First Leg

And so we begin the journey of the rest of our lives.

Our trip began with an auspicious number on our hour meter.  I have been told that '777' is the Lord's number, and Al says that little red 6 is just to remind you that the devil is always near.

The Columbia River was VERY busy above the I-5 bridge this afternoon.  It is July, and it seems that summer has finally arrived.  I am quite pink from the beach adventure and dinghy ride we took a couple of grandkids on yesterday, so I tried to stay out of the sun today.

The wind picked up through the afternoon and wind going against a current  stirs up the waves.  There were scattered whitecaps and waves 2-4 feet high.  We met some commercial traffic, including a car carrier, whose on-deck crew waved happily!

In the narrow channel to our anchorage this evening, we surprised this Bald Eagle.  Not my best photo, I did zoom in quite a bit, but I had to add it for this 4th of July weekend.

And we are Underway

Viking Star departed PacMar marina for the final time.  Heading to the coast in preparation for Turning Right.

Almost.......!

We got the apartment closed yesterday.  Al is finishing cleaning out the garage today.  A couple of grandkids were here for an overnight last night.  They helped us to stow the anchor line (another project to actually attach it  during haulout).  We continue to stomp hard to get everything aboard.  Another grocery run is hoped for after kid pick-up and before car pick-up.  Hoping to head west tomorrow!

My Corner

Ahhh.  That's more like it!  The boat is feeling a bit more like home for me, now that my books are again arranged on the nightstand.  My angel is looking out for me, and my Troy-bear is lounging nearby...

Now, if we could just get the rest of the boat to come together so neatly!  The furniture is being picked up from the apartment today.  I did some cleaning there yesterday.  Today and tomorrow we HAVE to have everything out of the garage and apartment.  A couple of grandkids will spend the night tomorrow night.  It looks like departure will be sometime Saturday!

General update

Seems the Blog has been very quiet for the past few weeks, sorry for that.  We have been working to clean up things and get ready to head downriver.  It has been a wild few weeks, but there has been  much progress!  On the project side:  Finishing up the Water maker / Generator, Hurricane heater needs about 1 more hour to get the control panel wired.  Aft head has been painted and just need to start installing the platform/head.  Then drill holes and install the hoses.  Bi-fold door is all varnished up and ready to hang.  We have also been working on stuffing things into the boat.  Still a bit more to go (mostly spare lines / anchors, and prop) but to be honest we have lots of stuff piled on the floors, seats, etc.  It is a mess and that needs to get cleaned up.

Furniture is to be picked up Wednesday from the Apartment.  This weekend we made a trip to the kids taking the last of stuff for them.  Garage is also a mess, but much less so then a week ago.  Table saw and surface planer have found a new home. Steam Boat Dave gave us a ride in his van to get the longer items to the boat (plus our two Craig’s List bicycles).    Today and tomorrow will be focused on moving and stuffing junk.

As the water is still high here we still cannot get into the lift deck.  So are looking to head to Ilwaco and use the boat yard there.  We are hoping to start downriver this week – perhaps as early as Wednesday.  Will see. . .

Good Timing

We have been moving lots of stuff onto and off of the boat lately.  The flood waters have been mighty inconvenient in many ways, but a relatively flat ramp IS pretty nice for on- and off-loading!

In the last few days the water has dropped significantly and is now about 3 feet lower than the peak.

Still flat ramp, and quite an obvious water line

An Epiphany

Al declared last Saturday that he had had an epiphany.  I will go with dictionary.reference.com's third definition:   'a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

I was away for the morning, and when I returned to the boat, I found Al at a buddy's boat having coffee.  He said he had lost his motivation, and needed a day off from the boat on Sunday.

He has been working SO hard and for SO long!  I remember last summer, as soon as the weather turned, he had the same experience.

This year, he has declared he is 'done'.  There is basically just a few hours needed to button up a few projects, and the rest can just wait.  Our focus right now is to stow everything, and make the boat not only liveable, but ready for a bar crossing.

It's already gotten worse, and it will be a while before it gets better.  No pictures, because it is just too embarrassing.