Well, after being held up on Quadra Island, British Columbia waiting for a new propeller to be shipped from Florida we have finally made it back to the US.

We spent the last nine days working hard to get the boat ready for offshore passage to San Francisco before nasty weather rolls in from the north. There are still a number of make or break situations to resolve but I think that a majority of the work is behind us. Some of the the improvements include a self steering windvane, new removable inner forestay, new sails; jib, storm jib, and spinnaker, a new marine head, raw water plumbing, engine overhaul, fresh railstripe, and coming soon radar, AIS, and single side band radio reciever for offshore weather.

There are some changes in crew. Hannah is back in Indiana at Earlham college and we are joined by Steve Rinker and Shawn Cole for the next leg. Despite the hectic nature of numerous and diverse projects all within the same few feet of airspace, the four of us are already working together like a well oiled SABB engine . Thats about it for now. - Gib

The Queen!

Giant sea urchins - the same color as mashed blackberries.

Blackberries were in season on Quadra - we made 3 gallons of jam.

Then on a crossing in the first bit of nasty weather we've had, I couldn't hold down a meal of pancakes smothered in the stuff and i've lost any inclination of eating it. - Gib

Snorkeling in long underwear

dingy on Quadra public dock

Doug Fir log on Quadra Island

Empty log barge north end of Vancouver Island.

Working hard in Port Townsend. Will add more soon.

Unfouling the propeller.

A car in the woods a long way from a road

purple sea star

Keeping a close count on calories.

That is a sea star - not a starfish.

Orcas in Johnstone Strait

This is a sea anemone fruitcake.

This dock was floating three miles out.

Sunset at Weewanie hot springs.

Pulling into port as the sun sets.

Damn bald eagles are always watching us; they must be the Canadian version of Big Brother.

All geared up and ready to fall overboard.

Big trees and thick moss, not to mention sunshine.

Excursions at Walker Cove, AK.

Butedale: the only ice cream for at least 50 miles.

Oil change and a new filter for our SABB 18-horse marine diesel. She is small and sounds like a Volkswagon Rabbit and burns oil like a whale on amphetamines, but we love her.

Butedale, Alaska.

The structure in the foreground was once a cannery, which supported a small village, but when the cannery closed the whole place collapsed, quite literally.

Eliah saved a bunch of money on his car insurance

Where would we be without our oil?
We were in Prince Rupert, British Columbia when we took this photo. The oil tankers were almost certainly from the middle east.

I've heard all about our dependence on foreign oil and global climate change but something about seeing these ships floored me. They are bigger than i thought possible.

On a lighter note (so to speak) the large sign on the bridge of the ship in the foreground reads "no smoking." - I thought that was kinda funny

No longer vegetarian

Home sweet home.

Gilbert caught crabs and gave them to Eliah

Here fishy, fishy, fishy. Fish!

Eliah & Hannah measure up to an old growth red cedar on a hike up to Bailey Bay Hot Springs.

Gilbert marvels at the North Korean architecture in Ketchikan

A scan of Behm Canal from aloft