We receive a warm welcome and enjoy visiting and catching up on the news since we saw them a few days ago.
This morning each family has separate plans of errands to run, and Herb, Jake and I take off in the truck to Monroe WA, home of the Ranger Tug factory which builds the 29 foot Tugs. They also make the canvas cockpit enclosures, and we take our panels in for a tweaking that Herb has designed to make it better fit our needs.
We meet Bob, one of the managers, who is shown getting one of his many phone calls. He gives us a tour of the factory and we see boat components and boats in various stages of production.
An unexpected surprise is the arrival of our old friends Andrew and Jeff of the Kent factory, which makes the 27 foot Tug, and where"Willie's Tug" was born.
Andrew seems to be saying something profound after handing something to Herb. It causes the others to laugh -- maybe they will let me in on the joke........
As we look around the room at the boats in construction, I meet a lady who asks me if one of these boats will be mine. I ask her if one of them will be hers, and learn that she is a committed sailor, but considering a Tug.
As a new owner, I give her my thoughts on the matter, as we have observed sailboats for some time, and it seems to me that sailing is a lot of work, especially in the Northwest it would be quite cold, and you would be wet a good bit of the time!
Not so with the Ranger Tugs, as we are enclosed, warm and dry most of the time, and (so far) the work is less than I imagine sailing would be.
One of her comments includes the word "Nellie" and I soon find out that she and husband are Kate and Bob, former neighbors of Bob and Nita in Bothell, before they moved to Anacortes.
I ask them to pose in front of a blue Ranger Tug that is nearby, but they insist green is their color........
Could there be a green 29 in their future?
Our next stop is to retrieve the canvas panels, and thank the ladies who made the enhancements to them. It is exciting to see the sewing machine -- imagine getting to sew and getting paid for it!!!
The cushions are made in this department, and we watch as one lady stuffs one into its upholstery.
Mission is accomplished and we go in search of a restaurant in Seattle for lunch. As luck would have it, we come upon Ivar's Seafood Bar, a sidewalk cafe, that we recall Bob's having mentioned in the past. A favorite of his and Nita's. How does smoked salmon chowder sound for lunch?
And a little humor of the founder at #4 on the instructions for ordering at the window ....
We are on to Fisheries' boat supply store for a dish shelf we had ordered, and then find ourselves in Seattle rush hour traffic. We'll never make it home for Happy Hour.
Then we see one reason for the delays. In addition to going through a construction zone, we now arrive at a drawbridge just as it opens for marine traffic.
We are home with plenty of daylight left to enjoy, and all of us (except Babe) start to go outside to sit on the patio.
There are visitors on the vacant lot hill next to Bob and Nita's home. They see us and we see them, and they continue eating grass.
We are not sure how Babe will feel about Jake's invasion of his space, so the decision is made to keep them apart.
That is quite difficult, as Babe is quite quick, so we let them see each other through just a small opening of the door. So far, so good; they passed Test #1.
Willie of Willie's Tug,
and Walldog, Willie and Jake
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