Departure Day - Lake Union to Shilshole to Port Townsend

We are on our way!  Our summer sailing adventure has finally begun with Talos IV busting at the seams with gear and provisions.  Under beautiful sunny skies in Seattle, we departed our slip on Lake Union late afternoon yesterday with friends Mark, Emma and daughter Elizabeth on board for the run out the ship canal to Shilshole Marina.  For those in the know, transiting the canal entails the lifting of two bridges (Fremont Bridge and Ballard Bridge) as well as passage through the Hiram Chittenden Locks.  All went well with a smooth run all the way to Shilshole.

After our arrival, we all met up with friends Betsey and George and their friend Sue on board their boat m/v Grace for dinner and drinks.  George fired up some Guatemalan tostadas that were absolutely fabulous and we enjoyed some good Kansas City beer and ESG's courtesy of Mark of course.  It was a perfect send off capped by an absolutely beautiful sunset over the Olympic Mountains to the west.

This morning Janet and I awoke early and departed Shilshole at about 8:30 AM for Port Townsend.  Riding an ebb current all the way and clocking speed over ground (SOG) up to 9 knots, we made it to Port Townsend in about 5 hours after covering roughly 35 miles.  No wind, so we motored all the way.  The weather was dry and we even had a few sun breaks here and there.

After our arrival, we stopped by Port Townsend Sails to meet up with Carol Hasse.  We have an appointment with her tomorrow morning to measure Talos IV for sails.  We will decide after our discussion with her just what if anything we need to do regarding our current sails considering our future cruising plans.  If any new sails are necessary, we will get that handled this coming winter.  More on this later.

We will be here in Port Townsend for two nights.  As I write this blog entry, Janet is preparing a beef stew in the pressure cooker that smells wonderful.  Dessert will be a chocolate flourless torte courtesy of Deborah Kerns from Deborah's Pies in Seattle.