[mobike008]

Last month (July-2024), we decided to have a “Team Outing” on a boat owned by one of my colleague who is an American and local to Seattle. He lived all his life here and he knows the waters pretty well.

He uses his boat sometimes to go all the way up to Victoria, British Columbia for Whale Watching as Orcas as predominant in our area during summers. When it gets cold, the Orcas swim all the way south via. Pacific Ocean to Dana Point in Southern California

The plan was made on a Wednesday in the afternoon. Morning we were hosting a client in our office for a workshop session followed by lunch. Once that event was completed, we all met at point where Mike’s boat was moored. It’s in a city called Kirkland which was a 10 minutes drive from our office.

We parked the car in an underground garage and then jumped on to the beautiful boat owned by Mike. Some details of the boat

1. 35-Foot Cruiser
2. 800 Horsepower Chevy Engine that is below the beautiful white leather seats behind the driver’s seat.
3. 45 Knots (51MPH/83KPH) Top-Speed
4. It has a full bedroom and bathroom below the main deck.

The plan was to take off from Lake Washington in Kirkland and cruise along the wold famous Medina. If you are not aware, Medina is suburb of Bellevue which is home to one of the richest people in America. Some of the notable celebrities who live here :

1. Bill Gates ( His home is 132 Million)
2. Nordstrom (Outdoor Retailer from Seattle)
3. Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon)
4. Savers (A thrift store chain)
5. Microsoft Excel Founder- Charles Simonyi

And, many more…

The map gives you an idea of our boat cruise route. We started from Kirkland then sailed towards Medina and then came back up into the open waters and headed towards Seattle which is Lake Union.

All these are known as Puget Sound Energy and these lakes open up to the Pacific Ocean via. The Ballard Locks- Mike wanted to take us out into the Pacific Ocean but, I told him that we can do it another time as it needs permission and we were short on time.

We decided to cruise along and enjoy the glorious weather and even Mt. Rainier came out and let us take a good peek.

I have been on multiple boats and also been on all the 5 Great Lakes of Michigan. But, this was an experience that I enjoyed for the first time. We visited a restaurant. Via. The boat (moored it outside a restaurant) and enjoyed a lovely seafood meal. Watching the sea-planes land and take off to-San Juan Islands, Victoria, Vancouver, Canada.

On the return, Mike insisted that I take over the wheel. So for the first time in my life, I drove a boat of this proportion. He kept goading me to increase the speed. I went up to its top speed of 45 Knots.

It felt like I was up in the air and turnings are tricky as you feel like leaving the ground..err…water and entire drive back I was manning the boat and this 1-hour of driving this beautiful boat was one of the most exciting and thrilling ride of my life.

We had started at 2:30pm and were back on land in Kirkland around 6:00pm.

WHAT an Experience !!! Sharing some pictures of this wonderful boat ride. Gosh, I love Seattle for what it offers- Plenty of Lakes, Ocean, Mountains and they all come alive in Summers. Now I'm hooked and would love to own a boat as it isn't too expensive and is literally like the costs of owning a luxury car. This ownership has been added to the bucket list. Looks like America will make you slog more and more to achieve these dreams. LOL!

Route- We started from Kirkland then went to Medina then sailed across Bellevue and then went to Seattle. I drove back from Seattle to Kirkland.



35-Foot Beauty



Posing on the mooring. Boat Mooring costs anywhere from $600 to $1500/month.



Your's truly kickin' out of the park. At 45 knots per hour.



Team Picture- Space Needle in the background.



Nordstrom Owners home- They have 2 seaplanes parked outside for an urgent get-away.





Absolutely beautiful scenery- I love Washington !!!





520 Bridge- Longest Floating Bridge in the world.





Nordstorm Planes.



Bill Gates home- It goes on for a couple of miles.



Excel Sheet Founder Home.





Savers Chain home- This is apparently over $50 Million.





Bellevue City Skyline.



I don't know who owns this home- It has a full sized "DINOSAUR" fossil in the living room. Please click and zoom and you can see it.



















We had an expensive Oysters lunch.

[mobike008]

Some more pictures continued in this thread. Do check out the titles of the pictures to get a better understanding of the location and other details.

Thanks for checking out this short photoblog and hope you enjoyed it.

P.S : All pictures clicked on iPhone 15 Promax. Please click images to see larger versions.

Cheers
Mobike008

Beautiful Lunch Location.



Team on the boat.





Microsoft Excel Founder Home- It looks like an Excel Sheet..Haha









Longest Floating Bridge in the world. This is known to us as 520 Bridge.

Seattle is also home to #2 and #3 longest floating bridges in the world.



We parked out boat here and entered the restaurant in the front.



If you are short on cash- You can use these multi level boat parking for a cheaper monthly price.



Sea-Planes landing and taking off. They were just too many. Need to catch a flight from here to Vancouver one of the days.



This is a $20 Million super yacht. Must be some Seattle Billionaire owner.







Walking to the boat



Boat and the owner. French Kiss



Mi Lord- Mt Rainier came out to give us a darshan.

[KarthikK]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ashkamath]

Wow. That's awesome. The photos are mesmerizing and that boat is just fantastic..

It's appears to be a 2007 model Formula 330 Sun sport. It's 33 footer cruiser. Do ask Mike, if it's a later model or thereabouts.

It looks like a fun boat to go out and chill.. I wish you buy a nice cruiser and enjoy it in coming days.

I found a youtube video of an identical vessel. The video shows the V-Berth (the sleeping area under maintenance deck), the head (toilet) & a galley (kitchen area) in fine detail.

https://youtu.be/sSfnYo5Z03o?si=qxbADz9MGxROsDHn

Nice boat. Have fun !

[sandeepmdas]

Awesome pictures

Did some googling:

Nathan Myhrvold became fascinated with dinosaurs and visited the filming of the “Jurassic Park” sequel in 1996 and met the film’s consultant and world-leading paleontologist, Jack Horner. Horner convinced Nathan to use some of his Microsoft multimillions to fund a dinosaur bone digging foundation. His foundation has recovered more tyrannosaurus rex skeletons than the total previously found by everyone else. He has given most of them to museums including the Smithsonian. In-side the big rounded windows of his living room he has one of the t-rex skeletons he helped dig up.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Wow. That's awesome. The photos are mesmerizing and that boat is just fantastic..

It's appears to be a 2007 model Formula 330 Sun sport. It's 33 footer cruiser. Do ask Mike, if it's a later model or thereabouts.

It looks like a fun boat to go out and chill.. I wish you buy a nice cruiser and enjoy it in coming days.

I found a Youtube video of an identical vessel. The video shows the V-Berth (the sleeping area under maintenance deck), the head (toilet) & a galley (kitchen area) in fine detail. Nice boat. Have fun !

Wow. This seems exactly like the boat that I drove. He did mention it's 15+ years old and I think he grabbed it for $50K or little more.

I feel this is the perfect size boat for cruising and has the necessary creature comfort to enjoy a overnight cruise as well.

Thanks for sharing the video.

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

Awesome pictures

Did some googling:

Nathan Myhrvold became fascinated with dinosaurs and visited the filming of the “Jurassic Park” sequel in 1996 and met the film’s consultant and world-leading paleontologist, Jack Horner. Horner convinced Nathan to use some of his Microsoft multimillions to fund a dinosaur bone digging foundation. His foundation has recovered more tyrannosaurus rex skeletons than the total previously found by everyone else. He has given most of them to museums including the Smithsonian. In-side the big rounded windows of his living room he has one of the t-rex skeletons he helped dig up.

Man, I can trust BHPians to solve puzzles....lol!

Yup, seems like Nathan's home. The entire Lake Washington and Lake Union is dotted with gorgeous homes by the water.

This cruise opened my eyes to how the rich live. I think need to think beyond cars and look at the next level.

Hopefully, in the next few years.

[SithDefender]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I don't know who owns this home- It has a full sized "DINOSAUR" fossil in the living room. Please click and zoom and you can see it.

Now that is quite an impression in a living room !!

Thx for sharing - it's not everyday that you see something as different as this boat trip !

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by SithDefender

Now that is quite an impression in a living room !!

Thx for sharing - it's not everyday that you see something as different as this boat trip !

I should have shared a few videos so you all get a sense of the boat cruise.

Here are a few :

Here is the video where the Fossil is visible in the living room

https://youtu.be/8sIZhqoZLyU

Yours truly enjoying driving the boat. As you can see Mike is goading me to increase the speed.

https://youtu.be/eoZdlKvKLpo

Well, what can I say. I felt "Rich" here. lol!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JYBEpE6LcmM?feature=share

[SithDefender]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Here is the video where the Fossil is visible in the living room

Me when I saw the fossil :

[alphamike_1612]

The T-Rex was a wonderful catch.!!!
And the boat looks splendid.!
Hope you get yourself one in the near future .
Toys like these bring out the inner kid within us.

I know the camera doesn't do justice to the audio, but do y'all wear hearing protection on the boat, especially if you are the owner and take her out regularly? I would believe, the wind noise coupled with that monstrosity of a 800 HP engine must be producing a lot of noise.

Thank you for sharing this.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by alphamike_1612

The T-Rex was a wonderful catch.!!!
And the boat looks splendid.!
Hope you get yourself one in the near future.
Toys like these bring out the inner kid within us.

Thanks. It’s indeed unique to have a real full scale T-Rex fossil in their living room. I guess the rich do have some quirky habits.

As mentioned, a good 15 year example would cost $50K but, it’s not the boat but, the parking space which is important and it’s nearly impossible to find one.

Usually, people securing parking spots before buying a boat. In many cases, the parking spot comes with the boat.

Originally Posted by alphamike_1612

I know the camera doesn't do justice to the audio, but do y'all wear hearing protection on the boat, especially if you are the owner and take her out regularly? I would believe, the wind noise coupled with that monstrosity of a 800 HP engine must be producing a lot of noise.

Thank you for sharing this.

Not really. Never used any equipment on the boat and I have been on boats several times.

More than engine sound, it’s the wind and water sound that gets a bit loud. But, that’s the real experience of being on a fast motorboat.

[srinitdas]

Lovely travelogue and thanks for sharing in such great detail. Seattle is beautiful indeed. Especially the various shores of lake Washington themselves provide such a wide array of experiences. City scapes, dense tree cover, sandy beaches, grassy parks... You name it.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by srinitdas

Lovely travelogue and thanks for sharing in such great detail. Seattle is beautiful indeed. Especially the various shores of lake Washington themselves provide such a wide array of experiences. City scapes, dense tree cover, sandy beaches, grassy parks... You name it.

Thanks. I know you are new to Washington and still exploring. I can assure you that there are so many hidden gems that needs to be explored that you will take a few years to complete them.

The beauty is that same place is totally different in different seasons- Summer, Fall and Winters.

[Kkumar]

Vow a nice travelogue with beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing.