Sailing on Air Part 3 - Liberty Call in Helens

(a recap of our landing...)

We made our approach heading toward the public docks. Our plan was to "buzz" the docks to see where the best place to land was. Tink spotted a nice spot on the upriver-inside dock so we spun around and came in slow. We powered down the motor and got the lines ready for docking. Our primary mission was just to get seated on the dock, the thought of leaving the next morning didn't really hit yet, so as we made it in the docks, our bow was facing the wrong way...

In the tiller, I could feel the current pushing against the boat. Coming in nice and slow we landed and I jumped out like a man on a mission... Slowing the boat and tightening up slack lines... We made it..

Meeting the nice Hunter People.

We made our way up the ramp, but not without noticing a sign that read, "The Hunter Boats Association." Right off the bat I knew what that translated into..."The 2000+ model Porsche Club." All of the men were nicely dressed in their Columbia or nautica shorts, Hawaiian polo shirts, & Sperry Topsider Shoes.. The ladies were in their weekend sailing outfits and fully equipped with a non-breakable West Marine wine glass in hand... Oh how nice! :)

Coming close and hanging out wasn't really an option to me.. Those Yachties were guarded by ferocious pair of white poodles... I made haste up that walk way... "liberty call at last." It wouldn't be fair to say this experience was new... Tink and I had been to St. Helens before, but this day we weren't day sailing. Our plans were to scout the town (i.e. look for a Starbucks or something) then head back to our boat for dinner. I remembered last time that there was a tiki-looking pizza parlour that appeared that it might have a bar.

We headed that way past the older looking theater and curio shops.. the time was somewhere around 7pm and the town was quiet.. Not a soul to be seen in any shop... "closed" signs decorated the landscape only contrasted by maybe one open sign which was quickly dowsed after 7:30... Small town... So small that the iconic green maiden of black gold coffee didn't appear anywhere on any street that we walked down. To my luck that pizza place was open and we made our way in.

We sat down at a nice table with lifted stools with a back. Tink likes stools with backs on them, but it was also next to their restroom. An aged woman with a 60's style apron appeared at our table to start us off... Their selection of beverages was simple. Any fancy named beer was a micro brew... any generic name was a domestic.. "A pitcher of Bridgeport Pale Ale please..."  I said... Here I suppose I could say that this really was borderline micro brew/domestic.. but either way I wanted something at least decent enough that Tink would share. I'm often criticized as cheap so I'll just say in passing that a full pitcher of beer at $11.25 hit harder then the buzz it generated. We ordered on the side a plate of mozzarella sticks and after a proper relaxation we left to cook some fine stew.

The hunter people seemed like they were growing with every new 40' hunter boat arriving... All of them seemed like the real parrot head types to me, but for most of the evening Tink and I were ignored...  That is until a 41' hunter pulled up on the adjacent dock. It was twilight and I wanted light.. I lit a Coleman lantern and sat down... Like a pack of flies our boat was nearly surrounded on the dock by these hunter people all (without thanks or mention) taking advantage of what seemed like the only light. Of course to not say something was rude.. So one or two asked us about the boat.. I knew the importance of conversation and tried to remain talkative & social. Little did we know... but the lesson here is "he who has the light out on the boom sets the party :)"

The evening was pleasant and we were acknowledged which was nice, but no matter how much we tried to blend.. They were hunter people and we were in a Coronado... Ahh oh well. We'll find our crowd soon enough...

More to come...

~J out

Edit:

One saving grace from after landing was the founding of a new drink.. "The St. Helens." Based on pretty much what we had on board..

In a plastic cup you put 1/2 Sprite or 7up and 1/2 Coconut Rum.. Stir with a screwdriver or plastic knife and enjoy with or w/o ice.