We’re into the second week of May and only a few days past the official start of the boating season and we’ve already logged several short trips on the MV/LAIKA – two of which took us through the locks to Winslow (Bainbridge / Eagle Harbor).

Busy large lock as we prepare to head into Puget Sound

Our most recent trip took place Sunday, the day after official opening day festivities, which we decided to skip. While Lake Washington was certainly quieter on the day we traveled, there were still a large number of boats rafted to the log boom near UW and a fairly decent sized flotilla of cruisers and sail boats traveling with us toward the locks.

Cathia and our friend enjoying the sun inside the lock

Weather was in the upper 60’s and sunny. Water conditions were mild and our cruise to Winslow was fast and uneventful. Once we cleared the locks we pushed the boat to our cruising speed of approximately 27 knots and 3,800 RPM and made it to Winslow by 1:30PM.

66 footer "Neptune's Car" takes up most of the small lock

We left Bainbridge by 4PM and made it back only to participate in a fairly large queue waiting to head back into the lake. Several commercial vessels were traveling at the same time which increased our wait time by about 45 minutes.