Departures…
Two years of planning for an 18000 nautical mile trip and
still, so much of what has to be done needs to happen in the 10 days before
departure; reviewing spare parts, shopping for provisions and saying all the
goodbyes. Oh god, the goodbyes; thank you to all our family and friends for
your support and well wishes! Organizing one’s ship to carry all your worldly
goods and food is no small task. But Brad is handy with straps and clips and
now the 2 surf boards are out of the way and double as shelves.
It only took one little pass from Deep Cove to Sidney to
discover a pretty significant issue that took a little time to repair. Spending
the time was well worth it since it would have been a much bigger issue at sea,
though not dangerous. Sidney has everything that a boat person might need plus its
flat, which, if you have ever shopped on foot in a hilly town you know how
great that little part of the world must be.
The sail to Victoria was fully of sloppy seas and winds
blowing anywhere from 12 kts to 28kts. Tra got completely hosed working with
the stay sail on the bow. And yes, she blew back. We’ve made it and will clear
out of customs here. Get a nice little stamp in our passports to show the
officials in the South Pacific, just to prove we’re not running from persecution and
that we are good people.
Planning a departure is a difficult thing. We plan and plan
but we are not the masters of the ocean or the winds. So we make our plans hour
by hour, day by day. At the time of this writing, tomorrow looks good so we
will prepare to cast off once again but reassess in the morning.
