June 1, 2017

OMG! Normal trip preparation is a pain. But trip preparation for a 4 month trip brings it to a whole new level! It's stressful, tiring, and it's been going on for a loooooong time. Great way to start a brand new Blog right? By complaining. "Oh poor me, poor us" - I can hear you playing the miniature violins now . Well you're right! Moving on …

Before I get started, I just want you to know that this Blog is mostly for me, not you I would like to be able to look back at the trip and remember where we went and what we did. So I might not explain all the details needed for someone else to understand. And also, I need an excuse to take more Bella photos.

We moved onto the boat last night, and then went back to the house to finalize a few things this morning. Byron picked us up and took us to the harbor as we wanted to leave the cars in the garage while we're away. A quick trip to the fuel dock to top off on cheap USA diesel, and we're off across Bellingham Bay. Of course the wind was blowing more than the forecast said it would (surprise!) but it wasn't too bad. As is often the case, it was much nicer out in the islands. And it was lovely and flat crossing Boundary Pass. It got a "zero" on the Bella meter.



We told customs we'd be outside the marina at 5:00pm, waited an extra 5 minutes there, and then took off for a mooring ball. We dropped the dinghy and headed to the public dock to register and pay our $14 fee, and back to Spellbound. Just before the crossing, the water maker decided to "alarm". It complained about the "pre-filter" being bad. We didn't really need much water as we of course had filled up the day before, but we want to get in the habit of running it and of course making sure that any potential problems show up sooner, rather than later. So when we got back, Greg took apart the forward cabin and took out the 20 micron and 5 micron filters. The 20 looked fine, but the 5 was a little messy. So he switched them out and then cleaned them up again for re-use. It's a messy job, but we really like having fresh water so it's not hard to talk yourself into it.