Rumor has it that it's bad luck to depart for a voyage on a Friday. That's why we waited until today;)

The kid's last day of school was on Thursday and I finished clearing out of Fort Lewis the same day. With all the administrative business complete, we still had a list of "to do's" a mile long. So, Friday was spent running errands together as a family. We drove to Seattle to pick up our broken refrigerator, some more LED lights, and a couple of scuba tanks. We then had to clear out my office and get all that junk into our storage shed. Spare parts had to be loaded on to the boat and put away. Laundry had to be done. And the list goes on and on.

As scheduled, the crew of Andiamo III departed Swantown Marina for the last time this morning at 0700. After some hugs and goodbyes from a few close friends, and a quick stop at the pump out, we blew the air horn to wake up our friends Chuck and Wendy and to tell the marina "goodbye" one last time. Our new Andiamo III pirate flag, made for us by our friend Kristen, flew proudly from the starboard halyard.

The weather was beautiful and the boat was operating smoothly. We caught the ebbing tide and made great time northward. The kid's both took turns at the helm and stood a couple short 30-minute watches each. We slipped under the Narrows bridge after only three and a half hours underway and rode the outgoing tide all the way up past Seattle. Even after the tide swung, we were still making good time. Our plan was to take advantage of the good weather and make it as far as we could while we had daylight - Port Townsend would be our destination, a short 90 miles or so from Olympia. As fate would have it, we felt the full force of the flood tide after rounding Point No Point where our speed plummeted to a mere 3 knots. It was at the same time that we began discussing dinner and our plans for the remainder of the evening. Tami tried to fire the stove only to realize we were out of propane. After some quick thinking on our part, we changed course and made a beeline for Port Ludlow. The marina actually fills propane tanks and stays open until 2000 on the weekends. What a relief! When we arrived, the marina was full but the fuel dock was wide open. After a quick trip ashore, we shoved off from the dock and motored slowly through one of the best anchorages in the Puget Sound. As the sun hung low in the sky, we set the anchor in a calm 45 feet of water. What a great place this is! The sun is now setting and the breeze is blowing softly. Dinner was magnificent and we cannot wait until tomorrow. Our plan will be to depart early, catching the outgoing tide once again, and shoot across the Straits of Juan De Fuca to join our friends from Pearl on Stuart Island.

We did it. We are on our way. It's been said that leaving is the hardest part. Part of that is definitely true. We are saying goodbye to some of the closest friends we have ever had, but we know we will see them again some day. We love Olympia and don't really want to leave; however, we feel that this adventure is something our family must do - for many reasons, some very tangible and others yet to be discovered.

Today: Olympia, WA to Port Ludlow, WA - 65nm
Log: 65nm