It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Yesterday was gloriously beautiful.  I wore shorts to work - first time this season.  No whale reports, so we were out looking and enjoying other wildlife.  My view from the helm...

That is in Haro Strait, with water nearly flat calm.  A view of the Olympic Mountains in the distance...

Running north, a view of the Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island...

Our first mate visiting with guests on the bow...

View behind from the helm...

Back in the harbor, after saying good-bye to our guests, we took the boat to the fuel dock.  When finished, we had to wait for a while to get back to our dock, due to the number of boats trying to get to the fuel dock and dinghy dock.  Coming back to our dock, there were a half dozen marina dock hands on the dock diagonally behind us.  I jokingly said, "This is nice of you folks - we don't usually get this much help at the dock!  But, we are one dock over."

"You can pull it in here, but it's going to get crowded," one of the said, smiling.

I had been told to expect a big boat (it takes up that whole dock that usually holds two BIG boats) to appear right behind us.  Apparently, they have been doing the week of the 4th here for years.

As I was getting close to our dock, I heard an ominous deep rumble.  After making sure we were properly tied, I saw what I had previously only heard: our dock neighbor was making a grand entrance.  The rumble of the engines sounded like the best home theater ever, jiggling your insides.  The boat lumbered into the small basin, then slowly rotated.  When it got within 10 feet of the dock, they started tossing lines to the dock hands.  A short burst of power, it would lurch back a foot or two.  A crowd began to gather to see what all the noise was about.  Once close to the dock, they had to come back about 20 feet.  The dock hands were all pulling, and occasionally the engine would help.  There was a guy on the stern counting down the distance.

And then, silence, as the engines shut down.  The crowd of about 50 began to disperse.  I was hosing down our boat and looked back... yeah, they were close...

The crowd missed the best part: an electric gangplank came out the back of the boat to connect to the dock.  There are some impressive "recreational" boats at Roche Harbor.

The crowds are getting thick at both Roche and Friday Harbor.  It's going to be a busy week.