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!

Tuesday August 21st – The anchor came up off the Canadian sea floor and locked into place on the boat. Free to put the engine in gear now we pointed our bow toward the US and crossed Haro Strait. After clearing customs in Roche Harbor, we made our way to our assigned slip for the next 3 nights.

Skylar and I went hiking and fly fishing in the nasty little ponds above the harbor but didn’t catch a thing. Then we all tried some salmon fishing just outside of Mosquito Pass but once again we struck out. The smoke continued to be super thick and was now getting extremely annoying. Not only did it make you feel terrible, but all the beautiful scenery and sunsets were blocked by a blanket of smoke.

Sometimes at Roche yacht brokers will have boats open for you to tour. One such boat was the “Sea Lion” a beastly boat stretching 70 feet long and what seemed like almost as tall. Built in the 80’s with a complete interior remodel a few years ago it was a really cool boat that made you feel like you could go anywhere and do anything. Skylar and Ava loved it. They wouldn’t quit talking about it. Trying unsuccessfully to get us to buy it they devised an elaborate dreamy plan to buy it themselves and live on it together. They talked about it for days.

Sunday August 19th – We Left Manson’s Landing and started heading south in the Georgia Strait under the cover of some serious wildfire smoke. No specific destination in mind we just need to start heading south. After some weather forecast research, it looked like the weather was changing. It called for mostly calm winds today then rising in the evening to windy conditions for the next few days.

So, we decided to bust it south! Normally you try and limit your exposure in the Strait of Georgia but today we cruised 70 miles straight down. We didn’t want to get stuck waiting for a weather window in the coming days. Building following seas pushed us right into Gabriola Pass where we caught somewhat decent slack water. But why stop here. We pushed on but now I transferred the helm to Skylar where he navigated us all the way to Sidney Spit in the southern Gulf Islands.

In all we cruised 120nm in one day, an all-time record for us. We anchored off the spit and spent the next 2 nights just relaxing on the beach, watching the Orca whales pass by and taking the dinghy to dinner in Sidney.

Saturday August 18th – Today we left Prideaux Haven and made our way west to Manson’s Landing, tucked in a little area we always anchor. It’s a fun spot, complete with a saltwater lagoon, a nice beach, and short hike leads to a beautiful lake but the weather must be calm. The anchorage opens up to the south end of the Georgia Strait. If the wind was blowing out of the south, it would not be comfortable. Lucky for us things were calm, and the forecast was for more of the same the next day.

It’s kind of a tricky anchorage in 80’ of water but we managed to secure a spot right where we always anchor. A few others were not so lucky as they came in after us trying repeatedly to set the hook within acceptable range of other boats. After feeling like the boat wasn’t going to drift off anywhere, we set out for some beach time and exploring the area.

Just as we were getting in the dinghy to leave Skylar said quietly but clearly “oh no, that’s not good”. What, I said. “My tooth just fell out” he said. He turned to Julie and I and the hillbilly was suddenly turned on. Years ago, when Skylar was about 8 years old, he was sliding on his stomach down our long, slippery, hardwood floors. He wouldn’t quit sliding even though it was time to leave the house. Finally, he put on his sweatshirt to leave but just had to slide one more time. Except this time the grippy logo on the front of his sweatshirt took hold on the hardwood and planted his face smack on the hardwood. When he came up, blood was everywhere, his tooth almost went through his lip and his front tooth had a big chip out of it. The dentist was able to fill it but warned that it would not last forever.

Today, miles from a dentist, in a different county, on a boat, it decided to fall out. He played it off like no big deal, but he was embarrassed. We decided to wait until we got home to get it fixed but Skylar is resourceful. He found the chunk and was able to put it back in until he had to eat then took it back out. That lasted for quite a few days until he lost the chunk!

After some exploring time, Skylar “Hillbilly” Heyer and I took a run in the dingy to Gorge Harbor to fuel up and get some much-needed groceries. It was a fun run, then we all took a sunset cruise and fishing expedition. Skylar of course hooked into a nice Lingcod. Must have been the tooth.