We went ashore for breakfast and coffee at the 'Tractor'. Next we walked pass store windows where the stores weren't opened as yet. We went past the Christ Church Cathedral where we had heard Handel's Messiah years back. Next we were enjoying flowers and birds in Beacon Hill city park. Finally we arrived at a grocery to provision, and Ubered back to the boat with our goodies. We also walked through the gift shops at the Empress Hotel. Then we stumbled on to a Saturday Market where live music was playing. All in all, we enjoyed the exercise, and getting to know the city of Victoria better.

The Washington State coast was passable, as the winds were relatively light, and the seas calming down after earlier winds. We passed Neah Bay in 24 hours from Astoria, a good pace. The morning looked promising, so we decided to push for Victoria, BC and Canada Customs. We checked into Customs by phone. Then we refueled, topping off our two belly tanks with 40 gallons. We made our way to the Causeway Marina in front of the Empress Hotel. It felt so good to have made it there!

We left Portland at 6:15am, and arrived in Astoria at the West Basin Moorage. We topped off our diesel fuel for departure tomorrow morning for points north, Neha Bay, WA. Then as weather permits to Victoria BC.

Sunny and 90 degrees, we arrived back at Portland Yacht Club in the afternoon. Our son, Ted's, family met us at the dock to help us unload kayaks, unused provisions, dirty laundry, and all sorts of other items headed home for storage off the boat. We are very grateful for the engine
mechanic's work in Ketchikan. Since Ketchikan we motored 224 hours with the new engine parts and mechanical adjustments. 1364 nautical miles traveled from Ketchikan to Portland. That's an average of 6 knots per hour. Our engine is doing great! Thank you to everyone along the
way who wished us well, and the prayers shared on our behalf.

Neah Bay, WA was 12-1/2 hours from Friday Harbor for 'Julia Max'. The highlight of this portion of our trip was thousands of rhinoceros auklet birds that were diving for innumerable tasty fingerlings. After spending the night anchored in Neah Bay, we weighed anchor and headed around
Cape Flattery towards the Columbia River Bar and Astoria, OR. Almost immediately we were delighted to see five separate sightings of tufted puffin birds. Their fast wing beat, their diving, and then their returning to their rocky ledge nest with a beak full of fingerling fish is a remarkable sight.
Not too long afterward we had two separate sightings of adult green turtles that were taking the ocean currents north into colder waters. Twenty miles offshore Sue spotted a sea lion swimming along heading south. Off of La Push, WA we had a start! A US Air Force fighter jet came upon
us about 300' above the water, and did a tight turn around the stern of our boat applying afterburners to maintain their tight turn, and then took off to the coast line 20 miles away and beyond! What a surprising and thunderous event! As we continued south, we were delighted in a colorful
sunset. But we were apprehensive in a moonless night sky, and no visibility. The previous trip south, we ran into a crab pot off Gray's Harbor. So this time we stayed 20 miles out, thus reducing our chances of running into any crabpot buoys. There wasn't enough wind to sail. The sea
state was confused between opposing swell directions, and occasional light wave activity. As the sun came up we were past Gray's Harbor, and the seas were more confused. Unfortunately, we missed our approach time to the Columbia River Bar which has to be after the 'Slack Before
Flood'. So we waited 8 hours, and sailed around in light winds until the right time came up at 1412 in the afternoon. This was a Friday, and the salmon recreational fishing was going great guns. 100 recreational fishing boats were around Buoy 10, while another hundred boats were fishing
the eleven miles from Buoy 10 up river to Astoria. Lots of dodging boats and fishing lines in the water! This last stretch was good sailing from just after Buoy 10 all the way to Tongue Point where we anchored for the night. The offshore section was 32 hours long. We were most grateful to
be in the Columbia River and in our home waters!

US Customs was accomplished through the phone app 'CBP ROAM'. The Roche Harbor Port of Entry asked questions about boat location, food on board, and if we had the latest Customs Decal#...which we did. We then headed to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island for the night. Rising early, we travelled at slack current the remaining two hours to Friday Harbor! It's sunny, a great summer day to arrive at our condo. We refueled, did laundry, disposed of garbage, and will get some rest. We plan to take Julia Max to Portland in the next 4-5 days, depending on the weather.