I am sorry that I missed the chance to connect with some of you guys. Maybe another year. I have had poor cell service and have been busy so here is a recap of the last several days.
We had a peaceful night at Clam Bay. The wind came up a bit at night but the holding is really good. The next morning was pretty relaxed until my wife realized that we would be at the North Pacific Rendezvous that afternoon so we spent the morning straightening up. Finally pulled up anchor around 10:30am and headed out. My wife was still vacuuming and I was taking in bridles, hosing down the deck etc... while we were idling out of the Bay with Otto at the helm. It suddenly occurred to me that I recalled seeing a shoal area with rocks in the middle of the Bay (right about where I was). Fortunately, I slapped Otto up side the head and he corrected course to miss them.
We had a very pleasant run South to Genoa Bay. Pulling into the dock a little more 2:00 pm. One of the shortest days this trip.
We had a great time at the North Pacific Rendezvous. I learned lots about the boats and got a lot of great ideas. One of the highlights was the chance to meet Dan from Rogue in person. Always fun to meet a TFer. Dan was great and gave me lots of good ideas. He also showed me how he installed his solar panel and was able to explain it all so well it has taken the fear away. I'm ready to tackle that project. Dan's wife is wonderful and Dan makes a fantastic spaghetti puttanesca
My wife wants to be home by Saturday, so that means two days to cover 115 nm if we can go the most direct route. We also had to stop and clear US customs on the way. Up until last last night, the forecast for Juan de Fuca was not good. This morning, it was very promising so we decided to go the short way across the strait. Turns out it was a good choice. The Strait was calm and placid. The last 8 nm got a bit rough as the incoming swells from the Strait were getting backed up by the strong ebb out of Admiralty Inlet. They were on the starboard quarter so not bad.
We were making good time so we continued through the Port Townsend Canal and got a nice push since the ebb actually floods South through there. Hit 10.5 knots making turns for 7.0 at a miserly 2.0 gph.
It got a bit rougher again as we got back out into Admiralty Inlet. So often you get through the Straits with reasonably benign seas but it is rough in the Inlet on days like today with a strong ebb against a North wind. It got smooth again as we rounded Point-no-point and we stopped in Kingston Harbor for the night. We were fortunate to grab their last 45' slip and arrived in time to walk up the hill for pizza and ice cream.
Dock to dock it was about 12 hours, 15 minutes today. We covered 81nm miles in that time including the stop in Roche Harbor to clear US customs. During the hour before dark, I kept the speed under 6 knots to be able to watch for crab and shrimp pots. Most of the rest of the day was at 1450 rpm except for a couple 20 minute sections where I bumped it to 1800 to let the engine work a bit more. The engine never missed a beat.
Tomorrow should take a bit over 4 hours to make it home, depending on currents.
This was the sunrise when we cleared Cowichan Bay.
