August 27, 2014 - The BIG Adventure Begins!

Today was the day, we left the dock, turned the corner into the channel and came to realize our dream coming true.  Wow, even up to the last moments it seemed unreal.  As we left Shelter Bay with some friends on the dock, we also were surprised at many people waving us farewell from their homes.  That was an emotional moment, and thank you all for the well wishes.

Sunrise from Shelter Bay the day we are leaving!

Steve, Cindy, Kathy and Kevin

We wanted to give thanks to all who we have spoken to about our adventure and those that came to our farewell party a few weeks ago with inspiring stories of their previous similar adventures.  Everyone we have met that has undertaken a similar adventure with their children has encouraged us, and they all tell us that this will be one of the most positive periods in our lives, and for our children as well.  A great big THANK YOU goes to Jamie for being a lifesaver.  He spent a good portion of his day off work yesterday to drive to Seattle, with two of his children in the car, just to pick up our new liferaft that was late arriving from Florida.  Without his help, we likely would not have left today.  Also, thanks to friends of the kids that have taken them over the past several weeks so that they could enjoy some end of summer time with their friends, while we worked on all the tedious chores required to make this trip become reality.  Many more thanks are deserved, but there is not enough time here tonight to do so.

We left at 10:20AM this morning.  As we were motoring toward Deception Pass under clear sunny skies, we were hearing of the fog in Rosario Strait via the VHF radio.  The fog was west of the bridge, which is pretty normal this time of year.  As we approach the fog, of course one of the two radars will not change it's range.  We have two radars so thankful for that.   Everything has been working just fine.  We have many chores planned for battening down the hatches prior to the trip tomorrow.  We are not expecting rough conditions tomorrow, but once we get out into the ocean rough waters will find us.  So, we are spending some time now preparing the boat for the inevitable rougher conditions.

Deception Pass and bridge, fog in Rosario Strait

Our plan today was to anchor in Aleck Bay, Lopez Island and then spend the afternoon getting ready for a long day tomorrow in hopes of reaching Neah Bay for fuel.  Yes, A LOT of fuel, we believe 1000 gallons or so.  Ouch!  We have enjoyed a nice sunny afternoon here.  The sunset right now is very colorful.  This has been a great first day to mark the start of our big trip!!!

Sunset in Aleck Bay

Our location and tracking device for our trip will be up and running in the next day or two.