At the Corner

I'm at the corner of Washington, in Neah Bay, where I have been before twice by sea and once by land.  I've come to this place to let go of the world for a little while and take to the green beyond for a time.  Tomorrow is the departure date, though there will be some weather against initially, and then we'll find the NW magic breeze that blows things to California.  Altair will be one of those things.  My friend Yale is here too, and he plans on heading out at the same time, so it will be fun to have a race.  I'm at the marina, full of fuel, water, food, electricity, cool things (fridge!!!) and some books and photography potential.  The future is wide open.
Today, in the past, however, I got to see some Gray whales, graying along the kelp just out of Neah Bay.  They are nice whales and there was a baby playing in the surf.  I wanted to drop the hook, get out a surfboard and go play with it (him?) for a little while.  It was about 12 ft long.  They are heading south soon too, as well as the Humpbacks.  Exciting.
I have also re-activated my SPOT beacon, so you (Rachel) can track my progress along the coast.  Here is the link to the page:


http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ZI5dehz1OLghFSeVZjx0tbfTtjuS8TFu

The Summer's End

I've reached the time of migration.  My wings are getting impatient and I intend to use them soon.  I pulled up all my anchors from the bottom of Bellingham Bay, sold my precious little teal car, tore Altair apart and then put her back together again, and stuffed her to the gills with all sorts of things.  On this trip I've got two dinghies, three surfboards, a fridge, LED lights, more solar panels than before, two new sails, a new spinnaker that I hope I won't kill before too long, and a renewed sense of adventure.  I've also got a new Reel for fishing, and this one means business. 
But before I leave, I will reminisce about the summer once more.  I made this video about the Ship this summer, the Wilderness Explorer, and here it is:



Or the link here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx65oQbuCYs&feature=youtu.be


I expect to get to San Francisco in about two weeks and then onwards down the coast slowly.  Lindsay will join me in San Francisco and we will test our relationship in a small fiberglass crucible. 

Also some parting shots from the end of the trip down to Seattle:

 These are Pacific Whitesided Dolphins, and I love them.

 Here's a shot of Baker, and I've been to the top of that!

Southbound from Juneau

 I'm in Wrangell now, a place that I have been before, but only last season.  We're doing the Eastern Coves trip, from Juneau to Ketchikan, and I like it a lot.  We started in Tracy Arm and I love that place so much, then on to Admiralty island and to Thomas Bay.  I think I like Frederick Sound the most of all the bodies of water up here, so we spent some time cruising with Dalls porpoise and Humpback whales.  Anyways, we're heading through to get to Ketchikan to get to Canada to get to Seattle to finish the season.  I'm super happy with this season, but I am also excited to get south and start my own sailing trip.
The Wilderness Explorer has been a wonderful boat to me and I really am looking forward to coming back to this boat next season, supposing they will have me back.  I like it. 
In other news, my expensive lens purchase has been most fun to play with, so I got a few shots in the last couple weeks of things from way further and more telephoto-ed than ever before.  Here is a nice little Horned Puffun, puffing away. 

And here is a little salmon from the deep, come up to take a peek at the world.  Or maybe just spawning and not really thinking about all the consequences of that action.  You never know with salmon, they just don't express themselves very well.