At last I'm off the unpredictable Pacific Northwest coast with its challenges of weather and bar crossings. It's been a strange few weeks but made the most of it as best I could. Hoping to spend a couple more weeks in the Puget Sound before heading back to Seattle and a visit to the boat yard.

First attempt to leave Newport foiled by a closed bar so left way too early the next day to avoid getting trapped again. However, that meant the timing for the arrival at the Columbia bar was off. And just to add some excitement the Columbia bar was closed when I arrived at 7am. Had to wait the ebb tide out until 10am before the Coast guard allowed crossing. Then a long motor up the Columbia river dodging more small fishing boats than I've ever seen in one place. Quite the obstacle course. Then the marina is basically full and while I got into a slip it's only good until Thursday. Hmm...

Finally got a decent couple of days to make a move north from Brookings Oregon to Newport Oregon. The swell was still 4 to 5 feet but without the north wind the bar crossing was clear. Sailboats make lousy power boats and I will be glad when it will be possible to sail instead of motor. There was some fog but both the exit and entry were clear skies. It was also very nice to see the Milky Way on display before the clouds moved in. Even the fleets of fishing boats with there million candle power lights couldn’t keep the stars from making an appearance.

Using my sailboat like a trawler. Put, put...port to port we go. Looking forward to exploring Brookings for a few days. Weather forecast suggests next Monday before the next move north.

Made it safe and sound to Eureka Humboldt Bay. It's not exactly Hawaii, but at least safe and sound and will make repairs to the autopilot here. Amazingly. I have a good friend here who is able to loan me a car, a place to sleep, a hot shower and that is going to help immensely. Going to be a lot of work over the next few days to install a completely new ram, but I have a plan so that's all you can hope for and make the best of it and we'll see what happens when I get everything put together. Boats and plans don't always work out the way you expect them.

Made it to Neah Bay a bit early. Some decent swell action the last 90 minutes. Buried the bow a few times. Inside the Bay it's nice and calm now. Time to put up the solar panels and get ready for the official push off the coast tomorrow.

Easy leg to Port Angeles. Now AIS replacement begins!

Mostly uneventful trip north to Port Townsend except I noticed my AIS device was not broadcasting. After looking at it my conclusion is the old Vesper Marine has died. With a lot of phone calls and help from the people at Port Angeles Boat Haven and Fisheries is Seattle I hope to have a new, programmed B&G unit delivered to P A by the time I get there tomorrow. No way I go offshore without this as a solo sailor. Boats!

Was out for a few hours but tracking failed for the first couple hours because I didn't have my GPS device on. Light air day but still good enough to check the new Ballard Sails CDX headsail trim and car positions. The sail looks great. Tested the new autopilot as well to see the tack and gybe features work. I think things look good for next week's departure to HI.