North to Alaska (crewing on a sailboat!): First Day, May 4th

We left Everett Washington yesterday on May 4^that 1:00pm. It was a day later than scheduled but it really worked in everyone’s favor. Vaughn wanted to get his scuba tanks filled and the dive shop wasn’t open on Mondays and Tuesdays. He was out of town for a funeral prior to this so the extra day really worked for organizing and hopefully we didn’t forget anything.

The weather was cloudy and a few stray raindrops fell. The waves were choppy in Port Gardner and as we entered Saratoga Passage. Both the weather and the waves smoothed out by the time we entered Skagit Bay just northeast of Oak Harbor.

Funny but I didn’t spy any sea life coming up here. I don’t know if it was due to the fact I was concentrating on other things or the excitement of knowing where we were going made me pay less attention to the water. I was constantly looking out for other boats but not to the side like I do when I’m aboard the S/V Jeanne Marie.

We made it to Hope Island by 7:50pm where we are moored on a mooring ball. Under Mary’s expert guidance I was able to drive the sailboat to the mooring ball.

Today’s lessons included readying the boat for sailing, charting, and mooring the boat on a mooring ball.

The pictures below are from Hope Island.