Need advice for first longer cruise.

[dhays]

Stopped at Watmough Bay on the SE tip of Lopez. Never been here before but it is a lovely spot with a marine park and 4 mooring buoys. We picked up one but the anchoring looks good.

 

[dhays]

Due to increased winds forecast for the Strait, I decided to get an early start. The problem with an early start. The problem with that is that the temp is about the same as the dew point and there is about a 5 kt wind blowing. Yeah, lots of fog. The seas aren't bad, about 2' at 3 seconds and there isn't any traffic so far.

 

[dhays]

Well, the fog pretty much stayed with me all the way into Admiralty Inlet. I got a chance to get nice and friendly with the radar. As we got further South the swells continued to build, then when they met the ebb coming out of Puget Sound it got rather uncomfortable. Fortunately my wife and I are not subject to seasickness, but my wife was still not happy.

Now things are lovely. The flood is now pushing us South going with a 15 kt South breeze. Thinking of going into Eagle Harbor for the night. We'll see.

 

[dhays]

This is the view of Eagle Harbor after we finished dinner as the harbor pub.

 

[dhays]

We made it back to Gig Harbor yesterday afternoon. We left the boat and went to Mom's house for dinner. Today we will go back and clean up the boat and get the rest if the stuff off the boat.

This trip was a real chance to see how well the North Pacific 43 actually works for my wife and I. We spent a week and a half on Kinship by ourselves. It was comfortable and easy for the two of us to handle. We had some very long days and some days with very uncomfortable seas. Despite this, we stayed comfortable.

We also had a week with 5 adults on board. My son and son-in-law are both 6'4". My son is about 210 lbs and my son-in-law is about 270lbs. I am only 6'2" and 220 lbs. My wife is not a small person either (is that a nice way a saying it?). We never felt crowded on the boat. One of our goals with the boat was to have something that we could share with family as well as be comfortable with on our own. The North Pacific 43 has really hit the mark for us.

Finally, I really want to thank you all for providing the ideas, suggestions, and support that really helped make this trip a remarkable success for us. The collective resources here are truly amazing and the information provided by our BC members was invaluable.

 

[koliver]

Dave:

Thanks for having us along. We enjoyed your trip too.

 

[GFC]

Dave,
Congrats on your safe arrival to Gig Harbor. I've enjoyed going along on your journey with you and love the photos.

 

[BandB]

We made it back to Gig Harbor yesterday afternoon. We left the boat and went to Mom's house for dinner. Today we will go back and clean up the boat and get the rest if the stuff off the boat.

This trip was a real chance to see how well the North Pacific 43 actually works for my wife and I. We spent a week and a half on Kinship by ourselves. It was comfortable and easy for the two of us to handle. We had some very long days and some days with very uncomfortable seas. Despite this, we stayed comfortable.

We also had a week with 5 adults on board. My son and son-in-law are both 6'4". My son is about 210 lbs and my son-in-law is about 270lbs. I am only 6'2" and 220 lbs. My wife is not a small person either (is that a nice way a saying it?). We never felt crowded on the boat. One of our goals with the boat was to have something that we could share with family as well as be comfortable with on our own. The North Pacific 43 has really hit the mark for us.

Finally, I really want to thank you all for providing the ideas, suggestions, and support that really helped make this trip a remarkable success for us. The collective resources here are truly amazing and the information provided by our BC members was invaluable.

Wifey B:

So freaking awesome and it only gets better from here. It was like reading a great romance or watching a show with a happy ending and everyone lives happily ever after. Very uplifting to follow. I like to see happy people doing happy things. You showed what it's all about and why I love love love love love boating.

 

[senangsekali]

If you are willing to wait until mid august. We are planning the same trip. We could meet in sidney spit area and travel up together. Let me know if this is something you would be interested in.

 

[dhays]

Senangsekali, As sometimes happens you may have missed the dates on this thread. This trip that we took was August 2016. However, we are, hopefully, going to be doing it again in August this year.