3 DAYS!!

Left Blaine for Sucia Island ( one of San Juan Islands) at 1700 on 5/13/23

Bye Mt. Baker, look forward to seeing you again! 

Sail over to Sucia - we made 5.5 to 6knts

It was soo HOT in Blaine until we got on the water- ha! 

Sunset happening but if you know the hand trick.. 1 hand above the water line or horizon equals 15 minutes - so count to determine the time before the sun goes down:) 

3 DAYS!!!! FASTEST DEPARTURE FROM A DOCK TO LEAVE FOR PASSAGE

So this time frame is not regarding our arrival to Blaine from NV but this is the time frame for getting ready to go to AK. 

We have been up on the boat since May 1 after our leisurely drive up from Reno. Once we arrived, I stayed for 2 days to go to storage and unload extra stuff we brought up from NV and to just rest a day and have dinner with some dock friends. I then left for Canada in my car and drove to Quesnel to see the Giesbrechts, Dave, and Carol. 

Stephen stayed behind and worked on getting our 1995 Cascade camper we bought last year for $5,000 in mint condition on top of Big Blue. This is our newest vehicle, a 1-ton Ford 2002. This truck has an 8-inch lift so that was going to be tricky but otherwise, the truck was well-outfitted with proper airbags and tie-downs. With the help of the amazing Meridian towing truck company, AKA, our friends, Austin and Perry, and their parents Guy and Sheila, blocks were constructed and the camper was put safely onto Big Blue. The one hiccup was the trailer lights that caused some electrickery and still, this will need to be sorted out upon our return. 

He also installed a new propane pressure regulator and got the other truck we purchased last year ready for sale, the 1988 Dodge Ram "Betsy". We initially got this truck for the camper but it is only 1/2 ton and the camper weighed a bit too much for this truck and we needed to purchase additional tie-downs and airbags to stabilize it better. Even with these purchases we still felt we would be limited in the range of our typical off-grid camping choices. The bigger truck is certainly more than enough but it was a great deal.

I returned from my Canada trip on May 8th in the evening. May 9 Stephen was still in a swirl over the camper lights, working and then not working, and then some working, and decided to abandon the project for now so we could get ready. The next 3 days included a Costco provision, a WinCo provision ( our new favorite grocery store - here and in Reno), laundry, boat wash, diesel jug fill up, water fill up, and prep cars for storage here locally. We managed to squeeze in a dock BBQ on the Welch’s boat the night before take off. 

3 days!!! Part of the reason for this amazing “ get ready” in a short period of time is that we are not passage-making in the sense of open water for several weeks. We are doing the Inside Passage of Alaska which means more of a protected waterway and less open water, so hence less risk involved with weather patterns. We still NEED TO BE VERY CAREFUL with the currents, tidal swings, and the weather no doubt but the typical “WAITING” for a weather window is not necessary and so that definitely expedited our departure. We usually would not even provision to leave unless we knew the weather window was only a few days away. 

We had initially planned to take off today on Mother’s Day but the Mark and Molly, on their 65ft sailboat, called Koda, suggested we go to Sucia Island with them for a night and then take off. Sucia Island is part of the San Juan chain of islands and is only 3 hours away. So we made a 1700 departure from the Blaine dock on May 13th. The winds were blowing us onto the dock at that time but still, the dock departure was fairly easy with some dock line help from the neighbors. Sucia is south, so kind of funny, we said we are going “south to Alaska! “ 

Mark and Molly also were hosting 5 other people on their boat including their own dog, Lhotse, cat, Kitters, and one other dog of their friend’s. We all got the anchorage called Echo Bay around 2030 in the evening.  It was still light out and the anchorage with some boats but still plenty of room to swing. Ben, Heather, Nana ( their dog), Emily, Sam, and Austin were part of the Koda crew for this visit. 

We had a great dinner hang out, breakfast in the am on Koda ( Mother’s Day), and a great hike on Sucia Island. Climbing the China caves adds some extra excitement. We really appreciated the last hang-out time before Stephen and I are just a pair on a boat - hahaha! We also got a nice visit in with another set of dock neighbors, Bryan and Tara, on their Hunter called Mandalorian. They are our dock neighbors on our port side in Blaine but they too made a  visit to Sucia for the weekend with their dog, Xena. They came over to Koda for a visit and then to Soulstice. They will leave the anchorage today May 15 and we too, are off to Canada to check in at Pender. 

We will see how far north we get after that….

Left to right: Mark, Perry, Austin 

Patty our dock neighbor as well! Partner Marc and Dog China! Gifted us amazing Coho Salmon for the trip and very cool dock neighbors. They snowbird - summers on the boat in Blaine and winters in AZ in their camper

Usual suspects- We always encourage Chef Maritos - made some chicken and tri trip on Koda - mark and molly's boat for fairwell BBQ ( which gets extended to Sucia Island next night) 

Stephen, Austin, and Mark

View on the dock at 5:30am as I went for last gym workout for a bit

We are on the commercial dock in Blaine - so wanted to show you a crabbing boat:)

My daily dock walk from Soulstice to the parking lot- this is my walk to bring in groceries, laundry, go get a shower... like a really LONG driveway!

Hike on Sucia

Me and Mark - climbed up for view point from China Caves on Sucia 

Mark Welch - amazing person in every aspect

Molly gifted us a sourdough starter- aaaahhh - we have a baby now to feed and care for -bahahaha -  but this baby turns into delish bread! Will give her a go... I have always feared the sourdough starter and associated responsibility but we got some time - hahaha! 

Tara and Bryan - other Blaine dock neighbors who came aboard Koda from Echo Bay, Sucia where they also spent Mother's Day weekend. 

SV Mandalorian crew, Bryan and Tara (and dog Xena- not seen)- our Blaine dock neighbors visiting on Sucia Island as well! 

Lhotse, Molly and Mark Welch - Koda owner's, amazing friends, dock neighbors and angels in human form

Salmon fish tacos! Salmon was hidden amongst an improvised/ expanded pico to use our vegetables - Once we provision, I feel like we are on a time clock to eat our freshies before they turn- we have the pickling option but still fridge space is nonexistent right now. 

Herding cats at times - hee hee - not really - great crew with great energy

Echo Bay - Sucia Island 

Other Caliber 40 owners in the Blaine dock gifted us these yummy goodies to take on our adventure - thank you again for your thoughtfulness - this is always the spirit of the marina life! 

Stephen's fancy fish finder - a backup depth finder that also gives you an idea of what is on the bottom for anchoring. We got it more for concerns of coral/atoll anchoring but still very useful. 

left to right : Stephen, me , Ben, Mark, Heather, Sam and Emily - great crew and great fun!