Journey of a Lifetime

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,669
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
Well here we are, cruising merrily along at 10kts. We got an early start out of the marina right at 0500 and after a short wait to get into the Ballard Locks we went through without any hitches and now we’re in salt water.

I suppose I should start this with a mention of our trip over to Seattle. I was just a bit anxious to get there so I kicked up the speed a bit and we had a great trip over the Cascade mountains and got to Seattle ahead of schedule. We got to the boat, unloaded all the food and gear and had plenty of time before our “briefing” that Stuart had arranged. We were fortunate to have a neighbor of Stuart’s who was a career USCG officer give us some insight into what we could expect as we went down the coast. Rolland also brought along a stack of paper charts of the entire trip that he left with us. Nice guy that Rolland is. Thank you sir.

Following the briefing we started our dock party. We had friends, relatives and business associates of Stuarts show up and wish us well. A good time was had by all as we shared some funny tales about our boating experiences. I had my first screw up as chef ….I didn’t plan anything for last night’s dinner. I hadn’t even thought about it until the dock party was in full swing and someone asked what we were eating for dinner. Oops. I completely forgot about dinner. I hate it when I miss something like that. No big deal though. We borrowed a car and went up to a pizza joint and had a great pizza and a pitcher of PBR. Nice way to start the cruise.

It’s now about 7:30, we’re well out into Puget Sound (I know, the “new name” is supposed to be Salish Sea, but I ain’t a PC kinda guy!!!) heading toward Port Townsend. It’s sunny, calm, no wind, high thin clouds and just about as perfect as one could ask. LIFE IS GOOD!!!

It's 0900, we're abreast of Port Townsend cruising along at 10kts. If you're interested in watching our progress you can go to...

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?level0=100#

Look in the lowest of the three windows on the upper left side and type in Following Seas. It will automatically find us and show our track.

We're now in about a 3' chop that's right on the bow. We have some spray coming over the bow and we're bouncing around a bit. Doug has a 'sea sick watch' that I'm going to put on because of my vertigo issues. I'll let you know how it works.

This boat is beautiful. It has lots of room, as you would expect on a boat of this size. The staterooms are about the same size as on my boat but the galley and salon are larger.

I'm going to quit for now and get this posted. It's hard to type on a keyboard that is bouncing.

338149406
 
GFC,

I've been watching off and on since this morning, but headed out for Father's Day.

Looks like you're approaching New Dungeness Lighthouse.

Have a great trip.

Mike
 
Sunday 5:15 p.m. We made Neah Bay and are taking on fuel then headed to a dock for the night. Rough as all get out getting here. 5'-6' waves and spray going all over the place. The boat did well but in that kind of water you're going to get bounced no matter what you're on. We finished fueling and some guys on a fishing boat that pulled in across the dock from us gave us a halibut filet. Tomorrow night's dinner has just arrived!!! Not that we needed it because we already have more food than we'll eat. I guess this just means we'll have to take an extra day or three on this trip.

I'll write more after dinner and get some of my pics posted.
 
Here are some photos I took today as we left Seattle at 0500 and throughout the day...


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Great story so far and thanks for the pics too. Two questions -

that lock looks narrow. Just my eyes?
any chance we can get a look at those 5-6 footers?

Thanks again & continued safe travels.
 
Probably getting rocked around too much to take pictures in 5 to 6 footers! Great photos, have a safe rest of the trip.
 
Good story so far but, how come I can't see the pics on my iPhone? Damn Apple products.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Todd
 
Great pics, thanks for posting. Reminded us that we do miss the mountains and clean air of Seattle froom time to time. Have a safe and enjoyable trip!
 
I've taken some crap about the amount of food I bought for this trip so I thought I'd post this picture of our first dinner aboard. The menu....

Marinated Pork Tenderloin slow cooked with spices and served with cooked potatoes and carrots
Fresh green salad with grated cheese and a Bacon French dressing.

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You don't see any frowns on this crew, do you?

-Just a few notes about today's Journey. This is about the roughest water I've been on. That's why our track has been a bit of zig-zagged. We started off this morning with very calm seas but as we ventured up Puget Sound and turned into the Straits of Juan de Fuca it got rougher. We had planned on cruising just outside the VTSS lanes but because of the water condition we turned in toward the coast. It worked for awhile but as we continued west toward Neah Bay it just kept getting rougher and rougher. By the time we were almost here we were running in 4'-6' seas with some higher. Add to that the waves from the commercial ocean boats we passed and it was not a comfortable ride.

I was wearing Doug's sea sickness band and it seemed to work to minimize the effects of the bouncing. As I'm typing this it's almost 9:30. We're comfortably at the dock and looking forward to a good night's sleep. We're planning on pulling out at 0500 again and running down to the Columbia River and stopping at Ilwaco.

That's all for tonight. I'm headed to bed, so see y'all tomorrow a.m.
 
They don't show on tap a talk on my iPad either, just boxes with ?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

That's interesting because I'm using Tapatalk too. Since Mike can view the pics on his iPad & iPhone it must be the app. Yet, I can see the dinner pic! Strange...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Todd
 
That's interesting because I'm using Tapatalk too. Since Mike can view the pics on his iPad & iPhone it must be the app. Yet, I can see the dinner pic! Strange...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Todd

Same same, dinner pic shows, but not the post with multiple.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Thanks for coming along with us this far on the trip.

Yeah, the lock is a bit on the narrow side. That's the "small lock" we went through, the smaller of the two they have there. The picture is deceiving because it's plenty wide for a single line of boats to come in there, probably about 20' wide. There's an advantage to using that one because the rubber walls of the lock float. You tie up to them and they move up and down as the water level changes so there's no chance of scraping fenders (or the side of your boat) along the concrete wall of the larger lock.

It's now 0600. Everyone is up and we'll be shoving off soon. There isn't a breath of wind so it should be a smooth crossing going around the tip of WA this morning. The weather report looks good for a smooth trip today and that will be welcome after yesterday's messy day. Sorry, but I didn't get any photos of yesterday's bad weather and waves. It was a bit hazardous to even move around inside the boat so I didn't spend much time thinking about photos.

Wayne, it definitely is not going to be a 2-3 day trip. We covered about 135 miles yesterday; today will be about 180 miles. The plan is to make it to Coos Bay the next day and that will be about 207 miles and at that point we'll be a bit over half way there.

Again, thanks for joining us on this trip.
 

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