Newport Oregon to San Francisco

We departed Newport at 6:30 on Sunday Aug. 8th. We soon had favorable winds and sailed mostly southerly. We stayed about 20 t0 30 miles off shore. Today we are sailing with a full main and Genoa winds are 15-18 knots and we are going about 6.5 knots, with calm seas. In the evening we tuck in a reef and switch to our jib.

Over the next two days we have favorable winds and were able to go up to 10-12 knots for a while but the average seems to be 6-7 knots.

We have had a few problems, one is when Roy and I tried to furl the jib and it would not budge. It was all hands on deck and we figured out the problem. It was the spinnaker halyard. We left it on the whisker pole earlier that day, it was getting wrapped around the jib and "putting on the brake" of the furler. All in all a very minor problem. We are also noticing an issue with our goose neck fitting (the part that connect the boom to the mast). The screws are working their way out, not a good thing. We keep and eye on it and will repair in S.F.

Roy and I were treated to a wonderful dolphin show when a pod of dolphins played at the bow of our boat. We also saw whales 2- 3 times. Poor Mel and Steve did not get the show.

It is funny that it is getting colder as we move south?? We did not expect that. Morning and evening watches are cold and foggy. Thank goodness for radar.

We arrive at the Golden Gate Bridge at about 1p.m. on Wednesday the 11th. We celebrate with champagne.

We will spend several days here visiting family and getting repairs done on the boat, and other chores like laundry and shopping.

Sadly we say good-by to Roy and Steve today. A better crew we could not have had. Thank you Roy and Steve.

Well friends and family, this is the end of the first leg of our journey. From here to San Diego it will be just Mel and I gunk-holeing down the California Coast. Our next stop will be my home town, Santa Cruz.

Seattle to Newport Oregon

We left Seattle 7:30 p.m. on August 3rd. We wanted to make the tides. Mel and I have a crew along with us, Roy and Steve. They will accompany us all the way to San Fransisco.

Our trip to Newport was uneventful as we had no wind and the wind we did get was right on our nose. The good news was that the sea's were flat, you could have water skied behind the boat.

We settled into 4 hour watches. That seems to work well as you can get a good bit of sleep when your watch ends.

Cooking was easier underway than I thought it would be, but again, we had pretty calm seas. I had on mishap with the pressure cooker, I had only used it once before so I was sure I could cook rice in it. I followed the direction, but soon I could smell something burning, I guess I did not put in enough water, what a mess, and I had to start over, (I did it the regular way, in a pot)

We arrived in Newport at 1:30 a.m. and had to negotiate the bar in the dark and fog. We had Roy and Steve at the mast spotting the buoy's and Mel was at the helm with the chart plotter, all very exciting.

Thank you to all our friends and family who came to Newport to see the boat and wish us Bon-Voyage !

We leave Newport at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday the 8th, for a straight run to S.F.

We cut the docklines!

Dear Friends and Family,

we have done it! We left Seattle at 7p.m on August 3rd for the first leg of our journey.

We are sailing with 2 crew members, Roy and Steve. We will make our first stop in Newport Oregon. We will then head to San Francisco. Mel got me a SPOT gps locator, so I will send out a signal along the way to let you know where we are.

Here is a picture of Mel and I as we are leaving our slip in Seattle.

I will post more as I have cell service.

Barkely Sound and San Juan Islands

We had a great time in Barkley Sound. This area seems to be the fishing capitol of the world, or at least Canada, we saw so many fishing boats and folks catching salmon.

This is a very pretty area of Vancouver Island on the west coast of the island. There are many islands and area's to anchor and gunk-hole around. The wildlife is abundant. We saw eagles at each area we anchored.

This is suppose to be our shake-down cruise before we leave from Seattle to California, but we did not get much sailing in. We really expected to sail back down the Strait of Juan de Fuca on our way back but it was flat calm and what wind there was, was right on our bow. Even though we made good time and I did not get seasick again.

We met Kristine, and the granddaughters for a 3 day tour of the San Juan's We went to Sucia Island and explored the china caves, Stewart Island and saw the school house, and Roch harbor and walked through the sculpture garden and watched to lowering of the colors.

Here are various pictures of the trip so far.

First Over-night

Ahh, to be out to sea, the feel of the wind on your face as you stand your first watch of the evening, the sound of the boat going through the water, and yes knowing that your barf bowl has a tightly sealed lid!

Mel and I had our first overnight sail together, from Sooke to Bamfield in Barkely Sound.
This passage had us in the Strait of Juan deFuca. We left Sooke at about 9:30 pm and arrived at Bamfield at 10:00 a.m. the next morning. Even though I got seasick it was very satisfying and comforting to know that we can do it.

I will tell you more about our adventures in Barkley Sound in my next blog.

Tyler (our grandson) came to visit us for our last week. We visited Bellingham and toured the tall ships and a destroyer. We had a great time. Now Elaine is back at work and Mel is still on the boat in Seattle. He and Matt are spending a few days together in the San Juan's

Chatter Box Falls and other pictures....

We have been having a great summer. After leaving Bowen Island we have cruised around the Gulf Island, Sunshine Coast, and The San Juan's.

One of the highlights was our trip to Chatter Box Falls. This is our second time there and it is truly a magical place, with breath-taking beauty! It is located at the end of Princess Louisa Inlet which is North of Vancouver B.C.

At the entrance to the inlet is a Young Life camp/lodge. Mel went there for two summers when he was a teen. On our way out we stopped for a visit as they give tours. Since we toured the grounds on our last trip we opted just to get ice cream and visit the store.

The rest of the trip has been spent getting to know our boat, we sail when there is wind, even if it is not blowing in the direction we want to go. We have learned so much about how to set our sails and how she rides in various wind conditions.

We have routinely seen: Eagles, dolphins, seals, and once Orca whales.

I am posting various pictures. The water fall is Chatter box....

We are currently in Port Townsend (yes, again) Mel is visiting his Mother and will check in with Spencer and bring our Grandson, Tyler back with him to spend a few days on the boat with us.

I return to work on Aug. 17th so my vacation is almost up. Mel will stay on the boat and hopefully do more sailing and/or get things done on the boat.