Maybe Tomorrow

We had a look at the weather information this afternoon and tentatively decided to leave Neah Bay tomorrow (Saturday), pending a review of the situation in the morning.

We were looking to departure on Monday, but it looks like that day will bring strong westerly winds from a High and I don't like the prospect of fighting my way out of the Strait then beating to SW all day.

We could have waited until Tuesday but I didn't like the idea of sitting in port all day Monday watching a west wind which could help us rocket our way toward the south go to waste. Also, there was risk that heavy weather would hit the area a day or two later.

We've had stiff westerly winds today - I saw 26 kt on my instrument at one point - but the forecast is for a quieter day of lighter and favorable winds tomorrow and part of Sunday. After that we can expect SE the S winds of up to 30 kt and then the strong west wind on Monday. Our plan is to depart tomorrow morning and make the most of the favorable winds to position ourselves with plenty of sea room. It is likely that I'll set up the storm trysail for Sunday afternoon as an exercise if nothing else, since it unlikely that we we'll encounter storm conditions. I'll try sailing the boat out with the trysail and the staysail either sailing SW against the S wind and possibly with heaving to.

I always have a psychological barrier to cross from the safety of security of a harbor to the uncertainties of the open sea. We will certainly miss our on-board WiFi, the cosy warmth of the electric fan heater, and the secure and peaceful nights of sleep. But once I've been out to sea for a while I must face the barrier between the familiarity of life at sea and the dangers of shoals, rocks, jetties, etc.

During a lull in the late morning we visited the post office and the big store. The Gortex coat and my sailing jacket had shown signs of water leakage and Brenda wanted to find something to spray on them. Fortunately we found an experienced and helpful man who helped us find the correct spray product then took us over to the wet weather section. When you think of it, Neah Bay is the place to be for wet weather gear since the fishermen must have gear that works. I purchased a rain coat and Brenda and I got "Southwester" rain hats - you know, the kind that you see in movies with the front folded up and the back overhanging the collar. We also purchased a pair of wool gloves each and I purchased a pair of waterproof rubber gloves to fit over the gloves.

By the way, the refrigerator has been working splendidly (knock on wood).

After a morning of steady rain the skies cleared and Brenda and I went for a jetty walk. We had a brief chat with a man on the bridge of of the aptly named Hunter, which is on standby to rescue any large ship that gets into trouble. What a great idea considering the potential ecological catastrophe of a tanker foundering on the rocks. You can see the effect of the strong wind.