After ten months away from cruising, Jody & I are aboard Huzzah again. Once the bottom painting and launching were complete, we began the arduous task of getting everything in place for our annual cruise north. Ten days later we were (mostly) ready to go. And while that sounds like a long time, it's not to bad considering we'll be aboard for two months. I tend to the equipment and systems, while Jody plans and prepares the food and provisions. She does a lot of time-consuming pre-packaging and pre-freezing of our favorite foods, something we are always thankful for.

While we had originally planned to travel 1,800 miles to Alaska and back this year, our new reality has us doing a modest 700 mile round trip with a focus on short days and plenty of stops at marinas for our needed exercise. Our yacht club membership pays dividends here as most of our stops in the San Juan and Gulf Islands are free!

After departing Gig Harbor we spent our first night in Port Ludlow, which positioned us well to make an easy crossing of the Straits of Jun de Fuca the following day. It was an exceptionally clam day and we made good time allowing us to set our hook in Roche Harbor well before happy hour. The harbor was packed for the Fourth of July fireworks show, so I didn't sleep so well that night. Afterwards, we continued north to Prevost Hbr. for the night, allowing us a wonderful 4 mile hike on Stuart Island the following morning. We then cleared customs into Canada's Gulf Islands. After stopping at the farmers market at Ganges Hbr. for some fresh greens, we finally had our first epic sail north in a fresh southerly with the Code Screecher flying. I think Jody's smile from the helm says it all.

Cheers from Huzzah!