7/28/06
Final Leg
Even though I had trouble falling asleep last night I woke up way before all but Harvey. I walked around a bit aimlessly in the morning. Thought about getting breakfast. I didn’t I got distracted by getting ice and other folks as they woke up. I was shocked that Ice could cost $2 a bag. Later I would find out that that wasn’t the worst price for ice to come. I hung out with Bill and Phil as they got coffee in the morning at the one coffee stand in town. It was very slow at getting things done. We spent 20 min waiting for 3 drinks to be made before we got to the window. We talked to the gentleman in line behind us. He was going fishing. He comes to Neah Bay ones a year for a week to fish. He had a NOAA Fisheries hat on. He seemed like a nice guy. We got back to Reliant and got under way at a reasonable time. We had slow rolling following seas coming from behind us. It was like being gently rocked as opposed to the beating we had taken over the last two days. Jim told us about the local dives at Seal and Sail Rocks. Skipper was after being pretty sick in good spirits again. His sense of humor was sharp and witty. It was a pleasure to me to see him that way. The crew told me that they had been worried about me because my skin had turned such a sick grey color while we were on the outside in open water. They told stories of how if you weren’t careful while on the helm the boat would do a 180 degree turn on you when the waves hit you just wrong. Lets just say they did that a few times. We even found seaweed in the dingy on top of the pilothouse. They said one of the crew especially had a hard time staying on course while on helm. Jim was very thankful we had Harve along. He was a savior. They said he was the most steady on the helm with a knack for finding a sweet spot in the waves while everyone else fought them the whole way. I am very thankful to them since I was entirely useless for the entire time we were on open water. They were thankful to me for being there to set up the routes on the computer. Everyone was still learning the Nobletech software. I got the hang of it faster than everyone else. I was glad that even when I was losing my lunch I hadn’t eaten I was having a positive effect. I felt really useless and it was good to hear that they needed me. I did my engineering shift and set up the Bar-B-Que while underway for lunch. Christy finished up making the chicken as I was on my Navigation/Lookout and Helm shifts. She took my spice ideas and made them come alive. It was the first great meal I had in a few days and I needed it. I made myself two large chicken quesadillas and over did it a bit. We sat around and relaxed while traveling to Anacortes. As we traveled along I got my first chance to miss my girlfriend. The water and the scenery we so beautiful I wished I could share that with her. The water was an amazing blue. The sky was clear. With Canada on one side of us and the Olympic Mountains to the south we cruised along the Washington side of the Straight of Juan De Fuca. As we made the turn north I was coming on to my Navigation shift. With Skipper on helm we got nearly there. My helm shift started as we turned out of Rosario Straight and into Guemes Channel. I brought the boat all the way into the slip in Anacortes with some throttle help from Jim at the end. Phil was helpful because he had been there the week before. He had even used the slip we were going to as the tear down point for his boat before he put it back on the trailer. After we got the boat settled in we went to a local Pub and had some appetizers to hold us over. At that time of night the pub was the only thing open. I am just glad we were in Washington so there was no smoking. We were all pretty happy about being done with the trip. We hung out and celebrated a bit then we walked back to the boat. We fell into bed and I slept fitfully with all the loud snoring going on.