for anything with that boat.  Do you come here and camp with it?  Bet that’s fun for a weekend?”

I told him, “We are just over 5 months out with the boat.  We’re working our way back home now.”

“Five months?  Do you stay in motels or camp?” he asked.

“No, we stay in the boat.  It has a comfortable bed, fridge, microwave, galley, dinette, a full head with a shower...” I could see the wheels turning.  He looked wistful... his wife looked horrified.

Joan said, “You have to get the kids out of the house and get yourself retired to have extended fun like this.”

“Someday,” he said.

The other boat had an extended family from New Zealand.  They heard what we told the other folks and thought this was the best way to travel that they’ve ever heard of...”We have a lot of water around New Zealand,” he said with a smile, “but, I’ve never seen a boat quite like that.”

We took photos for them at the arch, and they took one for us (using that timer isn’t always easy)...

It was a half mile walk to Rainbow Bridge.  A tour boat had departed as we were pulling up, so the trail was mostly unoccupied.  It’s a nice walk.

Back to the boat.  They have signs on the dock that say, “No Pets.”  Little Izzy waited patiently in the boat, with the window covers keeping things cool...

Back out that twisty canyon and back into the main channel.  We came by an area with good phone coverage and checked weather - knowing the wind direction and strength helps you pick a good spot for the night.  Even passing the same features, the scenery seems even prettier from this direction...

We pushed the throttle forward to find a place for the night (it’s Saturday, so we expect more traffic).  We picked a cove off a canyon and eased towards what looked like a soft shore... not so soft once we got close, I backed off before we scraped the bottom on the rocks, and moved down a ways - we found a spot with no one else around, between two rocky places on the shore...

Of course, the obligatory photos once we settled in...

Should be good protection if the wind comes up tonight.  Having been here a couple hours now, we’ve only seen one boat come by; pretty sure they’re the “scout boat” for one of those big houseboats.  So, maybe we’ll have the area to ourselves for the night.

A couple observations: does this look like an eye to you?

It’s a feature on a canyon wall.  Still, it makes me feel like I’m being watched.  And this sign...

Stating the obvious??

Days end...

We picked this spot specifically, since we wanted to put the bow towards north because of the anticipated wind, the cliff behind us would give us shade from the late afternoon sun.  So, instead of a sunset, we got this...