m/v SCRIMSHAW: OUR FIRST CRUISE ABOARD VIVA YO!

A view of Mats Mats Bay from land

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic we've been spending LOTS of time at home, just like other folks around the globe. Lot's of gardening and a kitchen remodel kept us entertained for a of couple of months. We have spent time each day along our shoreline, but not a single day ON the water. We were overdue for a boat fix. It is really good to have Viva Yo! close by and READY to sail. Our weather has been good, and Darrell has been anxious to show me Mats Mats, our nearby bay, aboard Viva Yo! After sailing 25,000 bluewater miles to dozens of countries, this is one of the sweetest places I have cruised around. And, it's in my own backyard. We are blessed to have our wee Catalina 22 here to sail, while Darrell patiently awaits a safe weather window to skipper our Grand Banks 42, Scrimshaw, up the coast from Ventura, California to the Salish Sea.

No breeze yet.

Happy Woman

I started sailing my Dad's second sailboat, Viva Yo!, when she was brand new in 1973 on Folsom Lake, California. My father purchased our first family sailboat, a Lido 14, shortly after my family moved to California in 1959 from Missouri. Eager to be living the casual California life in Palo Alto, my father bought a powder blue convertible, and then a sailboat. He was Living the Dream, and my mother, brother, sister, and I easily transitioned to the warm weather West Coast lifestyle. My Dad loved taking the family sailing, and we loved going with him. He purchased the larger Catalina 22, so he could race with the Catalina fleet. The most content I ever saw my Dad was aboard his boat, a legacy he passed on to me. At age twenty-nine, when I set off to sail my boat from Morro Bay, California through the Panama Canal, and up to Annapolis, Maryland, my Dad was proud he had been the one who introduced me to sailing. I wished he was still with us, and onboard for our little excursion to Mats Mats.

Motoring through a narrow pass

Entering the narrow pass into Mats Mats Bay, the first glimpse doesn't give a hint of exactly how BITCHIN this place is for boaters. Tucked in between towering evergreens and lush foliage, Mats Mats lies hidden from view from boaters on Admiralty Bay, in Puget Sound. As we rounded the first channel marker, I felt the same wonder and awe I have experienced around the globe regardless where my boats have guided me. I had visited Mats Mats several times by land, but nothing prepared me for how sweet and serene this little bay is for boaters. This is often the case for me, regardless on which quiet anchorage I land in for the night. This time, it was different. I was home.

Charming cottages with docks line the bay.

Surely, this is Heaven.

Big green lawns with tall stands of trees, and dozens of blooming Rhododendrons.

By noon the sun began to shine, and green water turned blue, reflecting heaven above.

Viva Yo!

How sweet is that!!!

As the blue hole started to melt away the clouds, I was feeling grateful to be back on the water. I also experienced a bit of smugness, that I was the one that selected the Olympia Peninsula as our new forever home.