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Hello, we are Janine & Nick Mott of Tacoma WA. We spend a large part of each year on our American Tug, Touch of Gray, which is moored at Skyline (Anacortes). We like to cruise to our favorite spots and search out new locations to explore and enjoy.

This website+blog is mostly Janine’s boating journal. A place to record activities, memories, and vessel-related information. It’s also a place that friends and family can use to keep up with our travels and experiences.

I’ve used three platforms to blog about three boats – access older posts here:

Pelican Passages (Blogger) May & June 2017

Europa (Blogger) June 2017 – January 2021

Touch of Gray (Blogger) January 2021 – August 2022

Touch of Gray (Wix) August 2022 – February 2024

About Us

We’ve owned small fishing boats over the years and have always enjoyed being on the water. Nick grew up on the East Coast and enjoyed sailing as a kid, so often talked about owning a sailboat. I, on the other hand, have always suffered from motion sickness in one form or another. Having spent some time on sailboats as a kid, I didn’t have fond memories.

At some point, one of Nick’s cousins talked with him about tugs and trawlers. We were hooked! We bought our first small cruising boat in late 2016, a brand new (2017) 25-foot classic Ranger Tugs (delivered August 31). We named her Pelican and moored her at the Foss Harbor Marina in Tacoma, near where we live.

We definitely did not know how much both of us would take to the cruising lifestyle!

We were both still working but used the boat as often as we could, all year long. While at a factory gathering in Poets Cove in the spring of 2017 we toured a Ranger 29 and decided to upgrade. After owning Pelican for eleven months, we took delivery of Europa, a 2017 29-foot Ranger Tugs Sedan. The factory made it easy, delivering the new boat to the public dock near our marina and driving the old one away.

Europa was a lovely boat and we cruised our hearts out.

Nick and I both retired on June 30th 2019 and spent most of that summer traveling around the San Juan Islands. By summer of 2020 we decided we wanted something bigger and more stable.

We began looking at larger boats. Difficult. So many choices! Makes/models, new/used, features, pros/cons…you name it. We always admired American Tug (then Tomco Marine, now owned by the Kadey-Krogen Group) and after visiting their La Conner factory we landed on the AT 362. She is Touch of Gray. (More about this boat on the “About the Boat” page.)

Europa and Touch of Gray were both also moored at the Foss Harbor Marina but we moved Touch of Gray (ToG) to Anacortes (Skyline) in December of 2023.

We typically cruise around 6 knots…slow…taking in the scenery, watching wildlife, marveling at other boats, and generally taking our time while enjoying being on the water.

We like many activities when boating. Lots of walks…there is nothing quite like island hiking! We paddle around in Callisto & Io, our two orange kayaks. We also carry ebikes, allowing us to expand our excursions.

Touch of Gray has afforded us the opportunity to carry a more robust dinghy, a 10-foot AB with a 20hp Tohatsu outboard. It’s much more than our previous tenders and we do a lot more exploring by dinghy.

Nick and I were part of the Waggoner Cruising Guide’s team of Field Correspondents (2021-24) helping to share what’s new and different about the places we visit. We occasionally write articles for them as well (see “Articles” page.)

Other than boating, we like to spend time with our two young grandsons, Malcolm and Ren. They are also in Tacoma and one of the main reasons we come off the water in the summer. We also travel near and far, visiting our daughter near Vancouver (WA), finding sunny warm places in the winter, and occasionally venturing further abroad.

Maybe we’ll see you on the water! Feel free to contact me and/or post your comments.

Bon voyage…