JCTownsley.com

I write this update in Neah Bay, just a few nautical miles from
the Pacific Ocean. I hoped to send this update tonight, before
entering the Pacific Ocean, however cell phone coverage is minimal at
best and will not allow the use of email. Hopefully I will be able
to send this out while going down the coast. It seems to me I had
full sprint coverage most of the journey last year.
Blessed with a moon-set and sun-rise this morning, we made haste
down the straits with the current. Averaging 8.5 knots, sometimes
peaking at 9.9 knots, we made quick work of the trip to Neah Bay.
10-15 knots of wind on the nose all day long. By days end we had 3
foot swells coming in off the ocean.
Spent a good deal of the afternoon and evening chatting with
some neighbors. They too are heading down the pacific tomorrow in
their beautiful, new-to-them, 47′ Vagabond. Although we are taking
slightly different tactics down the coast, we’ll remain in radio
contact the entire trip and watch out for each other.
To bed I go. While all of you read this tomorrow sometime, we
will be out sailing down the coast of Washington and entering the
Columbia River. We hope to cross the bar Thursday morning after the
ebb, take a nap in Astoria, then continue up the Columbia River. The
exciting news today is that Cascadia’s very own Ralph will be joining
us for the trip up the Columbia, enticing us with his stories of the
fantastic area we call home…
I finish with a quote from a book I started to read today. “Barco
que no anda, no llega a puerto.” — “A ship that doesn’t sail,
never reaches port.”

Josh