August 2000 - Bluewater, Part 3
8/7/2000 - Day 7, continued
[Michael] 1200-1500: A few sunbreaks, wind is howling at 20-25 knots, but worse is the washing machine type movement wearing our bodies down despite plenty of sleep. At 1500, 220 miles to go to the separation zone buoy!
0730: We spot first of two ships! Getting close now...
8/8/2000 - Day 8
Seafarer's Net Report: time: 0320z, position: 48° 40"N, 126° 17" W, heading: 099T, speed: 5 kt, wind: 15 kt NNW, swell: 6' NW, cloudcover: 20%, barometer: 1014
[Sara] 1000: Sunny! Winds still steady at 20-25 knots; seas have built to 10-15 feet. Jenny P's still doing awesome just surfing down them. Only 114 miles until Strait. Both of us very anxious and dreaming of cheeseburgers.
Approx 1100: Huge wave broke on our port and we got knocked down pretty good with all sorts of stuff flying across cabin. Luckily no one was hurt. Shortly after, another huge wave came flying over Jenny P's bow, all the way to the cockpit. It's wild out here! Beginning to see logs and sticks and ships -- signs of land up ahead at last!
1600: Winds have died down a little so Michael shakes reefs out of main. We're seeing many more ships now...closing in on the strait.
1930: Checked into Seafarer's Net for last time. Cell phone now says "roam"!
8/9/2000 - Day 9, Strait of Juan de Fuca
[Michael] We see land at last! We made our way from early morning fog and lots of freighters to afternoon sunshine with the temperatures in the 70s with virtually no ships passing by. The wind has been extremely light and variable until about 1600 where it has begun to blow about 10 knots from the west allowing us to fly our spinnaker while motoring, and anything helps against this 0.5 to 1.0 knot current. The highlight of today so far has been showers!
[Sara] I called mom on cell phone and she was excited to hear we were coming home. They'd been tracking us on the yotreps website and had been wondering what "arrived" meant.
Sun set at 2000; shortly after dark we were enveloped in fog so thick we could hardly see the bowsprit. VERY anxious navigating; plotted new waypoints to avoid crossing busy shipping lanes. Fog lifted briefly as we passed Port Townsend, then set in again. Finally cleared for good near the south end of Whidbey Island. Both of us stayed up all night and were exhausted as we crossed shipping lanes near Shilshole and finally pulled into marina at 0520. All guest slips were full, so we tied up to fuel dock and slept until marina office opened.
8/10/2000 - Home at last
[Sara] Went into marina office at 0900 and Dave welcomed us back and already had a slip arranged for us from 8/16 to 10/1. However, we're here on "W" dock until then. Friends are already calling and mom and dad are on their way over. Had breakfast at Charlie's (including coffee for the first time in days; really awake now!). It is good to be home.
