06/08/2012, leavind Sucia
Well we have enjoyed Sucia since Monday. We hiked from one end to another, much to Oliver's enjoyment. Yesterday had us stuck on the bouy till 4 pm with 20+ knt winds. We finally got Ollie to shore. Today we are moving 16 miles to Blaine, where we plan on living after our voyage. We're going to have pizza, wash the boat, do laundry, charge the batteries, change the oil and go to a wedding in Wenatchee. We will head to Canada on Wednesday. Still working on AIS for those tracking us.
|
Comments [0]
06/04/2012, Sucia Island
Off we go thru Deception Pass. This is a narrow rock opening that all the water has to flow in and out of when the tides change. We had to pass thru as close to 9:37am as we could. We are in a period of extreme tides, which increases the speed of the currents. We shot thru and headed up past Bowman Bay to catch the current. We had plans to go thru Thatcher Pass, then north on the inside of the San Juan to protect from the current. We were flying across at 6.5 kits when we saw the Victoria Clipper pass by. They weren't' on there usual route, we soon found out why. We suddenly slowed below .5 knts and were moving sideways. We had lost our current. We turned with the current and it was like skiing downhill. Swirl, whirlpools and overalls. We moved to the inside just as the current switched to our direction. We flew to Sucia, hitting 8.9 kits at one point and averaging 7.5. We normally go 5.5, a fast walker co uld keep up with us. We have some 30+ mph winds coming so we are going to hole up till Friday. Tried out our new 2.5 horse Suzuki outboard, worked great. Oliver continues to amaze at his ability to adapt. All is good onto Blaine on Friday.
|
06/02/2012, Coupeville
Well two days in Kingston and now we have moved 35 nm farther north to Coupeville. We enjoy Kingston, nice little shops and stores. We saw a huge Russian Wolfhound on the beach,he weighed 200 lbs. I was a little nervous when he ran up after just being bitten by a Great Dane while protecting Oliver. The Coupeville docks have no breakwater to protect from waves, so its a little rocky and noisy. Oliver is a little nervous, though he did well today travelling. We left at 5:30 and got here at 1:30. Coupeville is noted for their "mussels", but a ship has sank and is leaking diesel. Tomorrow they are going to raise it. The town and docks are full of cleanup crew and state environment people. Next we move on to Deception Pass, then farther north. It is a leisurely pace, in 5 days we have only covered 94 miles. Oh well, we will make it eventually.
|
05/30/2012
Second day underway,just going under narrows bridge. Weather is mild, with overcast. Our destination today is Blake Island. We have about 18 mm to go.
|
05/28/2012
Cable internet is gone, cable tv is gone, tomorrow we pull out at noon. I am trying a post from my smart phone. We are only traveling 12nm to Joemma park,then on to Blake island on Wed. We had a final potluck at the marina last night. We will miss our friends, but look forward to new ones. Will post as often as we have connection.
|
Cousin Denise
05/20/2012
It's getting closer, we will set sail for the northern lattitudes on May 29th. We plan on meandering our way north to be in Blaine, Wa by June 7th or 8th, to attend a wedding in Wenatchee on June 9th. We have done most of our provisioning, runs to Costco, Top Foods and Target. Lots to think about and plan for -dog food for 4 months, because we don't want to change his diet in the middle of the trip, vitamins and emergency medicine for both us and the dog, enough books and movies to keep us entertained, supplies and spares for the boat, finishing all the little details, passports, nexus cards, a canadian cell phone, forwarding our mail for four months-wow the list goes on. This next week we will spot one of our cars in Blaine for the summer, the other will be in Chehalis. We have finished the last of the major boat projects, the picture is me up the mast installing the "hailer horn" and radar reflector. Fog is a consideration during the summer, so both will be welcome additions.
Our annual marine swap meet was this last weekend. It is amazing what you can pull out of your storage locker and turn into cash. Of course we saw some things that we couldn't live without, so we did some "reinvesting".
Suzie and I for the last thirty years have always had the secure life, now we have no address, nor a particular place to be or time to be there. It may take a little while to adjust to the life of a vagabond, some think we're crazy, others wish to be in our shoes.
We have made some dear friends here in the marina and in Chehalis, they will be sorely missed. We won't be too far away, we'll be back for visits. Just this last week we attended a suprise birthday party at our marina, went to dinner with friends from Chehalis, walked with some local friends and are trying to get all our goodbyes and "so longs" done. Next week will start a new chapter, We'll keep you posted on as regular basis as we can, "eh".
|
