Recently in South Bound Category

San Diego. Robert was glad to see his Grandmother, and we all enjoyed a few days at the Marriott Marina in San Diego. We had access to all of the hotel's amenities, including the pool, which everyone enjoyed, especially Robert.

(Pictures complements of Kay Read.)

Right, Kay and Robert departing LA, bound for SD.

Below, Robert enjoying the Southern California sunshine while docked at the Marriott Marina.

                     Below, hooray for the pool life!!

While in San Diego, we were able to meet up with Kay's uncle Bill Box and his friend Leigh. We visited them in their apartment, and then all of us went out to dinner together. It is always fun to meet and visit with family.

We have very few photos of this leg of our journey, as this was the most trying portion of the trip. Prior to leaving Seattle, we only made a few overnight journeys, and those were due to extreme circumstances. Once was due to the fact that we had anchor problems and so had to return to a port, which required traveling overnight, and the other time was because we were trying to outrun a storm. Neither of those experiences in the placid waters of the Inside Passage had prepared us for our experiences on the Pacific.

On October 6, 2005, we departed Shilshole Bay, Seattle, and sailed to Port Angeles, Washington. On October 7, around 10:30 a.m., we departed Port Angeles and intended to stop in Neah Bay, Washington. Instead, we took the advice of some sailing friends and headed toward Cape Flattery and the Pacific. That was the scariest night of our entire sailing trip.

My journal reads, "Cape Flattery was madness! Huge swells, crazy water, foam everywhere. I felt like a tiny ant in the water!! Mark and I both felt the effects of seasickness almost immediately...Water calmed down somewhat after getting out into Pacific, but not much. I was terrified. Robert and I went down around 8pm.

I got sick and laid down with him. He was not happy about the situation, which made it worse. I'm puking, trying to get a bed together, trying to placate him, puking some more. Bad situation. I went up (to the cockpit) a few hours later and Mark and I continued to switch off (at the helm) every 2-3 hours. It was such crazy water that both of us got sick just going from the bed to the helm or vice-versa."

That night, and the next morning the sea conditions did not get any better. We arrived at Gray's Harbor/Westport, Washington at 4 p.m. on October 8. It took us 30 hours to get around Cape Flattery and to the first safe harbor. It was a 165 nautical mile trip. When we pulled in, Gray's Harbor was actually closed to recreational vessels under 40 feet. We radioed the Coast Guard and they allowed us to come in with a USCG escort.

That first leg was definitely the worst, but the rest of the way down to San Francisco wasn't much better. We stayed in Gray's Harbor two days, waiting for the USCG to open the bar again. We traveled 24 hours, about 160 nm, to Newport, Oregon from Oct. 10-11. We stayed in Newport until Oct. 16, waiting for the bar to open. We traveled 25 hours, about 158 nm to Brookings, Oregon. We stayed in Brookings until the 20th, again waiting for decent sea conditions.

On Oct. 20, my journal reads, "Had a pod of porpoises- several pods?- swimming along boat for over an hour. They come like torpedoes from far away. Sometimes alone, sometimes in groups of 2, 3, or 4. Very fast moving. Can't tell how long they're able to keep up with boat."

Below, photo shows a pod of porpoises chasing our boat off of Baja California in November.

We left Brookings around noon on Oct. 20 and headed south to Fort Bragg, California, where we fueled up around 4 p.m. There, the Coast Guard tried to talk us out of leaving due to an upcoming "wave advisory."

We wanted to push on to take advantage of the current favorable conditions and go through the night to San Francisco. Our goal was Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco; we made it to Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, in San Mateo County around 2 p.m. on October 21.

We stayed in Half Moon Bay until October 25. It was a great place to wait out the 15 foot swells that were being reported. There we enjoyed a taste of civilization with restaurants, grocery shopping and laundry facilities.  We also enjoyed catching up on rest after a crazy few weeks coming down the coast.

    Below, seals swimming with whales.                                    Two whales swimming in tandem. 

Ahh! Placid waters and whales again! South of San Francisco, the water, weather, wildlife and attitudes all changed. We saw these whales on October 26 off the coast of California, near San Luis Obispo. They were such a welcome surprise. Amy was at the helm, and Mark was napping with Robert below.

At first, she didn't know what all the commotion was about. It looked like about five whales in a feeding frenzy. When Amy slowed the engine, Mark came above deck, and we stuck around for about an hour watching the whales. They were directly in our path at first, but when Amy slowed down and we got closer, they dispersed.

There was also a pack of seals following the whales. So, though the whales were sneaky, the seals gave away their location. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and the whales added to the wonderful change from the Northern Pacific experience.

Below, porpoises welcome us to Malibu! Southern California keeps getting better! Our arrival into the L.A. area was accompanied by a beautiful sunset and several pods of porpoises.

One morning before arriving in Seattle, Amy went out to the cockpit to enjoy a beautiful morning. A scrumptious breakfast of pop tarts and hot tea was interrupted by this not so cute little otter. He kept jumping up onto the swim platform (intended for human swimmers) on the back transom. He enjoyed his own breakfast of fish, and left the fish heads for us to admire. Mark and Robert were taking their morning nap down below, so Amy was left to defend the cockpit. A few times the otter wanted to climb up into the boat, and it was up to Amy and her journal to shoo him away.

Seattle, at last!

This photo is taken from the Chittenden Locks, which connect Lake Washington to Shilshole Bay, off of Puget Sound.

This is the "Big Lock." Dozens of boats are crammed in and rafted together in the lock. The outermost boats have a line attached to the lock by the lock attendants (see far right side of photo, in the dark shadow). When the lock is full, they close the doors, fill it up with water, and then open up the doors on the other side to Lake Washington. We kept the boat for a few days at Fisherman's Terminal, a low-cost, no frills, working fleet marina.

In Seattle, we slept on land! Ellen and Kate were nice enough to host us for a few weeks. Margo made a trip to Seattle to say hello and wish Amy a Happy Birthday. All three Reads were so grateful for family and the opportunity to walk on dry land. One afternoon we all boarded Calpurnia and attempted to make a day trip to Blake Island Park. We made the trip, but had to tie up at a 30 minute limit dock. So, the ladies got out for a quick stroll while Mark and Robert stayed on board. The fun was in the journey, not the destination.

While in Seattle, we got to go with Kate to one of her riding lessons. Kate is learning dressage, and we were all impressed with the fancy footwork!!

After traveling hundreds of miles north to Glacier Bay to see beautiful wildlife, we ran into these three huge sea lions at the Petersburg, AK fuel dock. The attendant said they live there. Turns out we didn't need to travel so far, after all! (However, Petersburg doesn't have quite the pristine beauty that Glacier Bay does!!)

We were unexpectedly holed up in Coffman Cove, Alaska for several days on our south-bound journey. While there, we met a man who generously offered to take us to explore the beautiful rainforest of Coffman Cove.

"Dead Heads" (shown below), are logs saturated with water so that only one tip is visible above water.  They are common dangers in Northwest waters. where ever logging activities are found.

 A collision with one would likely impale a boat. This one was within eyesight, but careful watch kept it at a safe distance.

Porpoises are very quick, very fun visitors at sea! They are a great joy to have around, but they are so fast that this is the best photo I could come up with! They swim with the boat for a couple hundred yards, sometimes in the bow, sometimes at stern.

One of Robert's favorite perches on the boat is on the salon settee, where he watches his mom do dishes and make meals.

While there, he loves to take the top of the trash can on and off, and we never know what he will throw away next!! Note the guilty look on his face.

This photo of the dock at Port Neville demonstrates the dramatic tide changes of the Inside Passage.

Notice the dock on the water is wrapped around pilings, so it will rise and fall with the tide, which will change the slope of the ramp. (There are all sorts of algebraic slope teaching ideas that this photo conjures!)

In Southern Canadian waters, the Canadian Navy practices their maneuvers. One beautiful evening, we were sure they were practicing on Calpurnia.