11 May 23

Terri had an early morning doctor’s appointment for her semi-annual ProLea shot at 07:45, so we were both up before 07:00, checked out of the motel and at the front door on time. While she was inside the doctor’s office, I drove over to Fisherman’s Supply (which is like West Marine on steroids; I drooled the whole time I was there) to buy a couple of thimbles and a shackle for attaching the extra 250 ft of anchor rode I bought during the winter; I have decided not to splice it to the existing line, because I don’t think there is room in the anchor locker for the whole 500 ft, plus the 165 ft of chain, plus the anchor chain and rode for the secondary CQR anchor. I got back to the doctor’s office with breakfast from Starbucks just as Terri came out the door. She was on the phone with Ashley, whose first client had cancelled; so, she wanted to see us one last time. So, we drove over to her place to pick her up, then back to Starbucks to buy her breakfast and have a bit of a chat. Then, they decided they wanted to check out Fisheries Supply, after my glowing report, so we drove back there and bought $200 worth of clothes. Then, we dropped Ashley off at her place at about 09:45 and hit the road for Anacortes. We were back on the boat by 11:20, fueled up and turned the car into the storage place for the summer and pulled away from the dock, after quick goodbyes to our dock neighbors on “Kaheya” (or something like that; a 2009 Nordic Tug 42) just after noon. We motored (with a few minutes of jib up) all the way through the San Juans, via Thatcher Pass and Pole Pass, arriving at Prevost Harbor on the north side of Stuart Island, where we picked up a Washington Marine State Park mooring buoy at 16:16. It was lovely and sunny, with light winds the whole way across. After a celebratory happy hour, we cooked salmon and squash for first dinner aboard of the 2023 expedition. We are finally underway and it feels good.  

48-40.673’N, 123-11.808’W; Log = 25.2 N-m; Sum (2023) = 34.2; Eng. hrs. = 4.2, Sum = 3111.3