In Port Townsend for a few days... tried starting the engine, but only got a click. Uh oh! A quick call to our friend John Dolan and a plan was hatched: perhaps the starting gear was stuck. To release it, a couple of taps on starter housing and she started right up! Yay!

Here is our current location in Victoria. Don't we fit right in? Literally we are six inches from our slip mate. Probably safer that way than having too much room. As long as we don't have any major storms all will be fine until we return in about a week.
I can't wait, nor can the maintenance items like finally installing the new port lights that my nephew Dylan cut out of 1/2 inch Lexan. With any luck it will go together easily. I am praying for that.

We had a delightful stay right in front of the Victoria Empress Hotel. Hard to believe they let a boat like ours stay right there. I could see them ushering us off to the Fisherman's Wharf where crowd is definitely more plebian. Or perhaps the Port Authority recognizes a superior world traveler when they see one. We are certainly not to be confused the marina set.
Not far from us was the fantastic Athena schooner. Almost 300 feet long, 200 tall masts and some of most impressive rigging I have laid my eyes on. Of course with a crew of realistically a dozen, I guess it is not hard to keep a yacht like that in pristine condition. The best news is that she is for sale for a mere $95 million. For a small fee I can connect you with the owner:)
We currently have Rajah Laut in Victoria harbor but over on the west side in Hidden Harbor Marina. Jim, the owner, could not have been more hospitable and accommodating. We literally had to hand move RL into her slip as this marina was not designed for such large boats as ours. We will return to the boat at the end of July and move on to Ladysmith, Ganges Harbor, Nanaimo and Crane Island before heading back to Port Townsend.

We finally escaped the clutches of Panama City yesterday. PC is a great place, the junction point of two large continents and a people who are just coming into their own. For many years they were the poorer section of Colombia. Then when the Americans built the canal they were basically slaves to the american system. But now that is over and they are showing the world that they can do it and in style. The city architecture is lively and vibrant.

It is also hard to leave a place with so much abundance. Fresh fruit, vegetables, many different Cosco like stores, marine supplies etc. make for a popular destination.

We will stay here for a day or two then start the big journey: 5,000 plus miles to Seattle. Yes, it is daunting but somehow we will learn to adapt to our sea life.

Another day is quickly coming to a close as we sit on a buoy here at the BYC. We met three interesting people after our afternoon
showers today not that we take showers to meet interesting people! One person was a single lady who has just dumped her man and is
now single handing a fairly large boat. You would think being so far from home she would be a bit concerned but not this lady. She seems
as calm and collected as a person could be.

Her boat was hauled out of the water near the showers for a multitude of repairs stemming from a collision with a fishing boat last fall. She
was at anchor and not even on the boat when it happened. The Panamanian courts only allowed her $1000 in compensation since it
was an act of God? Actually the proceeds were less since it cost $300 to go to court.

The other two people (a couple) were from San Diego and on their way to Equador. They had their circumnavigation already under their
belt so the were just taking it easy.

The most amazing part of these three people is that they were all older than we. And we are both enjoying our 6th decade.
###