Becoming full time sailors

Friday afternoon, with only hours left on our slip rental, we untied from the docks and slid out of the marina into open waters. By this time in our sailing life we were feeling like this act was routine – the motor out of the marina – but once the sails went up everything changed. This would mark the first time we were sailing away – for good – to an unknown life of new adventures on the water. It took a few miles of sailing for it to set in. The smiles crept across both our faces as it felt good to be nomads again. We did this! We *are* doing this! Only nine months ago we had no clue we would be sailing in 2019. And now we were leaving land for good.

Our sail that afternoon was only an hour and a half. We only planned to return to Inati Bay for an undetermined number of days as a shakedown. As has been true for the entire time we have been in Bellingham, the wind was coming from the exact direction we want to travel. To get there, to our first destination as full-time sailors, we planned a route That included two tacks. The first tack put us nearly on a 120 degree heading (away from our destination) thanks to a wind shift, but the second pointed us right at our target. We were close-hauled the entire time, which meant we were heeled over at 20 degrees. It’s an exciting way to sail – looks cool – but not really the most comfortable. Kerri seems to really enjoy it though. Moose, not so much.

We arrived to only a single other boat in the cove, on a Friday eve. Fully expecting the place to get a bit more crowded over the weekend, we anchored in the corner and set our stern anchor to minimize our footprint. Then it was time to just relax. All around us was land, full of trees, birds, and the noises of nature. As if to welcome us to boat life, the sound of a bald eagle nesting to our north. It was the land that was our scenery, not the water as usual. Looking back into land, as if through we were outsiders, was new to use both. In the distance, to the East, across the larger body of water, is Bellingham. So close to civilization, yet so far. The evening wound down with Moose being able to run on the shore for a while. As it got darker, we clicked on our anchoring light and tucked in for our first night as true full-time sailors.