Happy New Year!
Well, we've had quite a time the last few months - since we posted last.
We didn't jump off to the southland as planned from Neah Bay (our last post), just too many breakdowns. We dropped back to Port Angeles, rebooted the radar with a boot chip provided by Raymarine tech support (George Martin - topnotch tech help) and replaced our autopilot with a newer model. Since the new AP came from Canada (just 50 miles from where we were at) it took almost 6-weeks to get the parts and more parts through customs, then, another 2-weeks to get someone to help install it. By then, we were coming up on October when we wanted to fly back to Juneau for our grandson, Dylan's first birthday (October 8), our granddaughter Kitty's 4th birthday (November 22), Thanksgiving and then Christmas.
As before, we left the boat in Roche Harbor when we flew home. We returned on Sunday 12/28 to find everything as we'd left it only, covered with mold. It was raining the day we left and everything we brought in from outside for security inside was wet. Kayaks, sails, generator... all wet and all molded. We spent the next 3-days cleaning and putting everything back where it belonged.-
While we still in Juneau, we'd continued our search for a new pet. In every place we'd spent any time this past summer we'd looked for a dog to be a companion on our journey. Friday Harbor had 2 dogs and 80+ cats, the dogs were too big and we didn't want a cat this time. In Port Angeles, there were no dogs that were the right size for our boat. Juneau had no dogs at all (though plenty of cats and even, rabbits!). We kept looking. Finally, we tried Craigs List for Bellingham and viola! There were two of the perfect size dogs a cruiser could hope for. Brother and sister Jack Russell Terriers. These are the long curly-haired variety - think Eddie from the Fraizer television show only with long curly hair. They're 2-years old and the previous owners even brought them down to the boat to meet us yesterday. We fell into instant love. So, we've now doubled in size with more crew and a great excuse to walk all over.
Just so's there's something sailing related in this sailing blog, we left Roche Harbor around 8 o'clock Thursday morning headed for Bellingham to meet our new crew. Although we'd left in light rain/drizzle, the wind picked up to 20-25kts and the temp was in the high 20's. We only made it as far as Echo Bay on Succia Island before deciding to call it a day. One peek out at the blowing foam and breaking waves in Georgia Straits convinced us that we should stop. For the first time ever, we were able to use our cell phone from Succia and called the dog's owners to let them know that we were still coming, just, tomorrow instead of today. Temps dropped over night and I lay awake obsessing about whether we had enough kerosene to run the heater.
The next day started out windy but by noon, the wind had dropped to 10-15 and we headed out across the Straits. There was still some leftover waves crossing abeam of us so we spent every 5th wave rolling on our beam ends but it only took an hour or so to cross into Hale Passage where the wind and waves left us and we had a flat calm motor into Bellingham's Squalicum Harbor.
And, that's where we are right now. The wind's back, this time bringing snow and very icy docks (both Christine and I have fallen). The new crewmembers are getting used to boat life and the cabin is covered with new chew toys, balls, dog beds and a collapsible crate for them to travel in.
Our plan (you know how we are with plans) is to head back to Friday Harbor and spend the next couple of months tied to the dock. We'll take obedience training and walk our legs off and be whipped into shape in time for next summer's cruising.
David and Christine, Sonny and Deja
SV Raven
Juneau, AK
Currently lying Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, WA
We didn't jump off to the southland as planned from Neah Bay (our last post), just too many breakdowns. We dropped back to Port Angeles, rebooted the radar with a boot chip provided by Raymarine tech support (George Martin - topnotch tech help) and replaced our autopilot with a newer model. Since the new AP came from Canada (just 50 miles from where we were at) it took almost 6-weeks to get the parts and more parts through customs, then, another 2-weeks to get someone to help install it. By then, we were coming up on October when we wanted to fly back to Juneau for our grandson, Dylan's first birthday (October 8), our granddaughter Kitty's 4th birthday (November 22), Thanksgiving and then Christmas.
As before, we left the boat in Roche Harbor when we flew home. We returned on Sunday 12/28 to find everything as we'd left it only, covered with mold. It was raining the day we left and everything we brought in from outside for security inside was wet. Kayaks, sails, generator... all wet and all molded. We spent the next 3-days cleaning and putting everything back where it belonged.-
While we still in Juneau, we'd continued our search for a new pet. In every place we'd spent any time this past summer we'd looked for a dog to be a companion on our journey. Friday Harbor had 2 dogs and 80+ cats, the dogs were too big and we didn't want a cat this time. In Port Angeles, there were no dogs that were the right size for our boat. Juneau had no dogs at all (though plenty of cats and even, rabbits!). We kept looking. Finally, we tried Craigs List for Bellingham and viola! There were two of the perfect size dogs a cruiser could hope for. Brother and sister Jack Russell Terriers. These are the long curly-haired variety - think Eddie from the Fraizer television show only with long curly hair. They're 2-years old and the previous owners even brought them down to the boat to meet us yesterday. We fell into instant love. So, we've now doubled in size with more crew and a great excuse to walk all over.
Just so's there's something sailing related in this sailing blog, we left Roche Harbor around 8 o'clock Thursday morning headed for Bellingham to meet our new crew. Although we'd left in light rain/drizzle, the wind picked up to 20-25kts and the temp was in the high 20's. We only made it as far as Echo Bay on Succia Island before deciding to call it a day. One peek out at the blowing foam and breaking waves in Georgia Straits convinced us that we should stop. For the first time ever, we were able to use our cell phone from Succia and called the dog's owners to let them know that we were still coming, just, tomorrow instead of today. Temps dropped over night and I lay awake obsessing about whether we had enough kerosene to run the heater.
The next day started out windy but by noon, the wind had dropped to 10-15 and we headed out across the Straits. There was still some leftover waves crossing abeam of us so we spent every 5th wave rolling on our beam ends but it only took an hour or so to cross into Hale Passage where the wind and waves left us and we had a flat calm motor into Bellingham's Squalicum Harbor.
And, that's where we are right now. The wind's back, this time bringing snow and very icy docks (both Christine and I have fallen). The new crewmembers are getting used to boat life and the cabin is covered with new chew toys, balls, dog beds and a collapsible crate for them to travel in.
Our plan (you know how we are with plans) is to head back to Friday Harbor and spend the next couple of months tied to the dock. We'll take obedience training and walk our legs off and be whipped into shape in time for next summer's cruising.
David and Christine, Sonny and Deja
SV Raven
Juneau, AK
Currently lying Squalicum Harbor, Bellingham, WA
posted by SV/MC Raven at
10:09 PM
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