Finally ready to leave Hawaii for Alaska
20 May 2019 | Nawiliwili Bay
After constantly looking at the weather forecasts and being disappointed, a window emerged. All of a sudden the north Pacific seemed to ease and a transiting low with a very long tail presented the possibility of riding it to the north and heading to King Cove on the Alaskan Peninsula. The only potential snag in our plan was if a part we ordered arrived late or didn't fit. We had an unfortunate case of butter fingers when up the mast a few days ago which resulted in our tri-colour assembly falling and smashing on the deck; that was a USD500 mistake! Our replacement part came this morning and it fits perfectly so are leaving tomorrow. We started final preparations. Paul and Mike took off to fill diesel jerries and gas bottles and I worked my way through the boat stowing objects we wouldn't use on passage and bringing out charts, safety equipment, and bedding. Having a 3rd person on passage meant some adjustments to how we normally stow objects and our sleeping arrangements. The fwd cabin is usually our default junk room on passage and holds all our cockpit cushions as well as the cushions from the salon sofas. Now it was Mike's cabin so we stowed some cushions there to provide a buffer for him at sea and others were tucked in around furniture and the bed in the aft cabin. In the salon we had both berths made up and a lee cloth.
Next, we hit the supermarkets. I had a list and busied myself getting those items. Paul and Mike wandered the shelves charged with finding a few items which turned into a trolley full of unlisted items - mainly due to Paul as usual but clearly they relished the task. Our fridge was now chock a block. Literally, I could not fit another thing in it. That night we steadily consumed all the remaining beer in the fridge while playing a couple of games of Upwords.