This is really important “gear for cruisers”, if your cruising boat happens to catch fire in Elliott Bay!

I took this picture Sunday afternoon after overhearing Leschi advising Seattle Vessel Traffic on channel 14 that they’d be out doing drills. We waited around about 20 minutes after that first call before the Leschi pulled away from the dock. I’m sure we were logged and monitored for…um…”Homeland Security” reasons. Hey guys: that little C-Dory loitering around Coleman Dock taking pictures was just a couple of dads and a couple of kids!

I feel a special affinity for this new fireboat, mostly because my daughter’s classmate Kadi named it. About a year ago, when they announced the new name, the entire class got a field trip down to Fire Station 5, including a tour of the then-biggest fireboat in the fleet, the Chief Seattle. Normally, you know, it can be difficult for a primary school teacher to get enough parents to chaperon field trips; for some reason, though, this particular field trip to tour the fireboat had LOTS of DADS in attendance…weird!