Puget Sound and Other Destinations

We can't believe that an entire month has passed since we left the dock at Victoria and we've already managed to idle away one third of the time before we leave for Mexico.

We began by taking our eldest, Bryn, to the San Juans for a few days and then headed to the Spring Bluewater Cruising Association Rendezvous at Bedwell Harbour (where we were given our "leavers package" that included a mouse and a rat trap!  Yuck!!  What's with that?)  Following this, we turned south again and began a 3 week tour of Puget Sound.  What a wonderful cruising area, with lots of great anchorages and marinas, and not nearly as busy as we thought it would be.  Our favourite spots were Port Madison where we anchored just off one of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's "summer places"; Gig Harbor where we went out for a fabulous 31st anniversary dinner; Blake Island where we got lost on one of the great hiking trails that criss cross the island; and the locks and bridges leading into Lake Union in Seattle....not to mention our recipricol moorage at the Tyee Yacht Club in Lake Union that was directly under an I5 bridge. Talk about NOISY.....  And, finally, who can say enough about the award winning Penn Cove Mussel Chowder in Coupeville?

After Puget Sound we returned to Bedwell Harbour and Kathy joined up with 6 of her UBC Rehab Medicine buddies at Poet's Cove Resort for their annual reunion....it's the 22nd year that they've been getting together to celebrate their friendship.  After lots of gabbing, kayaking, boating, eating, drinking and a deep tissue massage, she returned to the boat totally exhausted!  We'll have to give her a good rest before heading off on our next adventure.

Brad and Angelina's place in Port Madison

Weekend races off our moorage at Blake Island

An audience as we go through the locks into Lake Union

Three long and two short blasts and they open the bridge for Vakasa

Yummy mussel chowder in Coupeville, Whideby Island

The reunion girls onboard Vakasa 

New Toys and Gadgets

We are down to the final countdown of days before leaving Victoria.  We'll spend the next 3 months doing some local sailing; exploring Puget Sound for the first time and revisiting some of our favourite spots in the San Juans and the Gulf and Discovery Islands.  Then it's the big offshore trek...first leg to San Francisco, second to San Diego, and third to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!  We'll arrive in Mexico somewhere in the first week of November.

Both Tony and I are scrambling to get the last of the chores that need to be done at a dock finished before next week.  I think we're almost there and it feels good!  Vakasa has already been offshore with her previous owners (several times in fact) and probably thinks that she was perfect just the way she was, but  here are just a few of the new toys and gadgets we've added to her.

New Radar

New Spinnaker

New Watermaker

New SSB Radio and AIS

New Main and Jib

New Salon Ceiling

Almost Time To Cast Off The Lines

We're just 2 weeks away from leaving Victoria's beautiful Inner Harbour and setting sail for what will be 11 months at sea.  We've had a great winter in Victoria.  We've taken enough sailing courses to melt our brains and worked on so many boat projects that our bodies are weary and our bank account is empty.  Getting Vakasa ready for sailing offshore has been tough but rewarding...and the logistics of sailing to, and living in, Mexico have been complicated.  But we are more than ready to cast off the lines and start enjoying the life that we've spent the past 2 years preparing for.

The only one who may not to be quite ready for this adventure is Rizzo (our faithful boat mutt), who has absolutely no idea of what is coming her way.  However, she loves boat life and we're sure that she'll settle in just fine once she figures out where to pee and poop on those offshore legs (despite our most diligent efforts, we've been unable to convince her to do her toilet on the boat while we're tied to the dock or within sight of land).  We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that she'll figure it out when the time comes!

So if you want to follow our travels, check back once in a while and we'll keep you posted.  Fair winds to all.