Sunday June 30th – The last few days have been a scramble. We spent the middle part of June at our house in Palm Desert trying to get everything setup for new landscaping to be installed this summer. Then back home we only had 4 days to get ready to take off on the boat for the next 2 months. On top of everything I got a sinus infection which almost made me useless. But after I finally gave in to antibiotics things started to speed up.

Without much time to prep the boat, Julie decided to “just buy everything” in the way of food. And she wasn’t kidding, the boat filled up fast. Skylar looked around while we were stocking the boat and said, “if we were to sell the boat right now, with all this food onboard, we could get twice as much for it”!

We did it. At 2:22pm (yes it really was 2:22 and not planned) we cast off from the boathouse in Tacoma headed for Edmonds.

A beautiful cruise until just north of Seattle a mass of sailboats were all under sail going mostly east and west while we were going north. There was no avoiding them, so I slowed the boat to 8 knots and kept what I thought was a watchful eye. Boats would cross my path in front of me and then you would think you were in the clear, but sailboats have a way of tacking, I guess. I don’t know what happened but all of the sudden there was a sailboat about 100ft away on a collision course with us, no idea why I didn’t see him. Scared the living @#$% out of me, and Julie just hid. He turned last second, and I did the same to avoid a collision. Totally my fault, not only did he have the right of way because he was under sail, but he would have had the right of way even if he wasn’t. No excuse, I jacked that up, and Skylar will never let me forget it!

Arrived in Edmonds, ego shattered, but a beautiful night on the docks.

Tuesday August 28th – We abandoned the big city for 2 more nights in the wilderness. Leaving Seattle, we headed for Blake Island just a short distance away.

It was nice to get back to the outdoors for the last part of our trip. Actually, it’s a tradition. We always leave Seattle after school shopping and stay a couple nights at Blake before heading home.

After arriving in a snug little spot on the dock we hung out watching all the boats come and go. We spent the next couple days just relaxing on the beach, doing some fishing and prepping the boat for our arrival home. But of course, Blake wouldn’t be complete without our annual hike all the way around the island which is about 5 miles.

Thursday August 30th – After 53 days on the boat it was time to go home. You get used to it. It becomes your home, like everyday life with lots of chores and things to fix. None of us really wanted to go home, I felt like it would be so easy to just point the bow north again and stay out for a few more weeks. But those pesky kids have to start school. Speaking of pesky kids, I can’t say enough how difficult and rewarding it is to be stuck on a boat with your kids for 53 days. It creates a bond that’s hard to achieve when at home everyone does their own thing. Julie and I wouldn’t trade it for anything and amazingly the kids feel the same way, at least most of the time!

Friday August 24th – We left Roche and headed south again across the Strait of Juan De Fuca. It was a beautiful crossing in what can be a nasty piece of water. Our destination today is Seattle’s Bell Harbor for 4 nights.

But first we stopped by Port Townsand’s Fort Warden state park and had some fun playing on the beach. Then we were off, motoring south for a nice cruise through Admiralty Inlet.

The goal in Seattle is to have some fun but also get some school clothes shopping done. By the time we get home school will start in just a couple days and we won’t have much time to get the kids ready.

Skylar loves this company called Evo. It’s a mostly online, outdoor equipment company that sells a lot of skiing stuff. They have one retail outlet that we found in the Ballard area and Skylar just had to go. It was a great store and we actually found some nice school clothes for Skylar.

Our friends Todd & Tami who left us to head home when we were up in Desolation Sound found their way back to Seattle to meet up with us for a couple days. The 8 of us walked south to the tallest building this side of the Mississippi. Ok maybe not now, but in 1914 when the Smith Tower was built it held that title. We all had a lot of fun exploring the old building that has been beautifully maintained and lunch at the top was fantastic!