Leg two. August 3, 2005

Day two of the voyage started early with coffee and showers at the marina. Sleeping was actually very good. The parents were up in the V-Birth and Sean was in the mid ship birth. I was confined to the coffin bunk that was actually very cosey. The only notable problem was the volume of the lapping of the water against the hull in the back birth. 8am and motored out of Flounder Bay Marina southbound. No wind and the motor was running well. Lynn fixed breakfast burritos and we were beam Whidbey Navel Air Station with a 2.5 kt. Current pushing us along at 8.5 kts. Over the ground. 10:50 am and we finally were able to raise the sails and get some blessed silence. After a cold lunch we sailed on to pass Point No Point at 2:35pm.
5:10pm and we were approaching Shilshole marina in north Seattle. On the entry to the marina we rescued a wind surfer who was waving for help. He had sailed a few hundred yards and fallen off the board. He was not strong enough to raise mast again and was slowly being pushed out into the sound. We threw a line and towed him into the marina.We had dinner on the boat and fed some of the wildlife. There was a pin sticking out of the spreaders half way up the mast that was sticking the main sail, so Brad was hoisted up the mast to do some repairs. Kelly, Sean’s wife, came by to give Sean a real bed to sleep in and we prepared for another night on the boat.

August 2 2005 SPLASH DOWN!

The transaction was made and the keys in hand. After a few weeks of cleaning up and fixing minor problems launching day approached. My parents, Lynn and Dorothy, flew up from Hawaii to make the maiden voyage down to Tyee Marina in Tacoma. This is a three day sail south from bellingham to Tacoma. The plan was to make it as far as Anacortes on the first day, Seattle the second day and Tacoma on the third. Lynn got in late the previous night so we drove up and picked up a fourth crew member. Sean is from Colorado and I have been on many adventures with him. This was not one he was going to miss. When we got there, the boat was in the water and Dorothy was waiting. After the long drive from Seattle, we picked up lunch and shoved off of Bellingham at 1:00pm.
2:20pm
Beamed Eliza Island doing 5 knots downwind with a temp of about 60 degrees. Around 4pm the wind started to die off and the engine was turned on. With the iron jenny running smooth we pulled into Flounder Bay Marina at 5:40. We then had dinner a restaurant at the marina and got a early night.

Finding the ship

I started looking for a boat that was big enough to sail around the sound with a few friends and had the space to overnight. I wanted to pay cash and did not have a lot of that floating under the bed, so my search was mostly on eBay and Craig's list. I found "Angel"on eBay in Bellingham WA. Janelle and I drove the three hours north to look at the boat. She was in dry dock for the winter and I had a great opportunity to get a good look at her. What I got was a 1975 Newport 30. She is very basic with a V birth up front, enclosed head, dinette, couch, and "Coffin birth" to the aft. She is powered by an Atomic 4 engine that is the original. She had a new coat of bottom paint and had been out of the water for the winter. The previous owner had moved to Portland and intended to keep her there for a San Juan cruiser. After living in Portland for a year and not getting north as much as he wanted and loosing his slip in Bellingham to a marina improvement project, she was on the market.

Welcome to the home of the sloop Hoku Pa'a. I am starting this site to keep track of the adventures of sailing on Puget Sound Washington. I intend to write and post pictures of adventures at sea. Stay Tuned!!!!