Good Bye Seattle

The evening before departure was filled with well wishers and last minute preparation. It is true that the list can keep growing if you don’t finally say “ENOUGH”. We had a pleasant visit with Pete and Laurie Behmer who are in the process of purchasing a PSC Dana, John and his wife Sue from s/v Valkyrie and Chuck from the m/v Lupine. All had stories and questions along with well wishes.

So, after what seemed like months of preparation, Janet and I, along with our two furry crew members, Tia and Louie, have left Seattle on the start of our sailing adventure this morning.  Friends Mark and Emma came down to see us off.  It was good to see them and the well wishes for a safe voyage were much appreciated.  Terry and Luke from Yacht Fitters were there as well.

We made our way down the ship canal, lifting the two bridges and passing through the lock.  Because of maintenance on the small lock we had to use the larger lock, which took a good two hours to transition.  And as a final farewell, we motored through Shilshole Marina to see if friends John and Sue on s/v Valkyrie were on board so that we could give them a wave good bye, but their was no one out and about, so we headed out into the Sound and north to Port Townsend.

As things seem to always be with sailing in the Pacific Northwest, winds and current were on our bow the entire way to Port Townsend, so we were not able to sail and ended up motoring the entire way.  It was a cool day, but dry.  We pulled into Port Hudson at Port Townsend at about 7 PM after a great day on the water.  It was a perfect start to the trip.

Mark and Emma with well wishes and a fond farewell.

Here we are ready to cast off the dock lines.

Good Bye Seattle as we make the turn from the marina down
the ship canal for the Puget Sound and
points beyond.

Passing under the Fremont Bridge in
the Center of the Universe.

Janet at the helm with her eyes closed as we
pass under the Ballard Bridge.

The locks were the last barrier to our passage out
of the ship canal.