Ghostsailor's Monthly Update

So, the decision was made, we were going to leave around 4 a.m.  Ughhh!  We were all so excited that we didn’t sleep a wink.  Six and half weeks sailing around the Pacific Northwest  up into Canada.  It should be an excellent adventure.  Our neighbors Curtis & Cynthia aboard Winddancer were planning to leave with us, so when the alarm went off Scott and Curtis were already up and were ready to leave.  I guess they both couldn’t sleep.  We headed out of the marina with a nice South wind that was beckoning us.  We put the sails up and we were off.  As we sailed north we saw a giant mass bearing down on us.  As it came a little closer we realized it was the HMS Bounty heading south:

 What a beautiful sight.  Tall ships are amazing.  I get all giddy whenever I see them.  Today would be a very exciting day for me, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  We arrived in Port Townsend around 10 a.m. and anchored right in front of the downtown area.  Curtis and Cynthia decided to get a slip at Point Hudson Marina.  We anchored right next to the schooner Zodiac:

They left a little bit later.  It’s beautiful uner sail:

And then we saw the La Nina.   She is a replica of one of Columbus ships.  She would be heading south to Tacoma as well for the Tall Ships festival in Tacoma. 

We decided to go do a little beachcombing, but were exhausted from the early morning.  We headed back to the boat for a little R&R.  As we were relaxing I looked out toward the entrance of the harbor and saw what looked like sails from a very large sailing vessel.  And then  behind that I saw more.  Another fleet of Tall ships were on their way into Port Townsend before heading to Tacoma for the festival.  It was a beautiful sight.  First one in was the Lynx

And then the Hawaiian Chieftan

And then the beautiful Lady Washington:

It was a perfect day for me.  The kids thought it was pretty cool to see so many pirate ships and then they started firing off their cannons.  What a show. We weren’t even expecting it.  It was a great first day out. 

Pictures from this adventure will be posted here:  July 2008