Team Building and Porpoises

This weekend got off to an early start, of sorts, when Friday was set aside for a company team building exercise called Geoteaming. Geoteaming is one of those businesses that piggy-backed on the popularity of geocaching to provide an activity for helping other businesses develop strategies for working together to achieve a common goal. To be honest, I wasn't all that excited about it going in, but it actually turned into a fun and educational experience.

The main activity was searching for 16 geocaches scattered around Discovery Park (a big urban park in Seattle). Each cache had two dollar values associated with them, one for the first team that found it, and a smaller one for any other team that found it. Our company representation (all of 10 people) was divided into two teams of three and another of four (I was on the 4-person team), and each team was given a GPS, a digital camera, a map of the park, and a two way radio. The idea was for each team to maximize their "revenue", and also for the company to meet all of its goals. Unfortunately, the early portion of the day was focused on competition between the teams, rather than success as a company, and so we weren't quite sure what the radios were even for. After we met for intermission, we set a better strategy for gathering as many of the caches between the teams as possible. Ironically, my company (Groundspeak) is effectively divided into three business units, so this activity wasn't so far-fetched. And of course, it was fun interacting with my co-workers outside the office in a business-like simulation. Lastly, it was a good workout, since Discovery Park is filled with hills and trails.

Saturday and Sunday I planned on sailing with two different groups of people. The forecast for Saturday was mostly sunny but less windy, while Sunday had increased chance of rain and strong winds. Saturday's sail went pretty much according to plan, as we cruised around the downtown waterfront under light winds (I even got honked at by a ferry!). Sunday, though, the scary forecast -- there was a small craft advisory -- caused my two friends and Rick's two friends to cancel, and so only L'Attitude's owners went out. What a shame we didn't share it with more people.

Sailing is Seattle can be a real treat, especially when it's not raining. There is a ring of snow-capped mountains around Puget Sound that seem close enough to touch, and wildlife viewing can be quite good at times. Since today's forecast was calling for rain and high winds, I wasn't expecting much other than some heavy sailing. It turned out, however, to be dry all day with relatively light winds -- enough to sail but certainly not frightening at all. An added bonus was a feint sun shining on the slopes of the mountains, creating an scene reminiscent of an Ansel Adams black and white photo. The true highlight, though, came on our way back from Bainbridge Island, where we went for lunch. Since the water was glass-like, it was easy to see any wildlife that penetrated the surface for miles around. Sure enough, about halfway back to Ballard, a group of Dalls porpoises decided to start playfully dancing in the water a few hundred yards off our stern. Then, a few moments later, one of them appeared right below Rick (who was perched on the bow), blowing enough water to get him wet! This porpoise was joined by one of his friends, and the two of them played hide n' seek with our boat for about two minutes. It was so tranquil that you could seem them racing around underwater, darting back and forth around our boat, and you could hear their breathing poofs as they came up to breath. It was like being at a porpoise show at the zoo, only we were in the middle of Puget Sound! The only thing I've experienced that comes close is the time I saw two orcas swimming near my boat last winter, but they came and went so quickly I didn't have time to realize how lucky I was. I haven't even mentioned yet the seal that we saw cavorting with a duck, of all things, or another seal that we saw up close and personal eating a salmon that was still flopping around. I would also add that two bald eagles have made a home of the south end of the rock jetty of my marina. So, while encounters like this are quite rare, when they do happen it makes me appreciate how fortunate I am to be sailing around in such an amazing natural environment. I know I talk about this a lot, but I just can't stress enough how cool it really is! Now if only I had my camera...