Washington to San Francisco 2022

October 1^st, 2022 – Day 3 of our passage to San Francisco

Finally, we’re back in the ocean. It’s hard to share how the ocean makes me feel now. I’m not sure if it has always affected me this way or if I’ve developed a stronger connection over the past few years. The ocean is where we intend to spend a great deal of our time on this venture. It’s our means of travel as well as a major topic of our mission. It’s the connection between all of us around the world.

This is our first time bringing Resilience to sea. I must admit, I was pretty nervous before we departed. She’s an old boat and new to us. There’s still plenty to repair aboard and there are plenty of things that haven’t been tested. I watched weather patterns for weeks leading up to our departure. Two weeks out I had to pick a date: September 29^th. Somehow that arbitrary date ended up being perfect. We departed in the morning of the 29^th with the currents running with us for most of the Strait of Juan De Fuca. On our way out we hit some dense fog and heavy headwinds and swell. We pushed on, and just after sundown, we made our turn South. We were finally headed offshore.

On the morning of our second day, we passed several recreational fishing vessels. We put a line out and shortly afterwards had an Albacore tuna on the line! We got it up to the boat, but as we were still learning to get the fish on deck with such high freeboard, we lost it. That was a short-lived disappointment. From there it was only a matter of time. Our next strike on the line provided us with a nice sized tuna on deck! As soon as I finished cleaning the first, the second one struck the line. With two good sized tuna in the fridge, we brought our line in.

We had been expecting heavy wind and some swell along this passage and it finally came in the afternoon of our second day out. While wind and waves were building, we were also experiencing episodes where our auto-pilot would suddenly turn us nearly 90 degrees and not correct itself! After the third time, the decision was made to not use autopilot overnight. We were expecting the peak of wind and waves around midnight. The crew all took the news well. We all pitched in extra time on watches and extra time at the helm to support one-another. By sunrise, seas began to calm and a pod of roughly a thousand Common Dolphin joined us! They’ve been with us for hours now. The autopilot is back to work, I am hoping it can handle the calmed seas a bit better. The sun is out and the weather is warming up.

I love the gifts of the ocean and life at sea! Resilience has been earning her salt quickly. It’s beautiful to see her come to life and rejoin the place where she belongs.