I’ve been pinching myself to make sure I’m not just dreaming…  are things actually coming together? Are we really going to be able to start another adventure? Or will some other major issue rear its ugly head at the last moment?

The MASSIVE MAST JOB went incredibly smoothly, all things considered. Of course there were numerous little hiccups along the way, but the guys at Pro-Tech are impressive solution finders, and every problem had its fix.

So it is now really, truly official.  We have a mast! The mast is on! And we/Kaiquest are off!

We slid under the Lions Gate Bridge and then around Point Grey the minute we could.

Direction = south

As a final jump off point from Canada, we thought it was only fitting to pull into Victoria, BC. The BC Parliament buildings to port, and the Empress Hotel just off the stern. It doesn’t get more Canadian.

This morning the Victoria Harbor Patrol escorted SV Kaiquest out of the marina, past a grandstand of excited spectators waving farewell. The dragonboat races may have had something to do with it (and I think we were kind of in the way…) but it was a nice departure none-the-less.

The Patrol Officer also waved goodbye and shouted: “Where are you headed?”

“California!” I yelled back with pleasure and conviction!

After three years of flat water sailing, we felt the power and glory of a gentle Pacific ocean swell as we cut across the Straight of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles, WA, USA, nestled under the Olympic Mountains.

Where is Port Angeles? Think ‘Twilight’. Today you can search ‘Kaiquest’ and see us  there. Try this site: www.marinetraffic.com. But by tomorrow morning, we’ll be somewhere else…

Kaiquest’s new rig is rock solid and everything working well (yes, we’ve had a chance to test all systems in heavy winds). AIS is a dream – we track all commercial vessels.  Our communications set up via ipad / redbox router / and Iridium phone is up and running.

A good weather window to get out the Straight, turn left at Cape Flattery, and set sail south (to Coos Bay or Crescent City) is already upon us. So we may well skip the stop in Neah Bay (just before Cape Flattery), and keep going…

CRUISING REALITIES!

I was just about to publish this post. And then a slight whiff of  fuel got worse and we uncovered a pool of diesel under the floorboards. Nooooo…. we thought we’d fixed this!

To cut a long story short – we’re back to the cruising reality – tearing the boat apart, finding the real leak source (a problem we actually created ourselves: a tiny hole in the diesel tank!!!), fixing it, and then more hours mopping up the bilge and try to rid the diesel perfume from the cabin (diesel fumes spell sea sickness).

Not the greatest way to spend the night before departure! But it is what it is.