It surprises people (and ourselves, at times) how long it is has taken to get Alpenglow ready to cruise. We remind them (and ourselves) that 1) the boat is a complex system (electrical, plumbing, mechanical, electronic, etc.) and 2) will be our home eventually. In short, we want to get as much as we can right the first time since it is time consuming and expensive to replace or repair what we screw up when working in haste.
We target for the start of our first shakedown trip a cruise event on March 20-21 put on by the yacht club, Queen City Yacht Club, to which we belong. From there we take off north for a planned two to three week trip.
Unfortunately, the weather was wet and blustery even for this time of year (late winter/early spring), so we cut our losses and returned to Seattle after ten days. We did go as far north as Sucia Island, anchoring three nights in Fossil Bay.
We also brought along the “girls”, our two calico cats, Annie & Maggie. Maggie adjusted pretty well to the boat but Annie would spend much of her time underneath the covers of the bed or tucked into some tiny cubby hole.
While the trip was shorter than we wanted and we didn’t cover as much ground (or see as much sun), we are pleased with the boat. It is comfortable and handled the foul weather we had well. We look forward to the summer cruising season ahead.
