Week 9 - Their First Boat Trip

Every since I was a kid... well, back up even further... Ever since my mom was a kid, our family has been taking boat trips. My grandfather, J. Fred Kalbach, being from Seattle, loved the Pacific Northwest and each summer since 195-something, he and my grandmother packed up the family from southern California and headed north to Anacortes, Washington - the gateway to the San Juan Islands. Each year they chartered the same boat - "The Dodger", and spent at least a week - usually 2 - cruising around the San Juans and the Canadian islands just above and beyond. It has been a family icon and focal point ever since. My great-uncle (my grandfather's brother) bought a place on San Juan Island so far back ago that he even got to dub the little cove on which it sits and in which we still watch the orcas surface and play "Kalbach Cove".

As my mother married and developed her own family, the tradition carried on. Our summers growing up consisted on one week at the Dent Family Reunion and at least another aboard The Dodger or another chartered boat hopping from island to island. That's me and my dad pictured below. Must have been either my first or second boat trip.


Boat Trip 1970 or 1971

Well, now it's my turn to carry on the traditon. Fortunately, my father has the San Juan bug so bad after all these years of only visiting, he has run off and moved there and bought himself his own little troller which he's dubbed, Kairos. Paul, the kids and I were honored to be the first overnight guests on Kairos as we spend only 2 days aboard visiting a couple of our favorite harbors: Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor.


Boat Trip - 2005

We didn't see any orca, but we did find a nice grey seal and her pup and the tide was so low out at Spenser Spit that many starfish were visable on the rocks from the deck of the boat. Paul and I also went back to the chapel in Roche Harbor - the place where we got engaged - and took another picture like the one the day of our engagement, but this time it included our little girls. So much as changed since then! The girls did great and slept between the two of us in the aft-cabin state room. They baby-bjorned it most of the time we were on the deck so one little "whoopsy" didn't land them in the chilly waters or the hard decks. Grandpa Dent started Paul on the basic steering and layout of the boat and has encouraged us to take additional Coast Guard classes so that we can continue this long-held tradition by borrowing Kairos and making it another yearly treat. We hope we're able to do so.