We are off!

At 1820 PST last night we did it: a lovely group of our liveaboard dock friends gathered on our finger pier and tossed our lines aboard and we left.

It was so surreal, we were ecstatic, exhausted, giddy. It was one of the most difficult things we have ever done, but definitely the fourth most amazing day of our lives. After eight years of dreaming, scheming, planning and doing we are finally out here.

It was overcast when we motored away from Swantown for the last time. As we made our way through the channel markers the sun peeked out and Olympia’s skyline was aglow. Once clear of the channel we unfurled the genoa and hoisted our mizzen in the perfect 12-15 knots of wind on our beam. We sailed north, watching the skyline of our former home get smaller and smaller. Wondertime was clearly happy to be on her way too; even weighted down with thousands of extra pounds of stuff we were making 6.5 knots over ground.

Two hours later, we dropped our hook off Hope Island for a final visit to our favorite island. We’ll stay here for a day, unwinding, napping, sorting all the piles of stuff below, folding laundry and taking a last hike around the island. After setting the anchor we looked back towards Budd Inlet one last time. The sun had found a break in the clouds and a rainbow was on the horizon. We went below to eat dinner and crash into bed. Our first sleep, cruising.

P.S. We’ll be updating our position daily via Yotreps — see the link to the right on the sidebar.