Adagio Cruising: August 30, 2014

Another awesome day but long transit. We are going to stay put tomorrow and play around Ocean Shores/Westport. We arrived around 3:30pm today and decided to anchor rather than go to the busy Westport marina on a 3-day weekend. Not much is said about anchoring in here and no one is even doing so today, but we chose a nice spot out of the way. Our transit today had a mix of conditions from calm to a bit rough. We started with small long swells and abruptly transitioned to short steep swells, and ended with a nice following-sea/swell. Today was the first I think the kids and I experienced what an ocean swell really feels like. In the morning it was very calm so Steve decided to work on a boat project. At that same moment I spotted a whale blow, our first one this trip. They were going the same direction, south. Cindy and I went up on the bow to watch and take some pictures. Soon after the seas changed from flat to some very short period waves that sent the boat bobbing like a cork. These were not in the forecast, and were not in the direction of the forecasted swell. It was an uncomfortable ride for a few hours, so a bit of sit down time was in order. So much for Steve's boat project. The kids played legos most of the day.

After anchoring we had an early dinner and then headed for shore. The first time with our newly reconfigured dinghy. We changed from a heavy 4-stroke steering wheel with power tilt and electric start, to a lightweight 2-stroke tiller steer and a pull start. We shaved more than 175 pounds of wieght from our dinghy, and opened up the interior space so we can better fit our bikes, and all the supplies we will be shuttling back to the boat over the year or two. We miss the comfy seats, and the power tilt and electric start. But the new configuration is definitely more practical, and there is a lot less to maintain as is now a model of simplicity. We went to shore and once again the kids were in the surf with clothes and not bathing suits. (Laundry was done tonight onboard with our boat's washer/dryer). We scoped out the skim boarding and it could be a good spot if the tide us right. So tomorrow along with Westport, we hope for good weather and beach time.