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.