As soon as the smoke cleared of our amazing wedding, we wasted no time in getting in some serious unplugged off-piste sailing time.  We stocked the bilges with almond milk, oats, wine and cheese, and we set our bearing on the outside of Vancouver Island.  Our original aspirations had us circumnavigating it and exploring some of the *wildest* wilderness on Earth. But the number two rule in cruising is to never be on a schedule.  (Number one being don’t fall off the boat.)

With only three weeks left of summer, we couldn’t quite get around the whole island without possibly getting caught between a time crunch a bad weather.  So we opted to come up from the South and see the bottom half. So that was the plan.

The great ever swirling Pacific Ocean loves to run full speed into the PNW coast, causing substantial currents that we would have to fight, along with regular strong winds from the wrong direction as well.  Typically, a sane person would wait for that perfect lull and motor up from inlet to inlet on the calmest days.  Sailing upwind is a brutal bucking bronco ride in which people get airborne in the front of the boat. Its a given that someone is gonna get seasick, (it was mainly me,) and stuff is gonna break and fly all over the place down below.

The funny thing is that it was a calm day!  Not a lick of wind to even help stabilize the mad rolling of the boat.  There are no pictures from that day, only forged memories of huge steep mystery waves from a long gone offshore storm.  We tucked tail and ran back to our departure point, and booked a slip at a marina to clean up gallons of diesel fuel spilled on deck and down below (even into Jake’s bed.)

Except for that miserable two hours, which the kids will never let us forget, the rest of the time was amazing.  This post spells out what a day in the life looks like onboard our homey Tuwamish.  Warning: it gets messy. But we kept our bumholes cleaned and teeth brushed.  So in all, I’d say we function quite well out there.

Laundry in the shower basin.  We just dance on top of it when we shower to simulate an “agitation.”

Lots of cuddling going on.  Gypsy needs it the most.  She hates sailing, but we can’t let that stop us.  She also fears candy wrappers, violent nose blowing, and pillow dusting, so whatever.

Lucia’s Room and Jake’s Room.  Directly across from one another.

Captain’s Quarters

What’s left of my closet after building out Jake’s room.

One of Laura’s green veggie things she grew on land. That thing is not “sail ready.” It will crush a child’s skull from that high!

Someone needs to start eating some bananas.

I think a pet cactus is pointless, but that’s just me.

Porter, age 3, paddling out for a little “me” time.  He and his brother are being brought up right by the most hardcore liveaboard family in the Salish Sea. Keep an eye on these cats. Click this–> s/v Yahtzee   They went back out for more this winter and are still exploring the outside.

The ancient Coast Salish village are all but gone, you have to look hard for remnants of the long houses and huge mounds of shell middens.  Can you imagine you and your ancestors throwing empty clam shells over your shoulders for so many years that you have to hike 30 feet up to get on top of the pile?

Thanks for reading the blog!

 We moving back aboard Tuwamish in 5 weeks.  We are busting out some big projects on the boat everyday until then. The family is getting very excited to becoming a full time liveaboard cruising family for the 2017-2018 school year.

-Tuwamish Crew