Ready to go!
|
|
|
Ready to go! |
After returning from British Columbia in July, we anchored Pelican off Camano Island and set in to several weeks of preparations for our offshore trip to San Francisco. We started off by making lists -- things to do, things to buy, things to fix. As the days went on and the lists just seemed to be getting longer, it was time to start prioritizing and crossing things off that would have to be done later.
Top priority was getting our Monitor windvane hooked up to the tiller and working properly. After some inspection, we found that there was a large amount of slop in the gears and decided to take it off the boat and up to Sara's parents garage for some rebuilding. After taking the Monitor apart, we discovered it was seriously bent up, to the point where new bearings would not be able to be installed. After calling Scanmar, we found it was one of the original Monitors made in Larick's garage in the 1970s. But after making some measurements, it appeared that new parts would fit on our ancient frame. A few days later, new gears and pendulum strut arrived and miraculously fit like a glove!
We decided to invest in a SCS PTC-IIe Pactor modem for our HAM radio. With this, we would be able to send and receive email, weather text forecasts and weather charts, and send position reports. It was simple to install -- plugged right into our ICOM 706MKIIG and into the serial port on our computer. Using the Airmail program and the Winlink email service, we have been able to reach connection speeds up to 3800 baud with the Pactor III protocol. So far it has been wonderful for keeping in contact with friends and family! The weather features will turn out to be invaluable....
 |
|
Port Townsend anchorage |
All summer long, we had done some serious thinking about the kitties and whether we wanted to take them bluewater sailing again. We love having the cats on board, but continued to worry about them falling overboard when we were busy sailing the boat and not paying attention to them. Pelican's interior is much smaller than Jenny P's, with no separate cabin in which to keep the cats safe if need be. One evening peacefully anchored out on our trip to Olympia, Sara was down below and Michael was on the foredeck. He went back to the cockpit and saw Xena swimming in the water around the boat! We had not heard her go over, but saw one of the side solar panels facing down. She must have been sitting on it and slid off as it wasn't latched tightly in the level position. She wasn't meowing, just swimming around looking for a place to get out of the cold water. Michael reached down and plucked her out of the water, but we felt sickened at the close call. It was then that we decided that even though we would miss them terribly, we would be horrified if one of the cats drowned.
Sara's parents agreed to let the kitties stay at their house, for a six month trial basis. After a nervous dinghy ride ashore, the kitties were soon exploring their new home. It didn't take long for them to feel right at home; they have been having a blast racing up and down the hallways, rolling all over the carpets and marveling at all the different sleeping spots. They are thrilled at what must feel like a castle to them! We miss them a lot, but feel good knowing that they are warm and safe.
 |
|
Neah Bay, on the edge of the Pacific |
After one last trip to the grocery store and the dreaded teary good-byes to our families, it was time to pick up the anchor and start heading out to sea. It was calm on Saturday, August 10th when we motored over to Port Townsend. When we arrived later that evening, we were surprised by some cruising friends calling us on shore and went ashore for a fun evening of cruising stories.
We set out the next morning for Port Angeles, but the ebbing tide had us flying past that port at 1000, so we continued on to Neah Bay, our last stop before we set off down the great Pacific. We spent two nights in Neah Bay tying the last few things down, and topping up with fuel and water. Some friends of ours had left Neah Bay about a week before and we enjoyed tracking their progress via our SSB contact schedule. As we would find in every port, we made new friends on a neighboring cruising boat that were about to set off down the coast as well.
On a sunny Tuesday morning with a light NW wind blowing we lifted Pelican's anchor and tied it securely, clipped the tethers to our harnesses, headed out into Juan de Fuca Strait, then turned left.