Day 431 Off again.

We were off again today at 0515 for the trip to Millbrook Cove to be set for the jump past Cape Caution, the last really big hurdle for the trip South. We had good tides and only lots of intermittent fog to worry about and there was plenty of fog in the morning.

As we headed South through the Llama Passage just past Shearwater, we were greeted by a nice bank of the white stuff. On came the radar and the AIS(Automatic Identification System) and into it we went. No signs of anyone. We made it almost to Fischer Channel before we saw our first fishing boat. We passed him by just fine and headed out into the channel on our way to Fitzhugh Sound.

Sun, then fog, then sun, then fog. It just kept coming. We're glad we had the radar to supplement the AIS. While the AIS gives us the big ships, the radar gives us everyone. It found the fishing and pleasure boats the AIS doesn't pick up. We avoided several as we headed South.

WIth the tides and currents with us. we made good progress doing well over 6 knots for the entire trip. At 65.9 nautical miles into Millbook(51 19.650N 127 44.258W), we made it in almost exactly 10 hours for an average of 6.5 for the trip. I'll take that any day.

(written the next day)

One of the biggest things we have learned on this trip is to watch for everything and anything while you are in the cockpit. One of the two of us is on guard at all times as we move along. There are lots of other boats in the inland passage, both big liners and small fishing boats. Some with people at the wheel and some that have been left on autopilot as they ply the waters. During this trip, especially the long days, we take two hour breaks from being in the cockpit. One of us has "free" time to do what ever they want while the other stays on guard constantly checking the horizon, wether with radar or AIS or visually. No reading or watching movies on the Ipod while on watch. Music on the stereo is all right as you can still hear the engine incase any change in RPMs happens or something goes clunk down below. Head phones are a no no. On our trip down to Newport almost two years ago, we sat in the cockpit and watched movies as we went. Now, we know better. If we were off shore sailing, that might be different, but right now, we are on a highway of boats, OK, more of a "country road", but there are still boats of all sizes going through the water and a lookout must be kept at all times. Nothing made it clearer than yesterday in all the intermittent fog and sun shine.

The engine appears to be fine again. The change in the filters and the bleeding of the injectors by the mechanic and she has purred along just fine. We added 93 gallons of diesel while in Shearwater so our tanks are filled all over again. Once we get back to Port Townsend, we will be having all the fuel that is left "polished". They pump all your fuel off and put it through filters to clean it of any contaminated material. Then they open the tanks and clean anything that is left out so they are nice and clean. The filters are changed and the diesel is put back in the tanks. I tend to think that Zephyrs tanks haven't been opened and cleaned since she was built back in 1982. We had planned to have it done during our layup last year, but since we had come up the coast in 35 knot winds and 20 foot seas, we rationalized that anything that was in the tanks would have made its way to the filters already and stopped the engines during that storm. We thought we were fine. I guess not. Hind sight is always 20/20. Now we will have the job done. We did have a man come to Port Townsend that had been recommended, but he wanted $400 just to come plus the cost of the "polishing".

There was only one other boat in Millbrook last night. A rather large "trawler" style cruiser. A big and comfortable boat with I'm sure all the amenities any boater could handle. Traveling first class. We have seen much larger boats over the past few weeks than three months ago. Shearwater was full of 50 to 60+foot power boats from all over the place. We were the largest sailboat, but small in comparison to the others at the dock. I had a talk with another couple on their sailboat while in Shearwater. They have had their boat for over 25 years and travel on it every year. They were headed North like we have already done. We met another sailer/cruiser that gave us some good advise on installing the SSB radio. He even gave us a nice long strip of copper sheeting that is needed for grounding it during installation.

The radio reports for Cape Caution are for a bit of unrest for today so we will just wait till it calms down a bit. We listen for reports for the "West Otter Buoy". If it is less than 1 meter seas and winds less than 10 knots, you go and go as quickly as you can. Anything larger and you are better off waiting and that is just what we will be doing. For some reason, the channel on the VHF that broadcasts the weather has stopped having the extended forecasts. You can get them, but you have to call on channel 83a. Currently, all you can get is what is happening now and for the next 24 hours. How dumb is that!!? I called them last night and got the off shore forecast for the West coast of Vancouver Island. It looks like we will be going down the inside passage. There are some big blows coming and strangely from the Southeast, not the Northwest as is the normal for this time of year. We'll see tomorrow.