Monday, August 31, 2015

Settling into work

Hello All,
Started off being a lonely week here with out Jon. He left back to Basque on Friday and is starting work tomorrow. It was so cool to hang out with him again after all these years and I'm so glad he gave up all of his vacation time to help me sail the boat down, now thats a good friend for sure.

We went out sailing in the bay for one last time with the go pro on a kite and got some awesome birds eye videos of the boat in front of the golden gate which was very cool. I have the video posted on the videos link on my website.

For me it has been business as usual with work and all. Jon and I got to do a few things together while he was here but for the most part he went out on his own exploring. He had my jeep to drive around so he made a few road trips down the coast to see a few places here. I hope next time he will be showing me around his place in Basque.
Since he left I have been sorting through all my stuff I brought down. The marina gave me a locker to use so I have been slowly but Shirley filling it up with things I don't need bay sailing. The boat still needs a good cleaning inside but at least all the extra things are put away.

I will post a few pics here and in the next few days I will post more on my photos page.

Thanks to all that have followed me through the trip and from time to time I will post a blog to explain what I have been up to. For now the boat is staying put till I get some things sorted out but will be out there again soon I hope.

Have a good evening to all and I will talk to you soon.

PEACE

P.S. Enjoy the pics below

Thursday, August 20, 2015

San Francisco Bay California

Hello All,
We arrived in the bay at 2 pm yesterday afternoon after spending the night at Drakes Bay anchorage. It was a 4 hour trip to get here in flat calm seas. Going under the Golden Gate Bridge is always amazing. I did it 6 years ago and was still a lot of fun a second time. A light breeze picked up as we entered the bay so we got to sail all the way into the harbor. I was greeted by my boss Erik as we pulled into the slip. It is really great to be back, I start work again tomorrow.

Today Jon and I will go into the city and do the tourist thing, Cable Cars and so on.

I will write more later and recap all the travels.

PEACE

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Drakes Bay

Hello All
We are anchored 25 miles from the golden gate for the night, we are timing a tide to go under the bridge. The last 70 hours we spent out in a gale guesting 40 knots off shore. We are so glad to see the wind and sea come down. We have seen in a North sea anomaly happen the last few day and don't care to see it again .

Our last 50 hours of sailing were more than I want to explain but I will say Freestyle, performed well for our well being, like Jon says she's a turtle, slow but strong. Anyway, anchored and safe, will be in San Francisco Bay tomorrow night. Will talk about it more when I'm home.

Talk to you soon

PEACE

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Sailing off the Coast of Oregon

Hello All,
We have been sailing only since yesterday afternoon and have been making good time. We did 130 miles in 24 hours under sail so needless to say we have had great wind. We have been so happy to finally sail consistently, It has been a lot of fun, reminds me of the old days.

The weather looks like it may hold out for us to keep sailing, at least the next few days, we will take it.

I was telling Jon this morning that we should try fishing, we are off shore 65 miles so I thought there would be some Tuna out here. We drug the hook behind the boat and in 3 hours time had a 15 pound Albacore Tuna on the hook. We got him aboard and filleted him. I don't know how we will eat all of it but we will be starting tonight with a nice salad.

We should be in California waters sometime late Sunday of all goes well. We will still have a ways to go but at least we will be by the state we are trying to make land fall in.

Anyway, I am going to get busy and cook up some fresh Tuna for dinner.

PEACE

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Sailing the Pacific Coast

Hello All,
We left Port Angles at 6 PM last night and made it out to the Pacific at 7 AM this morning (8-13-15). The wind was against us the whole way out the Strait of Juan De Fuca and a few times I was wondering if we were going to make it out the same day. It was a slow and painful process but here we are. The wind is a light west wind but we are managing to make it work. It comes up enough to tease you a little but for the first time since I can remember the boat is moving without the engine. We have been sailing between 4 and 6 knots, it kinda comes and goes.

Anyway it's not a bad day out here, warm and not raining, as least so far. I hope the wind keeps up the good work. Sure is nice and peaceful. Now I remember why I like this way of travel.

That's all for now, will chat at you soon.

PEACE

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Victoria BC


Hello All,
We made it the south end of Vancouver Island at 6 AM this morning and made port at the Capital City of British Columbia, Victoria. We are staying at the docks of the Coast Hotel. A very nice place and the folks here are as nice as they can be. We took a few hour nap this morning and after we got rested we walked into the city. Its pretty close by so didn't take long. It is a very clean place with flowers everywhere and beautiful buildings and architecture.

We thought we would play tourist and took a double decker bus tour around the city. Its not a big place but the neighborhoods and the views of the water are beautiful.

We will be leaving early in the morning for Port Angles Washington. Its a 4 hour trip due south of here across the Strait of Juan De Fuca. I will be meeting up with my cousin Toni, she is driving over from Sedro Woolley to bring me a part for my engine and to say hello. I haven't seen her for a year so looking foreword to seeing her.

The weather looks real good off shore in the Pacific so as soon as we get done in Port Angles we will head on out and down and with any luck land in San Fran in 6 days.

Enjoy the pictures, a few are from the Canadian Inside Passages and the rest are Victoria.

I will talk to you soon.


PEACE

Monday, August 10, 2015

Comox, BC

Hello All,
We made it to Comox last night about 5 PM. We got a slip at one of the marina's and took a little walk around town. We found a grocery store near by and got a few things we were out of. We then found a really nice restaurant over looking the water front and Jon bought me a nice dinner. Its a pretty good size town but being Sunday night was pretty quiet. It was partly sunny most of the day which was a nice change from pouring down rain the days before.

We left this morning at 8 AM and are headed for the capital of BC, Victoria, on the very south end of Vancouver Island. It should take us about 24 hours to get there running all night.

WE have been watching the weather and looks like we will get to go south to San Francisco by Saturday, thats the plan anyway , we will see.

I will keep in touch and as soon as I can get good internet I will post some pictures.

PEACE

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Otter Cove

Hello All

We anchored 10 miles north of Seymour narrows, Mike and I in 2009, We were clueless of the narrows at the time, we just knew that as we went along we kept picking up speed, the long and the short of it is, it was a fools errand and we paid for it making land fall in Comox, wind apposed the current, made for a long night any way we are not that program this time. We will leave the anchorage on an ebbing tide and hope to make Comox BC before it turns. We need a few things fresh to eat and I need diesel for the engine to get us to Victoria, which is our destination. Then to Port Angles to check into the country of the US and so on.

Our crossing across the Queen Charlotte Strait turned out to be wind in our favor, we sailed some and that got us to the main land of Vancouver. It's been raining a lot lately, we saw a lot of the views of the island.

That is all I know for now

Anyway we are in safe harbor and as the British say and all is well.

Talk to you soon


PEACWE

Friday, August 7, 2015

Safety Cove B.C.

Hello All,
We are at an anchorage on Calvert Island BC. We got in here at 0400 this morning in the poring rain. The last few days have not been very nice but we have been moving right along. Our next leg of the trip will get us to Vancouver Island. We have to cross a body of water called Queen Charlotte Sound, which can be tricky if the weather is not in your favor. We attempted to leave this morning but the head winds were just to strong for us so I turned the boat around and returned back to the anchorage. It took us almost 2 hours to go 5 miles, we turned around it took us 45 minutes to get back, I told Jon, I think we are trying to go the wrong direction.

All is well here, the sun just came out so maybe we will get a break. The wind is suppose to come down this after noon and we only need about 6 hours to get to the other side so we will try again in a bit.
That's all I know for now.

I will talk to you soon, hopefully from Vancouver Island.

PEACE

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Traveling British Columbia's Inside Waters

Hello All,
We left Prince Rupert at 6:00 AM yesterday (08/05/2015) and started down the passages of Canada. This is the first time since we left that we have really traveled inside at all so it has been wonderful with the boat staying mostly still. We had a beautiful day yesterday, it was in the mid 70's and no wind. We made some great meals and got to get some good rest. Today is calm but overcast, not a bad day just not as pretty as the day before.

We should be making land fall in Northern Vancouver Island by early Saturday weather permitting. We have to cross a 5 hour piece of open water and right now its blowing the wrong direction but is suppose to be in our favor by the time we get there.

Jon is enjoying the views and we have seen a few whales along the way. We have some good pictures of it all so I will post when I can.

I will take to you later.

PEACE

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Arrived Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada

Hello All,
We made it into Canadian waters at 0900 this morning. The trip was a mixed bag of weather and seas. We had light winds leaving Sitka in the Gulf of Alaska and as the trip progressed we got a very good west wind, just enough to sail and run the engine. What I failed to think about was being close to shore there are huge tidal currents that effect our speed and the state of the water. At times we were moving right along and when the tide turned the waves would stack up and made us feel like what it's like to be in a washing machine. We didn't get a lot of sleep needless to say so we are here in Prince Rupert to get fuel and a little rest. We went from Sitka to here in 52.5 hours, seemed like a week.

Jon and I walked into town after getting checked into the country and took a look around. We grabbed some breakfast and did some shopping here for bread and what not. They have a really nice Safeway here so that was a treat to see all the goodies. We also got the boat topped off with fuel and I did some light maintenance this afternoon. My old Yankee sail got ripped the other day so that needs to be repaired as well. I will do that under way tomorrow.

We are going to travel the inside passages all the way down to Port Angles Washington where we will check back into the U.S.A. and plan our trip off shore down the coast to San Francisco. All is subject to change as usual but we won't be effected as much by weather inside so should make good time.

I will be in touch.

PEACE

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Sitka Alaska


Hello All,

We arived in Sitka this morning to a beautiful day. Im not sure but I think thats rare here. Its the weekend but everyone was out playing and having a good time. I would love to spend more time here but we are leaving at 5 am in the morning to catch the tide out of here. The weather outside is suppose to be good so we will miss some of the inside to get south as fast as we can.

We did have a nice dinner in town tonight,Jon treated me , it is a very nice place to see and someday I will return but for now I will have to make that wait. All is well here, having the best time we can with the time we have.

I will post more when I can.


PEACE