Monday, September 19, 2011

Departure from Shilshole Bay Marina on Sept 3rd 2011 with stops in Port Angles and Neah Bay

Departure day finally came...after months of planning, re-fitting, rigging, repairing, and pre-voyage anxiety its time to shove off. The three of us slept on the boat the night before, I was worried all night about the toilet...last minute it decided to not flush even though we completely rebuilt it two weeks earlier. With visions of using a Home Depot bucket for our daily business I searched for alternatives. By morning the toilet had an emaculate return to lofe, still concerned I kept the Home Depot bucket on board.

The sailing plan for the day was simple...Alex and I were to take off by 10:00AM with ebb current pushing us out of Puget Sound. We'd then motor to Port Angles as quickly as possible, get a slip for th e night and leave early the next morning for Neah Bay. We planned to meet s/v Stella, a 83-foot staysy'l schooner owned by Brian and Tina. Brian was a good friend and agreed to join us for the cruise to San Francisco. He had way more sailing time offshore between Hawaii and southern California than I and helped put my wife's fears to rest about her husband and only child going out to sea. We arrived at Neah Bay by sunset (8:30PM), we were 4 hours late but it appeared that s/v Stella was late too, she was just heading into the bay from a fog bank in the straits.  
We tied up to s/v Stella long enough for a few words to the crew and for Brian to jump down to s/v Cool Breez'n with his sea bag. We headed out to sea in a stiff breeze and heavy fog. Watches on s/v Cool Breez'n began immediately and our next stop was to be San Francisco in about 6 days time.

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