Chapter 57, Sound At Sea
Sailing with William was limited due to
our schedules and sailing requirements. While we sailed again there was no more
boat sex, it was just too complicated.
William knew the Puget Sound and enjoyed showing its nuances as Edward once did
with the San Francisco Bay Area. We made two long overnight sailing trips, to
Port Townsend and to La Conner from Bremerton. Each required a husband's
extended business trip and proper sailing conditions.
These included quaint inn night stays to assuage my landlubber preference then
the sail back to Bremerton and the drive home. William was a good captain but
sailing required his full attention as he tacked to and fro in the Sound. I
simply sat back, enjoyed the silence of no motor’s whine and listened to the
whispers of waves and wind as we skimmed along. With only occasional minor
sailing duties my sailing interest waned as William rushed to tack and steer
but the trips changed my image of Puget Sound from seen by land just as a fly
over also changes one’s impression from ground level. Once we saw a pod of orcas, exciting, beautiful but they made me
nervous, too big and wild to be up close.
Port Townsend is noted for its Victorian houses due
to a boom which went bust. The town is nicknamed the "City of Dreams"
because of the early expectations it would be the largest harbor in the Pacific
Northwest once a rail line was extended to it. The rail line, however, when it
came ended at Seattle and made Port Townsend’s dream a nightmare.
The 1890's boom resulted in numerous Victorian mansions which became ghost
remnants of the lost dream. In the 1970's it became a tourist and retirement
community with a redeveloped waterfront retail and restaurant district. With
the boat secured in the harbor we walked up the hill and spent a night at a
bread and breakfast Victorian mansion.
The elderly inn keeper assuming we were married
fussed over us and asked about our children while William diverted her with
sailing stories.
We walked to our restaurant and wobbled back after a few drinks up the endless spiral staircase. In our room, overlooking the harbor, we enjoyed alcohol enfeebled sex until at last William was able to perform a small ejaculation while I enjoyed the view of the harbor.
With a sober saddle horn in the morn we had a tryst in the Victorian bed after room service tea. Afterwards we trooped down to the breakfast nook dining area holding hands to the approval of the inn keeper and ate a hearty breakfast with eggs, bacon and hash brown in which she was kind enough to add fried onions.
For our second sailing voyage we went to La Conner on Swinomish Channel between Padilla and Skagit Bays. We walked the enchanting rustic waterfront esplanade before it was revitalized to stainless steel, fiberglass and tourist emblems for retired couples to stroll along.
