Getting ready to leave, Mike and the 2007 transapc.

All the gear is aboard. The last spares and provisions are going aboard today. Final banking is being done....time to close the accounts.

Water and fuel is topped off. Charts are aboard. (Hard copies....not electronic LOL)

Including tide tables of the South pacific, Sailing directions, SoPac flags and Chart #1.

There is even a real working sextant aboard....thanks Mike aboard the M\V Captn MJ Sousa.

Mike is hoping to meet Devon and Crew at Christmas Island. He also serves as the SSB radio test link and secondary sat comm link. Mike's knowledge of the South Pacific (30 plus years) should be a big help next month. Devon previously served as a deckhand and engineers assistant on Mike's boat for about 10 months. The MJ Sousa fishes for tuna in SoPAc and NZ waters.

The famous Transpac sail boat race start on July 9, 2007 (same damn day!) and head for the Big Island. http://www.transpacificyc.org/

they have good weather links for the area Blaze is sailing

Blaze should arrive in Kauai about the same time this race finishes in Honolulu.

before the sea trial

canned goods labled and logged in lockers
decks about to be cleared.



lotsa gear to stow away

light air spinnaker day

First time with the pole. Previously we set as a cruising chute w/o pole.

last of the Pacific Northwest

As Blaze prepares to leave, we thought we should share the last images of the great Pacific Nortrhwest. Here is a private yacht we anchored next to in Anacortes. Note the helicopter landing on the aft deck. Very cool.

We figured the total setup was worth about $30 million. And we had the exact same view they did. LOL

Returned from the Sea trials..............

We have returned from sea trials 60knm off the admiralty inlet. The third through the fifth were spent entirely under sail. We have worked out watches and a cook times.

On the afternoon of independence day there was a gail warning issued for all of the Juan de Fuca area..... 20-35kts of wind .

It was a downwind run all the way to Port Townsend. Boat speed pushing 7.5 knots , 11.5 over ground with 8 foot wind waves. We pushed the boat hard and she held strong, reassuring all of us of her seawothiness.

The crew went in to port for showers and last chance supplies.

I go to town tomorow for spares. We leave from PT to Kuai on Saturday night the off shore route has yet to be determined, we are watching the hi's around the great circle route if they hold we will be forced to run the coast.

This will be my last post till Hawaii..... my Dad will update as the crossing takes place.

Sailling in to the sun set, wish you were all here.
Capt. Devon

Burgoyne Bay more

Yep

coolest place

pristine

and unique.

Back to the Bakery

Yup

Chemainus is the place to retire.

Bakeries, nice people and $3.60 Red Bull

Burgoyne Bay

yeah

this is worth the effort to get here.

Yes that is a bald eagle. he was very protective of "his cove". You sense that they migh be smarter than they look.

Debbie liked her B day.

Debbie practiced sea life fotos. The crew worked on the watermake.....arrgh..long story!

Burgoyne Bay on Debbie's B day!!!

Abou one year ago, we sat in this exact cove. As we looked across the bay at world cruising class sailboats. ....the dream began to be realized. We put together the basic plan of what is now the Blaze program. we envisioned rewarding all who helped us acheive. Devon was ready to sail bigger waters. The crew is a trusted and closely knit group of people that can really be counted on. The crew was chosen that day....altho they wern't realy aked to commit until Dec 2006.

Ever since that first date on a sailboat in 1971, Britt and Debbie have enjoyed sailing.

Racing club level boats in Stockton and starting "Britt West Yachts" in San Diego.

Teaching many nice people how to sail at West Sailaway. Refurbishing houses and rebuilding jeeps......It all add up to this.

Buying Blaze and pushing the boat around the world is the realization of a long held goal.

thanks everybody!

Britt and Debbie

"If you help enough other people get what they want....you will always get what you want"

- Zig Ziglar

how do you say that?

June 23, 2007

Chemainus

Shuh-main-us

A very cool French heritage town in BC. Two Bakeries..we never got past the first one.

Rght on the 49th latitude! http://www.chemainus.com/

Very nice wharfinger manager let us use the dock for free and even accepted about 30 lbs

(13 kilos) of trash.

,

Chemainus....how do you pronounce that again

June 23 , 2007

"shuh main us"

What ever

The boat met up with Britt nd Deb and restocked a bit.

The "Royal Vic"

June 23, 2007
Motored north after clearing customs on Friday.
About 12 NM north to
The Royal Victoria YC in Oak Bay, BC.
nice place
spent thenight at anchor as the Thunderbird North Americans where happening
and the place was "chock a block" full of boats...."sorry Mate"
http://www.rvyc.bc.ca/
But "Bill the foreshoreman" extended the crew the use of the dingy dock for as much as we needed
Spent the night at a very peaceful anchor.

OK time to cross the border!

Friday June 29, 2007

Blaze moved from Pt Towsend to Chaimunus, BC via Victoria, BC.

Crossing customs was fairly simple. The firearms aboard were declared and the BC officials put 'em away for "safekeeping". Victoria is a "great place"....."we want to come back" were the crew sentifments...but hey had to push on and catch the flood tide to Sidney, BC.

huh?

Internet access is much harder than we anticipated. In seems Washington {brought to you by Microsoft} has smart people who secure their networks. The "yagi" antennae only works with subscription access to harborside access points. Everybody else is more secure. Plus swinging at anchor makes it so one person has to track the dignal....while the other searches fortheneeded item. Most internet time from the boat has been sporadic and limited. so Britt write this stuff.

The boat hopes to access this blog on Friday July 6, 2007 when they hit Pt Towsend for the last time.

britt does

Internet access is much harder than we anticipated. In seems Washington {brought to you by Microsoft} has smart people who secure their networks. The "yagi" antennae only works with subscription access to harborside access points. Everybody else is more secure. Plus swinging at anchor makes it so one person has to track the dignal....while the other searches fortheneeded item. Most internet time from the boat has been sporadic and limited. so Britt write this stuff.

The boat hopes to access this blog on Friday July 6, 2007 when they hit Pt Towsend for the last time.

so who really posts this stuff?