Last week we finally made good on our promise to do
some winter cruising. We’ve been threatening to do it for years now.
But for one reason or another, it never happened until last Sunday. Usually that reason is we ‘explode’ during
the winter months – everything and anything we own seems to find its way into
the cockpit where it sits and taunts us until we finally put it away.
But I digress.
Our trip was a lot more than just getting out in Puget Sound to shake out the sails. It was also about taking a bit of a break
from civilization and living on the hook – even for just a few short days – to
give Cambria ’s systems
a trial run before the season starts.
It was a fairly relaxed outing. On Sunday, we left our berth in Kingston Puget Sound where we tacked back and forth for the next seven
hours until we reached our destination for the next couple of days: Port
Ludlow.
Nothing brings a smile to David’s face like sailing
does – it’s truly in the man’s blood.
And we’d hoped to go play around in the afternoon winds on Monday, but
they never amounted to much so we spent a leisurely day aboard. I would have like to taken a walk onshore
(there’s nice waterfall nearby) but we didn’t bring the dinghy with us and the
kayaks were stored away, so I wasn’t sure what to do with myself (David rarely
suffers from this problem).
Last month I decided that I should teach myself how
to sketch, so I pulled out my “Keys to Drawing” book and did the first
exercise. I think it describes our time
away perfectly: Feet up, slippers on.
The nice weather we’d been experiencing was
forecasted to change on Wednesday, so we decide to up anchor and head back to Kingston
What did we learn?
At this stage, all systems are go. The new portable freezer performed like a champ, thanks to the new-last-year battery bank. Our Hurricane Heater didn’t, for once, let us down let us down by flaming-out thanks to David
killing the bug that had been living in our diesel tanks for months
(unbeknownst to us). The solar panels did a good job recharging the batteries (even in the
late-winter sun). The sails are in good
form. And the engine ran brilliantly.
And what did I learn?
It was really nice to swing freely again with no
neighbours or lines, but I’m not ready yet.
Despite the fact that I’m the one who gets restless and struggles during
the winter months while we’re tied up and held prisoner in a marina, it’s still
a little too cold out there for me right now.
Ready or not though, we only have 30 more days
before we need to start making our way north if we’re going to squeeze
everything we hope to accomplish this season in – starting with an early-April
haul-out to paint Cambria ’s bottom.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
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