From our roving Reporter, Charlie Dixon!
Oak Harbor Cruise July 2-5, 2004
This report starts with this very big thank-you to Steven and Susan Wood (This
Is It), our cruise captains for the weekend. They kept us over-fed and well
entertained for the entire long week-end.
Our fun began with our arrivals on Friday evening. Seven boats checked in
Friday night, and got their share of hors d’hoeurves and wine from the club. We
also got our game sheets for recording all of the songs we could think of with
the words red, white, or blue in the lyrics. Entries were turned in before
dinner on Saturday. A brief drizzle, the only precipitation of the weekend,
drove us off the docks, and we spent the evening in the protection of fiberglass
and Sunbrella.
Saturday morning was pleasant, if a bit breezy. The Oak Harbor parade, that
started promptly at 11:00 a.m., was very similar to the 2002 parade. The city
fathers apparently do not read nor respond to the Sea Ray Cruising Club
Newsletter, because the parade was still devoid of marching bands. We all had a
good time anyway, using a freebie frisbee as a candy dish for the wrapped treats
thrown by the paraders.
After the parade, most of the cruisers went by to Coupeville for lunching and
gift shopping. We went in the Wood’s cars, because it was too windy for
dinghies. Lunch was taken at the Knead and Feed, which offered good food,
including home made bread and bakery items, with confused service. We were
misled about the required wait for seating, seated in two groups on opposite
sides of the room, and one table was nearly through eating before the other
table was served.
Dinner, ah, dinner. The menu began with chicken and ribs from the Pot Belly
Deli and corn on the cob. Next were the side dishes provided by the cruisers,
with the variety and quality we’ve all come to expect on SRCC cruises. Finally,
dessert. My personal favorite was Anya’s lemon cake, but there was so much good
dessert that on Monday the Woods were still trying to figure out what to do with
all of it.
After dinner, the winners of the red, white and blue song game were announced.
Charlie Dixon (Orcastraited) was the winner, Brad and Anya Stutz (Momento),
supported baby Aiden, placed second, and a close contest for third was taken by
Bill and Kathy Bock (Soul Mates). Winners chose their prizes from the three
wrapped selections provided by the cruise captains. Despite the lovely Oak
Harbor guest dock, it was too cold, especially with the increasing wind, to
spend the evening on the dock, so we retreated to our Sea Ray cocoons.
Sunday, we awoke to clear skies, with a west wind that was a little above a
breeze. Bill Bock served his now famous waffles, and we chased them down with
Susan Wood’s “Eggs Fantastic,” which lived up to their name. In the afternoon,
most of us rode to Anacortes to tour Steven and Susan Wood’s new home. It is
still under construction, but the exterior is complete and the inside walls are
up, so the layout is apparent. It is grand, as one would expect, and the master
bedroom, on the third floor, has a glorious view of the Gateway and San Juan
Islands.
The eighth boat of the cruise, Jay and France Nelson’s Emerald Coin, arrived
just in time for dinner, which was preceded by a contest with rubber balls
attached to paddles by rubber bands. Following the detailed instructions of the
cruise captain, contestants were eliminated by several rounds of hitting the
balls in different directions, sometimes with the non-dominant hand. Kathy Bock
was the clear winner, followed by Brad Stutz and Dale Holland (Knotty Impulse),
and all three received nice prizes for their efforts.
After dinner, which was the bounteous leftovers from Saturday, we boarded a
couple of boats to get out of the wind and watched fireworks being lofted into
the sky from all around the bay. We bundled up for the main show and enj
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