17:18 PDT September 2, 2009

44 55 N
125 02W
(central Oregon coast about 45 miles out) Wind South at 7 knots Sea 3 knot swell at 11 seconds from the west Sky is blue baby with nary a cloud and temps in the low 60’s

Brad reporting
Well we are two days some change into the trip now. I’m sure PJ covered most of the events in her post (I haven’t read her blog entry yet) so I’ll talk a bit about what has been going on in my brain. As can be expected the last month has been busy. Pete McGonagle, my business partner returned the first of August and I quickly made myself scarce at Swiftsure Yachts with what seemed like an insurmountable to do list for the Capaz before pushing off. The work on the boat intensified as we got closer to the departure date. I’m sure the neighbors on F-dock were starting to wonder about the sudden outburst of swear words emenating from below on Capaz from time to time. Seldom did a project go smoothly or on budget. The old adage that it will take twice as long and cost 3 times as much is not far off the mark. The day of our departure still had a few “would really like to do” things on the list. But, we were bound and determined to leave on time, so the things that got done, got done and those that didn’t, didn’t. We ended up leaving with the contents we wanted to keep out of our dock box piled on the stern waiting to be stowed. But we left on time…..ok we left 10 minutes late.

What did I feel? I thought I might feel relieved to be on our way. That wasn’t it. I did feel good. I felt happy and priveledged to have so many friends and supporters show up for our going away party and our departure day. But, like so many things in life, it wasn’t necessarily a eureka, my life has changed moment. Once under way Capaz was calling and she needed to be attended to. We had the tasks of the moment to look after, all the normal stuff that happens when leaving on a trip/delivery, plus the added stuff that didn’t get done before we left. Life goes on. Maybe I will have that Eureka moment, I don’t know. Perhaps it will come when on watch alone in the middle of the night, or watching the perfect sunset for the hundredth time, or maybe not, I don’t know. I have had cruising friends tell me that it takes a year to unwind and settle into a different frame of mind. It will be interesting to see what my frame of mind is a year from now. A year from now we will be somewhere in the South Pacific.

As you have probably read, it got bouncy and windy going out the straits and has been pretty much a motor boat ride the whole way. What has been great is watching the reaction of the kids to the whole process. This is a good thing for them. They will be changed after this trip, and I’m pretty darn sure it will be for the better. Yesterday was pretty gray and uneventful weather wise. Today has been sunny and about as warm as you could expect for this part of the world. We hooked 3 fish, lost one kept one and released one. They were all albacore tuna. It’s tuna on the BBQ tonight baby! I spent most of the day tinkering on the boat. I’ve made a list of things I want to get done while under way. The problem is as I would do one thing, I’d run across another thing that needs to be done and start doing that. Then I’d forget what it was I was doing originally. It’s all been pretty scattered. All is good though and it has been a pretty productive day. I did take some time to play on the X-box with Bryce and do some fishing, so it hasn’t been all work and no play. Actually doing the blog was one of the things on my list so I get to mark that off after signing off hear.

We are not planning to make any stops before San Francisco. Weather wise it is best to get South to avoid getting caught in some weather that should be arriving off the Washington/Oregon Coast later in the week. We are and do have head winds. In fact the wind has built to around 10 knots on the nose since I started typing this. But, in about 24 hours it should start turning to a more favorable direction and hopefully we will get a day or two of good sailing before passing under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

OK, I think I’m going to wrap it up here. A huge thank you to all of you who have supported us on this venture. It warmed my heart to see most at the dock party last Sunday and well wishers as we left on Monday. I know that I haven’t been contributing to the blog while Capaz was in Seattle. I do plan on contributing more especially when we are under way.

This is Brad Signing off!