Departing on May 3rd

 So the weather is holding for the next few days.  Problem has been awesome weather on the coast and wrong timing for the Columbia River Bar.  We always cross the Bar on a in-flowing (Called a flood) tide.  This way the river and the tide are matched and you normally don't get big waves.  You need to time it and for us that is 2 hours before high tide.  Problem is that high tide is early around 7 AM, so we need to leave as soon as possible when it is light enough to see.  Reason for this is all the crab pots and you don't want to run over those.

We have also moved our departure port.  We normally anchor in a bay just above Astoria.  This is a problem too as it is about 25 miles or so to the bar or 2.5 hours running time.  We would be leaving in the dark and I don't like running in the dark.  We decided to depart from Ilwaco as it is only 30 minutes or so to the bar.

So starting mid-morning on Monday, May 3rd, you can check us on our SPOT.  There is a box in the upper right corner that you can set as "Live" this sees our current position or see our past track by selecting one of the other options. Make sure you save the below link.

https://maps.findmespot.com/s/CZSL/XW#live/assets

Command Bridge.  All ahead at warp 2!!

This is the cockpit of ASD. The generator is under the floor.  You can see our fishing gear.  The 4 red cans are gas for the dingy. We found out in 2019 that we didn't have enough spare gas. This affected our fishing and Kay did not like that.  The big orange bag is a new acquired piece of equipment.  It is a 4-person offshore life raft.  It has a line to it and if needed you throw it overboard and it inflates automatically.  We also have cold emersion suits that have a satellite tracker on them.  Lets hope we never have to use them.

ASD Tender.  Strapped down, full of gas and ready for the bar.

Starting to pack up the dock.

Well Kay's flowers have been doing well.  Thanks to our friends who will water them every so often.