ready to go

We are almost ready to go.
A final dinner with Ken and Carol Anne and Ken Calderwood from Calgary and then with Barry, Toni and Roland who have been anchored in Tsehum Harbour and helping us ready the boat for the last 6 weeks off and on. A great thank you to both Toni and Barry for going beyond the call of duty in assisting us with anything we needed.
We will probably leave Wednesday to go to Friday Harbor to clear US customs, then Seattle to pick up our repacked but hopefully never needed life raft. Then to Port Angeles where we will await a weather window which will allow us to sail to San Francisco with great winds and sunshine!!!
We had an enjoyable week with Darlene and Skip from Calgary, and Roz and Bob from Comox. Many hours spent with spinnaker ropes in all directions—thanks Bob for being here and allowing Ken to try out every possible sail plan with no complaining even when twists and ropes everywhere seemed to be the norm. Bob also turned out to be chef extraordinaire and is welcome any time he wishes to take on cooks duties—I could easily become just a pretty face!! Darlene, suffering from grade 4 retirement withdrawal had us all make newspaper hats for Ken’s birthday party and encouraged resumption of the much needed yoga practice. Blueberry tea became the theme of this sector of our summer. Tea and /or cappuccinos with white chocolate berry scones have been a staple all summer.
Aaron then arrived but had to hang out in Tsehum Habour for a couple of days where we had a new autopilot installed and the freezer part replaced and new filter systems put on the engines. However we did manage to get a great sail with 22 knots of wind at a beam reach with one reef in the sail and reach 10.4 knots. Our current record since we have had all of our instruments working—we hope to get something like that to San Francisco and we will get there in 4 days. Our crabbing spot had become depleted, I guess we ate them all, so had to find a new area. On the final day Ken caught another big ling cod which he now claims to be the biggest??!! Judge for yourselves!!! Ken assures me that all of Dave’s fish in a barrel would not stand a chance against his new record fish!!! Blackberry season is in full swing so blackberry crepes are for breakfast.
The summer has been great for spending with the family. Mike unfortunately joined us in Comox before we were ready to sail so needs to join us in the near future for some fishing/sailing adventures. We have loved having the time with the grandkids, memories of wading in Tribune Bay in ankle deep water with Alora surrounded by sand dollars and crabs. Helping Isaac with his self imposed math quizzes and helping Miss Smarty Pajamas Arianne(not smarty pants as she very seriously informed me she was wearing pajamas not pants) , dress Dora in her appropriate pink or purple clothing for every occasion. Dora seemed to have more parties than the rest of us.
It is with mixed emotions that we head off leaving family and friends but we hope they will join us on our travels and we leave our children knowing that they are all happy and successful in their lives, perhaps as much as any parent can hope for.We will miss all of you but please keep in touch with your emails and we will update when we arrive in San Francisco