I'm off on my 1st overnight adventure aboard JUNESSA!!! Heee Haaaa!!! :)

I thought I was all ready to head out on my first solo (relatively long) trip... The water and fuel tanks were topped off, plenty of food, ice and drinks stowed away! Electronics were all charged up (I can't believe how much electrical stuff I have on board that needs to be charged... I'll have to trim the toy box later). It was time to fire up the engine... insert and turn key... CLICK! CLICK! "what the *$&#&^@#&#*" turn key... CLICK! She would not turn over!

I checked the voltage on both 4D batteries... plenty of juice... 'what gives?' So it was time to pull out the tool box and tighten all the connections... turn key again with fingers crossed... CLICK! ugh!! After three more tries, she finally fired right up. So, I'm thinking it's the Link 20 Shunt causing the issues. I'll have to call someone to find out if I need a different shunt to get the large CURRENT for a start.

I ended up heading out, despite the starting issue... I figure I better get used to dealing with problems underway and being self sufficient.

It was so cool motoring (no wind) under the twin Tacoma Narrows Bridges!!! I was making great time since the tide was coming in... This is one strange place to cruise! There are whirlpools and eddies all over the place and they grab the boat and throw it all around (call me Mr. Tidy-bowl-man!).



The sun was setting as I pulled into this narrow channel with a small island in the middle. There was one mooring ball with no other boats around! This was my first time going for a mooring ball, so I pulled in nice and slow and motored around the ball taking depth readings to make sure I didn't end up high and dry when the tide ran out (now that would be embarrassing). After I figured it was all clear, I slowly approached the ball with hook in hand. I grabbed it first try, but JUNESSA is a big girl and decided she didn't want to stop and the ball about pulled me off the boat. After wrestling with the line, I finally was securely attached to SOMETHING and I could shut down the engine and relax.



More to follow.....