Two weeks after Easter I packed up the car and we headed back out to Seattle and Marinero. After a whirlwind week of prepping for our upcoming two month journey, we are back in the islands and happy. The winds have been uncharacteristically cooperative and we managed to sail downwind from Seattle to Port Townsend. We are almost always beating into the wind so as a result we have so little downwind experience that its a bit of a mystery to us as to how to set the sails properly but it was a very welcome change. The weather, however, was a little unsettled. We encountered a strange hail/thunder storm that rumbled a bit and gave us second thoughts about being on the water but luckily we only saw one lightning bolt and the boys and I were below for the vicious hail (poor Jason). The winds smiled on us again on our trip from Port Townsend across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Watmough Bay. Though the waves were choppy and varying anywhere from three to six feet (and we were all a bit green), we sailed a perfect beam reach the entire way on a single tack averaging a speed between eight and nine knots. Watmough has three new mooring balls so we snagged one before devouring a late lunch. We have spent many a sleepless night in Watmough with winds pummeling us and shaking the rigging. I have spent many sleepless hours listening and waiting for the anchor to drag and for our boat to smash into the nearby cliffs. The thought of spending the night on a mooring ball was delightful. Aaron was sick so instead of kayaking into shore for a hike, we snuggled around the table and played a board game. We all chuckled at the thought of how we spent two days of sailing to sit in the boat for the afternoon playing a board game.
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