The time has come. We are closing in on the end of our time here in Port Townsend. It's been an amazing couple of years for a multitude of reasons. I turned 50 last year and this milestone has brought with it a lot of introspection and grounding. Centrum has been an amazing place to work, learn, and grow - I will be leaving at the end of July with a lot of great friendships and incredible non-profit bookkeeping experience in my pocket. And my time at the Starlight as a theater manager was fun, humbling, and rewarding. Can't beat free movies as a job perk!
I have made friends here who I will treasure and continue to connect with for years to come. Some of those friends are working with Donn and me to put up a show in July, right before we depart. I created TMAC (Transient Moorage Artist Collective) last Fall for local artists to gather, network, and create together and this show will be a culmination of that energy.
On to boat matters - Donn is busy working on a few small projects including replacing our exhaust hose, having our heat exchanger checked, doing some deck repair to fix a leak or two, and possibly creating a larger settee area on the port side of our salon. On July 24th we'll haul out and do a bottom paint job, check seacocks and make sure all is looking good underneath. Assuming that all goes well, we'll splash on July 31st and head out soon after.
August will be all about getting our cruising legs back - we'll head to the south end of Puget Sound and explore the islands and waterways between Tacoma and Olympia - waters we have yet to sail. Just before Labor Day weekend, we'll head to Seattle for a few days at Bell Harbor Marina to enjoy the city and see some friends and family. I'll be taking a quick day trip over to Bremerton via ferry to facilitate a session at a women's retreat called FemPowered. I could not be more honored to be involved with this retreat.
Then September 1st, we'll work our way north again - stopping briefly back in Port Townsend to say goodbye to family, make any last provisions, and get our timing right for heading west towards the mouth of Juan de Fuca.
Our next goal? San Francisco. We hope to explore and enjoy the Bay Area for a year or so before heading southward again towards Mexico in 2020.
We are still considering our options for the journey - either harbor hopping down the coast, or doing it in one big offshore arc. Stay tuned to see what we decide on that!
